“I always say that luck is the one who is ready and waiting for the opportunity.”

David Gandy is a British male fashion model who has worked in the fashion industry for over 21 years. He is known for participating in advertisements for Dolce & Gabbana, Hugo Boss and other major fashion his houses. He has also been involved in the creative process for numerous advertising campaigns, including working with M&S.

Gandy is also the creative mind and owner of the newly launched fashion and lifestyle brand David Gandy Wellwear. He created the brand with the goal of selling affordable, sustainable clothing that supports overall health and wellness. The purpose is to provide gentle clothes.

David Gandy wasn’t just a new business in 2021 when he combined science and fashion to create clothing that combined sustainable practices and self-care. As founder and creative his director, Gandy has curated a fashion brand that incorporates healthful elements like aloe vera into fabrics while incorporating sustainability into every step of the process.

That’s after a 21-year career that included relationships with fashion icons like Hugo Boss, Massimo Dutti, M&S and Dolce & Gabbana. Gandy attributes all his success to hard work, foresight, and taking chances.

“Luck is someone who is ready for an opportunity,” Gundy explained as he and his family visited his historic home in Richmond Park, which is being renovated.

Moving is just one of the new things on Gandy’s schedule. He also flies to factories, attends investor conferences, makes creative decisions, and researches the latest wellness technologies under the Wellwear name.

Gandy started his career in a television modeling contest he won in 2001, becoming the first male fashion model in the world to curate a brand, create a following and use that base to grow his career.

After being a model for five years, he spoke with an agent at Select Models and wanted to reposition to what female supermodels are doing. In 2006, they came up with a career strategy together, with Gandy becoming the face of his Dolce Gabbana Light Blue fragrance. The campaign was a worldwide sensation and is still the campaign he is fronting.

As he learned about the industry, Gandy built his brand on recognition from Light Blue. He has long-standing relationships with Dolce & Gabbana and other fashion houses. He also has longstanding relationships as a writer for fashion magazines such as Vanity Fair.

“It’s all about experience and observation,” Gandhi said. “Look at the best people in the industry and notice how they got there. This way you get further in life.”

Wellwear also incorporates the concept of giving back with charity partnerships as a key element of the new brand.

“We want people to know that they are buying brands that are doing good things at a profit, so we will continue to do that.

Gustav Lundberg Tresson: What products are you working on at Wellwear and how did you decide to launch the Wellwear brand?

Gandhi: We look at how people see clothes, how they wear them, and how clothes affect their well-being, creating the world’s first brand that combines apparel and wellness. One. It is due to quality and sustainability.

It started with the concept of loungewear. Eight years ago, it wasn’t a big factor in the fashion world, but the pandemic made people start dressing down a little more. I started looking into the benefits of

Aloe vera has moisturizing and anti-inflammatory properties that can be beneficial while wearing clothes all day long. means to It also means that production has to be reduced. This is my take on sustainability.

And then there’s wellwear that can be incorporated into any daywear outfit, whether it’s at the gym, with the kids, or at the office. .

Lundberg Tresson: What inspired you to combine elements of the wellness and fashion industries into one brand?

Gandhi: We’ve looked at ample research to confirm this relationship between mental and physical health and fashion. You can have a better outlook on things.

Of course, we all know about retail therapy. Good-looking things make me feel good, but bad things and things that are starting to fray make me feel depressed. Once you realize this, you can get rid of it, but you can’t recycle it and it’s bad for the environment.

We also know that many people wear the same thing over and over again. That’s where wellware comes in. Wellwear has clothing essentials that can be worn again and again, high quality items that can be used again and again.

Lundberg Tresson: What inspired you to launch your own brand in 2021? What was the process like?

Gandhi: I wanted my own brand and apparel line. But that authenticity part was very important to me. I really wanted to learn the process from that authentic perspective.

Eight years ago, I never dreamed I could run my own brand. That’s why I had to learn about all the factors. I had to learn about fabrics, lead times, etc. His 6 years at M&S ​​gave him all the experience he needed.

Currently I don’t have the expertise and experience to do it myself. I wouldn’t say I’m a designer or a PR marketer. That’s why I have a great team of experts on each of them. No office. It’s a constant move, a constant knock on the door.

And we got off to a surprisingly good start. And there will be a lot of exciting things coming. And of course I’m always looking forward to what’s next.

Lundberg Tresson: How did your 21-year career in fashion and modeling help you launch Wellwear?

Gandhi: People know me, so it’s very positive because I’m not starting from scratch and trying to establish what I stand for. You can get that credibility and it moves you into a whole new realm.

The 2006 Light Blue campaign gave us the opportunity to launch our brand and capitalize on it. I couldn’t do that without someone recognizing me and putting a face on the brand. I was able to.

The world of modeling is so competitive that if you have a brand and a name and you have fans, you can stand out. I always say that luck is someone who is ready and waiting for an opportunity. Light Blue was the first big chance. It helped me start my brand.

Creating and following that brand wasn’t really something that was done on the male side of the modeling world at that point. It wasn’t a thing. Cindy Crawford and Kate Moss were already doing it. used.

The rewarding aspect of it is that you can expand from there. You can participate in charity. The magazine asked me to write for them. After that, I launched a fashion lifestyle brand.

Lundberg Tresson: How has social media helped the David Gandy brand grow over the years, and how has it helped Wellwear grow?

Gandhi: Social media is the new advertising, it works and you can’t ignore it. We are not entirely dependent on my social presence. You still see Wellwear in magazines, and the new poolside collection has a very successful outdoor campaign at several London Underground stations. But we’re on social media and we’re growing it very organically. I’m here.

It helps that you’ve built a loyal fan base with your followers over the last 20 years, even before social media came along. I have a long relationship with my followers and her engagement with brands on social media is very high.

After all, from an entrepreneur’s perspective, this is the golden ticket. It’s an absolutely wonderful tool to have.

Lundberg Tresson: What does the future hold for Wellwear and the David Gandy brand?

Gandhi: We just launched our new poolside collection and it’s selling incredibly well. Wellwear is a natural fit as this is a category in which I have had a lot of success. All designs – swim shorts and towel essentials – are UPF40 treated to provide complete sun protection for the wearer. Next, we will change the launch structure for the fall. It adapts to the way customers shop. After that, we plan to launch another big market category. Details are yet to be revealed.

We also try to predict fashion trends, what people are wearing, and how that will affect new technology and wellwear. Therefore, we are constantly in talks with other factories and other material suppliers.

I look forward to waking up every day and can’t wait to take on the challenge with Wellwear. You can’t count chickens before they hatch, and you never know what will happen.

Also, personally, I’m looking forward to picking up my eldest daughter every night at 5 o’clock and spending two hours happily with her. And I look forward to mornings with coffee and walking my dog ​​in Richmond Park. It’s an important balance between work and happiness.

Lundberg Tresson: Looking back on your 20-year modeling career, what experiences left an impression on you?

Gandhi: I’m lucky to be able to look back on an incredible amount of time. It’s really rewarding. There was, of course, light blue, but then I became an ambassador of the British Fashion Council and an ambassador of London Fashion Week Men’s.

There was also the challenge of how men think about the fashion industry and how it is such a big part of how men dress. We created our campaign and content with the hope that it will last for years to come.

that was the goal. While I was building a stepping stone for myself and my career and brand, I was building a stepping stone for others in the industry.

The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

For updates and other stories, reach out to @gltore.