Red Hot: Rebranding the ginger male stereotype

RED HOT, the groundbreaking stills and video exhibition by Thomas Knights has introduced RED HOT 100, a new large scale coffee table book that showcases the hottest red headed guys in the world. Celebrating red-haired male beauty and challenging negative ginger stereotypes, RED HOT 100 features men from all over the globe, including Olympic gold medallists, actors and top models. Following the explosive success of the initial launch in London in 2013 and its subsequent New York exhibition in Lower Manhattan, RED HOT mania has attracted huge attention from all over the globe, setting social media alight. Featuring on national TV, radio stations and newspapers as well as international magazines, RED HOT is being talked about by everyone from Berlin to Sydney and Montreal to Milan.

Featuring famous faces such as Vampire Diaries actor Daniel Newman and Olympic Gold Medalist Greg Rutherford, RED HOT has been gaining increasing momentum and helping break 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. The men featured in RED HOT 100 will be the new icons for what will hopefully be a new positive rebranding of ‘the ginger’.

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 the RED HOT campaign, and celebrity ambassadors like Prince Harry, Damian Lewis and Eddie Redmayne – public opinion does seem to be changing.

RED HOT is proud to work with The Anti-Bullying Alliance which works to reduce bullying and create safer environments in which children and young people can live, grow, play and learn, and 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. 

Imogen McGill

Click here to purchase RED HOT.