MINI South Africa’s first local edition of the MINI Clubman, called the Modern African Gentlemen edition, made its stylish debut at a gala event in Johannesburg on Thursday, 27 June. It is the result of an exhaustive and comprehensive campaign to determine: “What is a modern African gentleman?”

Thilosh Moodally, Head of MINI South Africa, explains: “At MINI South Africa we see the MINI Clubman as ‘The Gentleman for confidence and style for every occasion’. We wanted to contextualise this statement for the local market and, during the latter part of 2018 and into 2019, engaged listeners of radio stations Kaya FM, Heart FM and Gagasi FM to help define the modern African gentleman.

“The results from across the country were astoundingly similar and resounding: this is a person who lives in the “western world” while remaining truly African. We wanted to show this duality in the form of a car developed in South Africa for a local audience,” Moodally adds.

MINI South Africa then teamed up with artist Baba Tjeko, musician Langa Mavuso, and award-winning film and commercials director Tebogo Malope to help it interpret these findings into designs that could be applied to a special edition of the MINI Clubman for South Africa.

“MINI is all about iconic design and has always focussed on a sharp eye for quality and the courage to challenge conventions. We are pleased to have had the opportunity to work closely with a group of innovative young creatives to showcase just some of the faces of the MINI Clubman,” Moodally concludes.

Only 20 units of the MINI Clubman Modern African Gentlemen edition – 10 MINI Cooper and 10 MINI Cooper S – will be made available.

When the MINI brand was realigned in 2015, the opportunity was taken to expand the MINI brand to beyond car topics such as urban fashion, living and design. The MINI Clubman Modern African Gentlemen edition, too, takes MINI’s design aspirations beyond the car and directly to creative minds.

visit: www.bmwgroup.com | www.mini.co.za

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