"Art informs everything": exploring Jaguar's new creative direction
“I'm not your typical car designer,” says Gerry McGovern, the chief creative officer of Jaguar. “I don't collect cars. I collect art. I’m much more interested in the idea of creativity, whether it's sculpture, whether it's painting, whether it's pure architecture.” It’s art week in Miami, where Design Miami and Art Basel fairs and their satellite activities all coalesce into one vibrant whole in the city. We’re talking the day after his reveal of the bold new identity for Jaguar in the design district, for which he is responsible. In the company of artists, musicians and friends of Jaguar, McGovern unveiled the manifestation of this new identity, the Type 00 concept car: one in “Miami Pink”, and one in “London Blue”. They were embodiments of an intention, to stand out from the crowd and appeal to a new audience. “You have to start with the brand and the product comes from that,” he continues. “For me, art informs everything, if you’re going to be a luxury brand.”
The unveiling was a big statement. The brand film had already been released a month ago in November, a 30-second visual ode to the cult of difference, youth and vibrancy. It encapsulated its new ethos to “copy nothing”, a nod to the words of its founder William Lyons that “a Jaguar should be a copy of nothing”. In his speech to launch the concept cars and the new philosophy of “exuberant modernism”, McGovern cited the works of David Bowie, Vivienne Westwood and the architect Richard Rogers, whose design for the Pompidou Centre was seen as controversial at the time, in light of the desire to be unique.
Miami had always been on the cards: a deliberate choice of location to launch. “I don't want to turn up at motor shows. They're boring,” says McGovern, frankly. “And where are our potential customers? Here. So that's why we wanted to be here, to celebrate creativity.” McGovern intends the cars, which will be sold from 2026, to be showcased in boutiques in Paris and London initially, rather than dealerships.
Colour has always been a fundamental part of the rebrand, and stems from McGovern’s own love of artists such as Bridget Riley, Jackson Pollock and Patrick Heron. “Jaguar is a celebration of colour,” he says. “It enriches you, makes you feel alive. The automotive world is a bit silver. When it came to designing the concept car, I said – we’re going to Miami, so it shall be Miami Pink.” Indeed, the space in which we are speaking – a car park transformed into a gallery space of sorts – is saturated in the hue, which reflects the city’s Art Deco architecture. The brass within the car will also take on the shade as it ages. The London Blue, on the other hand, takes its cue from the brand’s “Opalescent Silver Blue” models in the Sixties. “Some of those creative influences, such as James Turrell, are ingrained in me. There are so many artists who have informed my visual sensibilities and the iconography that we’ve created here. Jaguar, at its best, was very artistic.”
To mark the moment, Jaguar collaborated with four artists, well-known cultural commentators – Campbell Addy, Yagamoto, Ibby Njoya and Patience Harding – to create works that were showcased at the launch. The creatives all took on the codes of Jaguar and transmuted them into sculptures, films and installations. Yagamoto, the London-based movement director, created a film with Campbell Addy, inspired by Jaguar’s new strikethrough motif. The resulting work, titled “Impermanence”, explores the idea of transformation, blending intimate moments with powerful storytelling, beginning quietly before “awakening into a rebirth through a movement sequence”, to the soundtrack of a beating heart.
“We were inspired by the understanding that nothing is fixed and everything is in constant flux,” says Yagamoto, who cast and choreographed the group of dancers within the work. “Our process, too, was ever-evolving; each moment presented an opportunity to begin anew. These narratives tell a tale of reinvention and self-discovery, urging us to move boldly toward the future.”
For McGovern, the artists add a “fearlessness” to the conversation: “I like their bravery. They’re real characters, and they’re unique in the same way that we’re trying to be unique. We said to them: Jaguar is evolving. It’s not finished yet. How would you interpret that in your discipline? They bring a freshness to the story. To me, that is true creative endeavour.”
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