One of my favorites of all of my boyfriends was out and about on Friday in London. David Gandy was photographed at various fashion events around the city, and these are some of the photos from his appearances. Quick word about his suit: I HATE IT. From the waist up, he’s fine. But the wide-leg trousers make me think he’s wearing a lady’s pantsuit. The cut on the leg is WAY too feminine, and it makes him look like he has stubby legs (which he doesn’t).

At a Jimmy Choo thing Friday evening, David debuted his new girlfriend!!! GAH. I ALREADY HATE HER. No, I shall give her a chance. She’s a brunette, which already gives her five extra points in my book – and chill out, blondes and gingers, I’m not saying I dislike you girls or anything. I’m just saying that I’m a dark-skinned brunette, and I feel like I have a better chance with a man when he goes for a girl with my coloring. Does that make any sense? It makes sense in my warped mind. Anyway, Gandy’s new girlfriend is named Sarah Ann Macklin. She’s a model. And I think she’s the first girl David has dated since he broke up with girl-bander Mollie King several months ago. Speaking of Mollie, she was at the Jimmy Choo event too, and the UK tabloids say that Mollie and David avoided each other. SCANDAL.

You know that David is something of a fashion and model activist, right? He’s arguably the top male model in the fashion industry, and he has used that position to write about and advocate for several issues. One, he wants to promote men’s style, and he wants to men to simply dress better. Two, he wants male models to be treated differently in the industry, and he wants different industry standards for male models. In a new interview, Gandy spoke about pay inequalities amongst male and female models:

David Gandy wants male models to be paid as much as their female counterparts. The 32-year-old heartthrob says women in the fashion industry earn four times as much as men and while he admits they deserves it, he would like the pay to be a bit more equal.

He said: ”A part of me does think, ‘Why is this? What can I do about it? Why is it that the female models get paid four times as much as a male model for a campaign – a campaign they are both in. I absolutely respect the way the girls view themselves. They turn up with their financial guys, their managers, their agents; they’ll work seriously hard at keeping themselves in top shape and at being a brand. It’s always been a female industry and a lot of the male models have tended to treat the whole thing as a bit of a joke, not taking it seriously, not thinking of it as a business. I was never going to do that.”

David – who shot to fame after appearing in his white underpants in a Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue campaign – says it’s only now he’s started to reap the benefits of his career.

He told live! magazine: ”It’s just a fact in this industry that the women earn more than the men. While the top female models fly first class or business class, the guys fly economy. ‘I can’t tell you the amount of long flights I’ve done with absolutely no sleep at all and then had to walk off a plane on to a shoot. It’s only in the last year or so I’ve been put up front on a plane.”

[Via Contact Music]

Does it sound like he’s whining? A little bit, sure, but I also have to defend him: what he’s saying is mostly true. He’s one of the first male models in my memory to really try to have a more typically “female” model career. David is trying to brand himself – mostly successfully. He’s getting paid more. He’s one of the few “name” male models getting work all the time – and it probably won’t end for him either, like it would for a female model at the age of 25. As for the pay inequalities… well, this is one of the few industries where the female standard pay is going to be so much higher than the male standard. This and p0rn. I wish pay inequalities were discussed more often in other industries.

David also had some interesting things to say about body image recently, insisting that it’s just a fluke that everyone thinks he’s handsome. He said:

“I have a fortunate placing of bones and muscles that enables me to do what I do. It’s the reason I work; it’s not a reason I’m better than anyone else. To be honest, I don’t think I’m that great looking. I’ve grown into my looks but at school I wasn’t the guy who got the girls or who was thought to be hot. I didn’t have a girlfriend till I was 21, which is pretty late. I was a loner. All I saw in the mirror was a big nose and a slightly chubby body. I remember being in awe of this guy at university who could just talk to anyone. I still think if a guy wants girls, it’s more about the gift of the gab than the way you look. In my head I still think of myself as I was at 15 or 16. The outward perception changes but the inward never really does.”

[Via Contact Music]

Do you just want to hold him and tell him how pretty he is? Because that’s what I want to do. So, so pretty.

Photos courtesy of WENN.