As this campaign shot from the Jimmy Choo Man advertising shows, David Gandy ought to be looking over his shoulder – because Kit Harington (who plays Jon Snow in the blockbuster series Game of Thrones) makes for a handsome fragrance brand ‘face’.
Jimmy Choo Man – as looks set fair to be one of this Christmas’s bestsellers for men: a woody aromatic ‘fougère’ (which takes its name from the French for ‘ferny’), with notes of lavender, mandarin and honeydew melon, a heart which pulses with pink geranium and pineapple leaf – and a ‘nuzzleable base’ of patchouli, suede and ambery woods.
Q. How does it feel to be the first face of Jimmy Choo Man?
A. When you think of Jimmy Choo you think of a brand that’s highly, highly regarded in high fashion – and so to be the first face of it (for men) is incredibly exciting.
Q. What does the fragrance remind you of and how does it make you feel?
A. When I first sampled it, the fragrance brought memories of all sort of comfortable nights in – and also strange, wild nights out on the town. I got intense flavours and more mellow ones – kind of a bit of everything…
Q. How would you describe the Jimmy Choo man: who would wear this fragrance?
A. An exciting modern sophisticated man, sort of a gentleman really, I think.
Q. How would you describe your own personal style?
A. I’d like to go for English gent but I’m pushing it a bit there – I think I’m all about very fitted clothing and hopefully kind of stylish, simple and plain, simple colours and simple shades.
Q. Who is a gentleman, past or present whose style you admire?
A. I’m a big admirer of Leonardo DiCaprio, Jimmy Stewart, Frank Sinatra – there’s a broad spectrum there; there all very good-looking, extraordinary dressers.
Q. What music are you into at the moment – and if this fragrance were a song or track, what would it remind you of or what would it be?
A. I’m into modern folk music at the moment. I’m still into Mumford and sons and just rediscovered Fleet Foxes, and I’m listening to a lot of Jake Bug.
Q. The Jimmy Choo man drives inspiration from the 1960s Mayfair playboy – so for you are there any favourite Mayfair haunts?
A. In Mayfair I like to go out to a place called Shepherd Market, I’m not a huge club man in Mayfair, but it has some brilliant little pubs and some nice little restaurants.
Q. When you go to these places what is your signature cocktail?
A. In winter it’s an Old Fashioned and in summer it would be something like a Dirty Martini.
Q. Tell me what do you love about London – and where do you like to go out?
A. I love the people in London, I love the humour, I love the warmth that you get when you get through to people there, and I love how wild people go in London – and our history of partying and history of good drinking culture I guess. But I live around Camden Town – I’m a Camden boy – so generally, I go out in Camden.
Q. Fragrance has the power to evoke strong memories; is there a specific fragrance that triggers a key memory for you – and what is it…?
A. There is – and it’s a fragrance an ex-girlfriend used to wear, I can never remember what it was, but it was something she wore all the time when we travelled through India and every now and again you get a whiff on the train of some girl who’s wearing it and it takes me right back to that trip…
Q. What are your favourite shoes from the Jimmy Choo collection?
A. My favourite shoes from the collection are actually the biker boots, which I’ve got on at the moment. I sort of throw them on whenever to go out of the house to meet people – not a very smart shoe but an everyday shoe that you can really wear down and will look good as it ages.
Q. What kind of shoes do you like on a woman?
A. Flat shoes, ballet flats, that sort of thing – a high heel always works for me but I like a simple ballet flat shoe on a girl.
Q. Now, what is the wildest night you’ve ever had: who you were with and what did you do…?
A. I had a wild night out in Reykjavik once, with a fellow actor, we were in Iceland filming and it ended up … I can’t tell you actually how it ended up (laughs) I’m not going to go into that one…
Jimmy Choo Man, from £39 for 30ml eau de toilette
