David Gandy, One of the World’s Most Recognizable Models, Wants to Revolutionize Luxury Fashion

David Gandy, one of the most well-compensated models of all time, is famously handsome. He’s posed professionally since 2002 — a year after he, thanks to a roommate that entered him without his knowing, won a modeling competition on the U.K.’s longest-running morning shows. In 2006, he became the face of Dolce & Gabbana. Just over a decade later, after hundreds of magazine covers, a half dozen far-reaching cologne ads and quite a few (thousands of them, probably) gigs for well-known fashion brands, he distanced himself from the profession.

He started reviewing cars for British GQ. Then he had a column in the Daily Telegraph. And, in a return to the world he’d sort of stepped away from, he maintained a six-year-long collaboration with Marks & Spencer called David Gandy for Autograph (which is a line under Marks & Spencer).

He was everywhere — except for in front of the camera. Instead, he was hunkered over a drafting table, creating a brand of his own: David Gandy Wellwear, a label Gandy says specializes in attainable luxury.

Adam Fussell

That’s a lofty goal in today’s climate. Luxury, as defined by the brands that dominate the space, is famously unattainable; whether that be sweatshirts or sneakers, it’s all incredibly expensive. It’s wardrobing for the rich, and the rest of us are left to consider copycat styles from fast fashion shops. But for it to work for Gandy, who first set pen to paper on starting his own brand more than 10 years ago, he had to find a middle ground, where the same quality of products are offered at a lower price.

“Some people want to perceive luxury as the most expensive,” he says, “but we perceive luxury as being the best.”

Courtesy

Courtesy

Right now, David Gandy Wellwear stocks “the essentials,” as Gandy puts it. But its open-ended name — David Gandy Wellwear, not David Gandy Workwear or David Gandy Fitness — leaves room for growth. That way, when they do make suits, cashmere sweaters and recovery gear in future, Gandy’s brand will, if all goes according to plan, be well-known for it all, not defined by its sweats or swimwear.

“We’ve narrowed [things] down, and made the ultimate versions of what people wear on an everyday basis,” he says. “We want to rival the bests that are out there… while making sure that it’s attainable.”

After the essentials, Gandy plans to release a litany of new designs — mineral-infused recovery wear included. Now that might sound like snake oil, but the technology isn’t necessarily new, and it’s far from exclusive to Gandy’s brand; Under Armour tried it in 2017. 37.5 Technology, a materials company, has sold its mineral-infused fabric to Adidas, Burberry, Salomon, Mack Weldon, Mission Workshop and many others.

Adam Fussell

Releases like these prove Gandy is on the offensive, working to grow David Gandy Wellwear and expand its footprint in the US.

“We’re small, and that makes us dynamic, but, at the same time, then we don’t have the budget of these bigger brands,” he explains. “But the better we do and the more revenue we make, the more we can pump back into the brand and expand it more and expand into other categories.”

Right now, Gandy says nearly 15 percent of the brand’s orders are placed by U.S. shoppers, a solid percentage for a brand that’s done nearly zero advertising here. Sure, Gandy is enough to draw interest, but the brand’s growing fast — and now he’s back on the hook for his own semi-annual lookbooks for the foreseeable future.

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