Jaguar’s recent rebrand has already received its fair share of criticism, with its Barbie-themed vehicle branded ‘cringe’ by users online.
But it was full steam ahead for its official launch despite the recent backlash, with several stars in attendance for an event to unveil its much-maligned new vehicle at Miami Art Week on Tuesday.
Leading those in attendance was Helena Christensen and Devon Windsor, who showed off their effortless sense of style as they posed for snaps.
Helena opted for a slinky black midi dress with sheer lace detailing, accessorising with a pastel-coloured Chanel handbag.
The Danish model finished her look with a statement red lip as she arrived for the event.
Devon showed off her model physique in a form-fitting black maxi dress with a polo neck and long sleeves, with a slim belt to highlight her trim waist.
Helena Christensen and Devon Windsor were among the stars in attendance for an event at Miami Art Week, as Jaguar finally unveiled its ‘woke’ new vehicle on Tuesday
The brand has battled a sea of backlash after its new marketing campaign was unveiled last month, and it’s new Barbie pink car has already been mercilessly mocked online
Helena opted for a slinky black midi dress with sheer lace detailing, accessorising with a pastel-coloured Chanel handbag
Alongside a rebrand that has been heavily criticised, new pictures of Jaguar’s futuristic GT car dubbed the ‘Design Vision Concept’ have been mercilessly mocked online.
The Barbie pink, futuristic, design appeared to be trying to catch the attention of Gen Z.
But young people have declared that they detest Jaguar’s new electric-only rebrand and said it looks ‘cheap’.
The £100,000 car features an enormous bonnet, expansive front grille and no rear window.
‘This is a complete reset. Jaguar is transformed to reclaim its originality and inspire a new generation,’ managing director Rawdon Glover previously told MailOnline.
It is thought the brand has changed its whole aesthetic in a bid to win over Gen Z – but many of them have heavily criticised the Jaguar’s new look.
The car firm, which is almost 100 years old, unveiled a bold rebrand last month, which had apparently been worked on by a team of 800 under marketing guru Santino Pietrosanti.
His most notorious move saw it ditch its classic iconography, including the ‘growler’ badge depicting a roaring big cat.
Helena and Devon posed up a storm together as they attended the event, after Jaguar’s new rebrand received a sea of criticism
Model David Gandy was seen posing alongside Jaguar’s futuristic GT car dubbed the ‘Design Vision Concept’, which has been mercilessly mocked online
Dominic Cooper put on a dapper display in a pale blue suit as he posed for snaps
British actor Oliver Jackson-Cohen showed off his dapper sense of style in a sharp cream suit
In an advertisement that featured precisely no cars and a techno music soundtrack, the firm said it would ‘create exuberant’, ‘live vivid’, ‘delete ordinary’ and ‘break moulds’ – but so far all it has done is stoke fury from its traditional audience.
Speaking at the Attitude Awards last month, Pietrosanti promised that the rebrand would ‘bring Jaguar back to something truly special.’
‘We’re not just talking about new cars,’ he gushed. ‘We are talking about all new ways of thinking and embracing the full spectrum of human potential and creativity.
‘Because Jaguar has always stood for fearless originality striving to be a copy of nothing. And we believe that every person has the potential to be something unique, something original, and that’s what makes us strong.
‘And at Jaguar we proudly stand with the LGBTQ+ community because we know that originality and creativity thrives in spaces where people are free to be themselves.
‘We’re passionate about our people and we’re committed to fostering a diverse inclusive and unified culture that is representative of not only the people who use our products but in a society in which we all live.
‘A culture where our employees can bring their authentic selves to work. And we are on a transformative journey of our own, driven by a belief in diversity, inclusion, creativity, policy, and most importantly action.
‘We’ve established over 15 DEI groups such as Pride, women in engineering, and neurodiversity matters.
‘We’ve launched major policy revisions such as transitioning at work to drive equity and support for our communities embracing individuality as our superpower.
‘And only two weeks ago we held our second Global annual DEI summit, where we had over 10,000 employees from around the globe attend. And this journey is going to continue for us at Jaguar, and we are going to set the benchmark for our industry.’
Pietrosanti, whose Facebook profile shows him and his husband posing with Lego cowboys above a Black Lives Matter banner, is believed to have been personally behind the rebranding unveiled, which celebrates diversity rather than motoring.
But his change has gone down so badly that it’s been criticised by everyone from Elon Musk to The Spectator, which wrote that Jaguar has: ‘decided to torpedo their hard-won reputation in such a perplexingly unforced fashion.’
Car fans reacted angrily to a rebrand that they say lacks claws – branding it ‘woke’ and ‘unhinged’.
The British brand, headquartered in Coventry, released pictures of the futuristic GT car, dubbed the ‘Design Vision Concept’ ahead of its full reveal at Miami Art Week
Gerry McGovern, the company’s chief creative officer, said that the car was a ‘taste of things to come’ at the Miami convention
Criticism of the new car spilt onto X and many dubbed it ‘cringe’
The Jaguar E-Type – a stone-cold design classic (left) – and its spiritual successor the F-Type (right) are now consigned to the past
This is the new Jaguar logo – a roundel made up of the letter ‘J’ that looks the same both ways up
Jaguar has unveiled its new ‘brand’ look with a technicolour advertisement that features precisely no cars
The advert features boldly dressed fashion models in bright primary colours alongside slogans such as ‘break moulds’ and ‘create exuberant’
‘Congratulations,’ weighed in one commenter on Jaguar’s Instagram. ‘You’ve killed a British icon.’
In return, the firm has responded in kind with replies ranging from the cryptic to downright saccharine, suggesting it simply doesn’t care – as its boss admitted to This is Money the firm expects only 15 per cent of buyers to be existing customers.
With 20 million views of the announcement on X, formerly Twitter, alone, Jaguar PR bosses will be arguing there such no such thing as bad publicity.
‘Hello, thanks for the feedback! We’ll be sure to pass it onto the team. Best wishes,’ the firm said to many of its detractors on social media.
‘Go woke, go broke,’ wrote several people in tweets to the firm. ‘Go hard,’ Jaguar fired back.
Responding to an almost accusatory tweet reading ‘I thought you guys made cars??’, the firm’s social media team simply said: ‘We do. All will be revealed.’
Even Tesla CEO Elon Musk got in on the act, asking the firm: ‘Do you sell cars?’ Jaguar replied warmly, inviting him to the launch event for its new concept car at Miami Art Week.
It said: ‘Yes. We’d love to show you. Join us for a cuppa in Miami on 2nd December?’
Even some of Pietrosanti’s professional peers joined the chorus of criticism.
Joseph Alessio, a designer and art director based in California, blasted the new look, writing: ‘This will be taught in schools as how not to do a rebrand.’
Another designer said: ‘The Jaguar rebrand is going to go down in history as one of the most destructive marketing moves ever attempted.’
The radical look is part of Jaguar’s complete reimagination as it races ahead of the 2030 deadline for car firms to stop selling petrol and diesel cars in the UK.
It has been testing what looks to be a radically different four-door saloon in the UK recently, draped in zebra-style camouflage paint that covers up its mysterious curves and details, down to the shapes of the windows and headlamps.