George Barnett

George Barnett is a British model and musician from Southend-on-Sea whose fashion career grew alongside his work in These New Puritans. The band’s drummer and a creative partner to his twin brother, Jack, he belongs to a generation of male models whose identity as musicians helped shape the clothes they were booked to wear.

His introduction to Hedi Slimane came in 2006, when the designer photographed the brothers. An interest in tailoring led George to an internship in Slimane’s Paris studio at Dior Homme. He subsequently walked in the house’s fall-winter 2007 show, which featured These New Puritans’ commissioned soundtrack, “Navigate, Navigate.” The relationship placed him on both sides of the runway production, helping create its sound while appearing in the collection.

Modeling developed into a career of its own, including campaigns for Lanvin and Valentino. Burberry became another significant association, with George appearing in its advertising and fronting the Burberry XO Barneys New York lookbook in 2015.

In the accompanying Barneys interview, he described a distinction between the control he exercised in music and the more collaborative demands of modeling. Burberry, he felt, reflected something of his own character. His enthusiasm for clothes was grounded in their construction, with a personal collection encompassing early Dior Homme, Helmut Lang, and vintage pieces.

He spoke about the demands of music again in a 2015 Mr Porter interview, explaining that it required complete immersion. Even as his image circulated in major campaigns, he preferred a degree of anonymity. Fashion supplied a public face; the band demanded a more private commitment to making the work.

His collaboration with Slimane continued through The Loom, a musical project with Jack that supplied “Time Slip” for Celine Homme’s 2021 Teen Knight Poem show. In an interview with SEI Library, George recalled his first job assisting Slimane and described exchanging images and ideas with him remotely during the pandemic.

Working from separate home studios, the brothers developed both music and lyrics. The commission returned George to a relationship that had helped start his career, this time with the soundtrack as his contribution to the fashion image.