Style
A Cat in West Chelsea, Florence Pugh Fronts Jaguar's Type 01 Debut
The actress makes her first appearance as the face of the reborn British carmaker at a Tuesday night reveal on the West Side
The car was the reason for the party. Florence Pugh was the reason people looked up from their phones. On Tuesday night, inside the Storied event space in West Chelsea, Jaguar pulled the cover off the first production car of its reinvented brand and introduced the actress as the face of the brand.
Pugh arrived in black. The Daily Mail described a plunging waistcoat dress over a satin skirt, finished with a diamond necklace and towering platforms. Her hair went up into a messy updo, and her short, blunt fringe got nearly as much attention as the car. Popsugar, which had a writer in the room as one of Jaguar's invited media guests, called the bangs the star of the show. The dress was by the British designer Patrick McDowell, a fall 2026 gown with a tailored, waistcoat bodice, satin lapels and a floor-length satin skirt, as theFashionSpot detailed in a piece syndicated by AOL. The jewelry was Bvlgari Serpenti, the same report said, citing the Instagram account Celeb Style Radar.
An Associated Press photograph from the night shows her posing at the launch at Storied. She was not the only familiar face. Jordyn Woods-Towns came with her husband, the basketball star Karl-Anthony Towns, and according to Popsugar the pair spent much of the evening posing with fans. The models David Gandy, Elizabeth Lake, Jordan Rand and Simona Andrejic were also there, as the Daily Mail reported.
The Room Goes Quiet
There was music. The English singer and songwriter Sienna Spiro played some of her best-known songs, and Popsugar's writer singled out her live version of "Great Expectation." The chef Roze Traore served food as guests mingled and danced, according to Popsugar.
Jaguar did not keep the night indoors. Auto123 reported that the brand ran digital projections across several parts of the city and drove the new car on roads closed for the occasion. Hypebeast described the same plan as a takeover of the skyline. For one evening, a British carmaker treated the West Side like a runway.
For one evening, a British carmaker treated the West Side like a runway.
That choice of city was deliberate, and the motoring press noticed. TopSpeed argued that unveiling the car in New York rather than in Britain says a lot about who Jaguar hopes will buy it. Jaguar's managing director, Rawdon Glover, put it in similar terms to the Daily Mail, describing a target audience of younger city buyers who want to make a strong statement about themselves.
What Was Under the Cover
The car is called the Type 01. It is a long, low four-door electric grand tourer, and Hypebeast reports, citing Road & Track, an output of 1,015 horsepower and an American starting price of roughly $130,500. Other outlets gave rougher estimates, and TopSpeed noted that pricing had not been locked down at the reveal. Auto123 explains the name. Type nods to the classic Jaguars. The zero stands for zero tailpipe emissions. The one marks it as the first car of a new generation. Customer deliveries are expected to begin in 2027.
It arrives after a rough couple of years. In late 2024 Jaguar launched a rebrand built around slogans like Copy Nothing and a campaign of brightly dressed models with no car in sight. The backlash was loud and came from every direction, including from Donald Trump. The Type 01 is the company's answer, a real car that people can finally judge for themselves.
Not everyone will like it, and Glover seems at peace with that. He spoke to the Daily Mail as the covers came off.
"I am worldly enough to know that for some people it's perhaps too bold," Glover said. "And that's OK."
Why Pugh
Choosing Pugh makes sense in that light. She is one of the most watched young actresses working, and her red carpet choices tend to start conversations. On Tuesday the conversation was about a menswear-cut gown and a fringe. For a brand that wants to be talked about, that is the job description.
New York has seen a lot of this kind of evening this fall, the fashion house or the luxury label that takes over a room and fills it with famous friends. Uptown it was the ballet's fall fashion gala at Lincoln Center. In Williamsburg it was Hermès settling into a permanent home. Jaguar's version had a thousand horsepower in the middle of the floor.
By the end of the night the car had its reviews, good and bad, and Pugh had a new job. Popsugar's writer described stepping back out into the night afterward, with the stars out overhead and the crowd still sparkling. It was, in the end, a very New York way to launch a very British car.