RED HOT, the groundbreaking stills and video exhibition by Thomas Knights that celebrates red-haired male beauty is launching in New York City in September 2014. Alongside the exhibition is the launch of RED HOT 100, a new large scale coffee table book that showcases the hottest red headed guys from all over the world including Olympic gold medallists, actors and top models, as well as a 2015 calendar. Following the explosive success of the initial launch in London in 2013, the RED HOT exhibition will take place in NYC from 3rd - 14th September at the Bosi Contemporary Gallery in Lower Manhattan.
Extensively covered by the worldwide press and featuring famous faces such as Vampire Diaries actor Daniel Newman and USA Olympic fencing champion Race Imboden, RED HOT has been gaining increasing momentum and has already changed a lot of attitudes. Featuring in publications such as The Guardian and The Telegraph as well as on BBC World News, RED HOT breaks ground about misconceptions of men with red hair.
Thomas Knights, the man behind the concept, is a fashion photographer and music video director who has an impressive portfolio; his work featuring in Vogue Italia, Dazed and Confused, and Marie Claire, as well as working with Marina and the Diamonds, Labrinth, Rosin Murphy and Maya Jane Coles.
A natural redhead himself, Knights has experienced personally the negative perceptions that come with being ginger, and, having no red-haired male public role models to persuade him otherwise, he grew up feeling ashamed of his red roots. With RED HOT, Thomas has devised a photography and video concept that re-defines the perceived image of the redheaded male. The men showcased here are masculine, chiselled, cool, and proud of the way that they look. These men will be the new icons for what will hopefully be a new positive rebranding of ‘the ginger’.
“We have been conditioned to think ginger men are ugly and weak. I wanted to flip this on its head and present the redheaded male as the 'ultimate' alpha male.”
Western culture has put the ginger female on a pedestal, leaving their male counterparts outside of the limelight. No other hair colour experiences a gender inequality in the same way. Just a couple of years ago none of the London modelling agencies had any red-haired male models on their books, and red-haired actors were hugely underrepresented in TV and film. However with the popularity of Prince Harry, Damian Lewis and Eddie Redmayne - brilliant ambassadors for the red-haired male - public opinion does seem to be changing.
RED HOT is proud to work with The Diana Award, a charity set up as a legacy to Princess Diana to encourage, empower and engage young people from all walks of life.