LIV IT UP: Liv Tyler is the new face of Belstaff, and the British brand is certainly putting the star of HBO’s “The Leftovers,” to work. She’ll be brand ambassador, the face of a multiplatform advertising campaign in 2016, and will help to design a capsule collection to be unveiled in February during London Fashion Week. Tyler was also the executive producer of Belstaff’s short film, “Outlaws,” featuring David Beckham, Harvey Keitel, Cathy Moriarty and Katherine Waterston. (Tyler’s partner, David Gardner, is best friends with Beckham.) The film went live at midnight on Monday on the brand’s Web site.
Belstaff’s chief executive officer Gavin Haig told WWD that Tyler was chosen for the job because of her talent, work ethic, individual style and sense of freedom. “We’re relaunching women’s, and Liv’s appointment is really shorthand for what we’re doing,” he said. He said Tyler will work closely with Delphine Ninous, Belstaff’s vice president of women’s design, on the look and feel of the capsule collection, which will be available to buy in May.
Tyler said: “I’ve always loved stylish clothing that is built with a purpose,” adding that she is looking forward to “rolling my sleeves up in the design room — and spending some of my Belstaff time on the other side of the camera. I want women everywhere to feel sexy, empowered and confident in what they wear.”
Tyler is the latest in a line of famous women to align themselves with the brand: Female testimonials include Kate Moss in the Nineties; actress and singer Gracie Fields in the Forties; flying aces Amy Johnson and Doreen Evans in the Thirties, and Amelia Earhart in the Twenties.
Beckham, meanwhile, swept into a screening of “Outlaws” on Monday, and said that while he’s not pursuing an on-screen career, he sure had fun working alongside Keitel on location in Mexico City. “I was very nervous at first,” said Beckham, who went on to describe how Keitel put him at ease. “I was waiting in my trailer on the first day when I got a bunch of lilies with a note from Harvey saying, ‘It takes a man to give another man flowers.’”
Beckham, who does not have a speaking part, plays a motorcycle daredevil. He gets mixed up with a crowd of circus performers and their taskmaster, played by Keitel. In the end, he comes to the rescue of the circus’ teary femme fatale, “but then she rides off on my bike,” Beckham said.
Geremy Jasper, who wrote and directed the film, said Beckham did a terrific job. “The film was based on Sergio Leone’s ‘Fistful of Dollars’ trilogy. I saw David like Clint Eastwood, a man of few words but many squints. And he’s a good face to watch.”