British model, columnist and charity ambassador David Gandy has blazed a trail within the male modelling industry since his career began aged 21. Often associated with reinstating a masculine standard in the fashion industry, Gandy admits that it was difficult to start out amongst his counterparts:"the trend was for skinny, androgynous guys who had bodies more like girls", he told Voguein 2010. Mario Testino, who has shot Gandy countless times concurs: "[Gandy] signifies a real shift in men's fashion. The male model world is changing", he told Vogue at the beginning of the model's career.
Born in 1980, Gandy was awoken to the world of modelling after winning a competition on ITV's This Morning after his housemates suggested that he enter. Gandy thought they were joking, but after being entered behind his back he landed a contract with Select Model Management, the UK agency that still represent him today.
Passionate about motors, Gandy worked transporting luxury vehicles to race tracks at the age of 17. The model's infatuation with all things automotive has endured throughout his career, forming a topic for his GQ column 'David Gandy Drives' which he has held since 2011 and lead to him being invited to participate in the 2013 Italian open-road endurance race, Mille Miglia, with fellow model Yasmin le Bon.
One of his biggest supporters, Dolce & Gabbana, named the model as the face of the brand in 2006, skyrocketing his rise to success with a 50ft Times Square advertisement of Gandy as part of a Light Blue fragrance campaign. In 2011, the Italian fashion house published a book solely on Gandy and his relationship with the brand. He is still a quintessential Dolce & Gabbana model, featuring in the 2014 Light Blue advertisement alongside Bianca Balti.
In May 2010, Gandy was invited to speak at the Oxford University Union, on a panel which included fashion photographer Tony McGee, the V&A's senior curator Claire Wilcox, fashion consultant Frances Card and VOGUE.CO.UK editor Dolly Jones. He stated the importance of male fashion, a topic that he has pushed throughout his career. In 2013, Gandy was invited to become an official ambassador for London Collections: Men alongside Tinie Tempah and Dermot O'Leary. He also writes about his style musings on his VOGUE.CO.UK blog.
Gandy was the sole male model to walk alongside supermodels Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and a host of other models as part of the 2012 Olympics closing ceremony. In the same year the model featured on sixteen magazine covers and eighteen fashion editorials. He was also listed as one of the Evening Standard's 'London's Most Influential People' and launched a follow up to his successful style app named 'David Gandy Fitness and Training'.
The model is an avid charity supporter, named as brand ambassador for Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and Style for Soldiers. He was appointed fashion ambassador for Comic Relief in 2013 after which he launched Blue Steel Support, a charity auction that included a prize of a day with the model.
Gandy is set to release his own underwear range with Marks and Spencer on September 18 2014. He has had a long-standing relationship with the British brand and appeared in 2013's Christmas advertisement alongside Rosie Huntingdon-Whiteley and Helena Bonham Carter.
