Biography
Male model David Gandy is a British Fashion Council ambassador and a Vogue.co.uk columnist. The model is best known for his work with Dolce & Gabbana fragrance advertisements. In 2006, he became the face of Dolce & Gabbana, annually starring in their apparel campaigns and fashion shows through to 2011. He is still a close friend of the designers and the house.
Gandy's breakout moment came with the 2007 Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue fragrance commercial, co-starring Marija Vujovic and shot by photographer Mario Testino. The advertisement received 11 million hits online and saw a 50-foot billboard of him displayed in Times Square in New York. Gandy has remained as the face of the fragrance, shooting multiple campaigns and touring internationally as the brand's ambassador.
In 2011, the fashion house published "David Gandy by Dolce & Gabbana," a 280-page photographic coffee table book of images chronicling their years of collaboration. That same year, Gandy shot four magazine covers and five fashion editorial photoshoots. In 2012, he was featured on 16 magazine covers, 18 fashion editorials and modelled for Banana Republic , Lucky Brand Jeans, El Palacio de Hierro and Marks & Spencer.
In 2013, British shoe label Bionda Castana released a fashion film featuring Gandy called "David Gandy's Goodnight" in which he seduces several women who discover later that he has stolen their shoes.
In 2014, he moved beyond modelling to designing his own range of underwear, lounge-wear and swimwear for Marks & Spencer, which became one of the company's top-selling clothing lines. Gandy was repeatedly included on British GQ's list of Best Dressed Men and was named the Most Stylish Man of the Year in 2015 at their Men of the Year awards gala.
Before graduating from the University of Gloucestershire with a marketing degree, Gandy's flatmate entered him (without his knowledge) into a modelling competition on the UK's "This Morning" programme. The 21 year-old Gandy won the competition, which included a contract with Select Model Management in London. Whilst emerging as a model, Gandy chose to buck the overarching trend of slight and ultra slim models, propagated primarily by Hedi Slimane at Dior Homme, choosing instead to build his frame to present an athletic figure.
During the early years of his career, Gandy modelled for a variety of companies including: Shiatzy Chen, 7 for all Mankind, Zara, Gant USA, Hugo Boss , Russell & Bromley, H&M, Carolina Herrera , Massimo Dutti and others.
Gandy now lives in Gloucestershire with his partner, daughter and dogs.