Best known, perhaps, for his campaigns for Dolce & Gabbana, David Gandy also works with charitable organisations such as the Battersea Dogs Home and Style for Soldiers, and last month helped Marks & Spencer kick off its Spark Something Good charitable campaign.
If you could wake up anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would you be?
I would have a very early morning and watch the sunrise in the African bush, in either Botswana or Uganda.
You are sitting down to the perfect meal. Where are you, who are you with and what are you eating?
My grandparents passed away many years ago, so being able to share just one more of my grandmother’s wonderful roast dinners and just one more dinner with my grandparents would be perfect.
What is your top style tip?
Be an individual. Thanks to the internet and globalisation, it is now very easy for us all to buy the same styles and same clothing wherever we are in the world, which is one reason why I appreciate Savile Row and its tailors. The items they make are one-offs; no one else in the world will have that particular suit, cut in that style or in that cloth.
What are your go-to grooming products?
In terms of skincare, SK-II For Men is very good. I’m also a fan of Dr Lancer and I use Aveda hair products. My favourite fragrances at the moment are the Velvet line by Dolce and Gabbana.
What was your first ever luxury purchase?
A vintage Omega Speedmaster watch.
Are you a collector? If so, what do you collect?
I collect a lot of vintage and antique furniture. I also love vintage timepieces and have been collecting them for many years. With watches, it’s not about the monetary value that they fetch, it’s the story and the history behind them that interests me. I’m now luckily in a position to be able to start a collection of the classic cars that I have always admired.
What, in your opinion, is the best car ever made?
The Jaguar XKSS.
What is the most played track on your iPod right now?
Leon Bridges's Coming Home.
What is the best book that you have ever read?
The Wicked Wit of Winston Churchill by Dominique Enright.
What are your favourite cities in the world?
London in the summertime or on a crisp winter’s day – to me it’s the most beautiful city in the world. New York is a very inspirational city, while my favourite city in South America is definitely Buenos Aires.
What is the best, or most inspiring, piece of advice that you have ever received?
One of the best quotations I have read and try to live by is by Paul Newman, who said: ‘We are such spendthrifts with our lives, the trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss that you can muster. I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out.’
