When we met Dean it was impossible not to be taken by his positive energy and excitement behind what he does. Being the Founder of magazine Gauchoworld – a years young publication that covers stories and topics for like minded individuals, – has not only created a facet of which covers topics not necessarily spoken about within certain industries. But it allows creatives, artists and athletes to talk about topics of interest outside of what they are ‘supposed’ to like. 

Taking a trip over to the Gauchoworld HQ we wanted to find out the story behind this piece of well structured print and the man that makes it all happen. After we finished this interview it was safe to say that Dean sees the world through his lens and isnt letting anything change that, if anything, it’s made him prouder to be who he is. 

Have a peep at the feature below and find out more about our encounter with Dean George. 

Footpatrol: Dean I like to kick off every interview with a simple, how are you?

Dean George: I am well, I am very well. I am tired, but I am well! 

FP: For the people who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting you as of yet, could you give us a breakdown of who you are and what you do?

DG: I’m Dean George, Creative Director (CD) and Film Director. I am also the founder, CD and Editor-In-Chief of Gauchoworld magazine.

FP: Let’s talk a bit more about Gauchoworld. How did it all begin?

DG: The idea just used to sit in the notes of my phone as ‘Gauchoworld’, it stayed there for ages because I was so scared to let anyone into my thoughts. I remember one day I spoke to Matt Dent from The Soho Warriors about the ideas and he told me just go for it. One thing I’ve learned is to not be afraid to make mistakes. Mess up and it will only make you better at what you do. Bit by bit, step by step things will start to make sense! 

 

FP: What about the name itself, where did the idea come from?

DG: The name Gauchoworld is a 2 part stem. The word Gaucho comes from the name of my favourite footballer, Ronaldinho. He represented creative freedom, expression and just playing the game he loves exactly how he wants to play it. He played from the heart. By having Gaucho and World together it represents the same ethos that Ronaldinho had in terms of being creatively free and doing what you want to do. I hate it when people do Gaucho (space) World, it’s meant to be together, it’s like that for a reason. No matter who you are and what you do, you can do it as freely as you want with no constraints or limitations, this is your world. 

A perfect example is the Dominic Calvert-Lewin cover we did for Issue 1. This is a Premier League footballer, topless, in a 2 piece suit, on the cover of a magazine. He has other interests other than football, at the end of the day he is a human being he can do what he wants and that is what Gauchoworld is. 

FP: By the sounds of things you are creating a platform to not only showcase these topics in a different light, but you are also allowing artists and athletes to showcase interests that to the outside world are getting knocked for. Allowing them to be more free through self expression. 

DG: With us, we care about the person first and foremost. In 2 issues we have had 19 features, to this day not a week goes by where we don’t have at least 1 interaction a week with those that have been featured. And that’s down to the relationships that we have built organically. When we worked with DCL we didn’t think about it being the year of the Euros, or if he makes a big move to another club. We thought about nothing, the only reason we did it is because we love him and everything he stands for.

FP: I don’t want to ask what your end game is with the magazine as I feel it’s one of those things that is going to stand the test of time. So to better put it, what would you say is the brand’s ethos at Gauchoworld?

DG: I think the main thing for Gauchoworld is to make sure we have generational impact. 

In the next 4 years we will be on our 10th issue. I want to get to that issue and line up everything from issue 1 to 10 and feel that we have stayed true to our beliefs and solidified our narrative. 

I want my kids to be involved in this one day, be able to look at this body of work and say we understand what needs to be done. I don’t want or care about short term accolades. 

Being a black owned business I feel as though it’s so important that we allow people within our black communities to understand that you can genuinely achieve anything you want. 

FP: It’s really nice to hear that feel good element behind what you do. What about your following then, did you see it have such a big following so quickly or has it all come to you as a surprise?

DG: One thing I never look at is our following, I look at where the magazine is going. We have a map and everytime the magazine goes somewhere new in the world, we colour it in. 

Taking over the world, bit by bit, brick by brick. I’m not concerned about how many people follow us, I am more concerned about how we’re gonna get someone in Turkmenistan to know about Gauchoworld. That means more to me than the follower count.  

FP: So you have done between online and print over 150+ articles now. Would you say you have a  top 3 Favorite projects?

DG: That’s a good question. 

My favourite article of all time from Gauchoworld, is a piece on a young model called Abolaji Oshun. The article is a first person piece on his experience of walking for Balenciaga in Paris. You really need to read the article, it is sooo good! 

Second is Nia Archives. She is lit! Being able to put her in her first ever print was mad. A lot of people we work with are doing this for the first time, and end up going on to do other things after. It is always nice to see some of the people we feature progress and always good to touch in with them to see how they are getting on. There was a moment after the feature, at a party where Nia was DJing, that we were all standing there thinking like wow our feature is headlining, doing their thing! 

My third would be the DCL cover. I don’t normally rave about projects that I am heavily involved in but I got to tell you the story. People tell me it’s their favourite cover we did, I can’t stand looking at it though because I shot it haha and to this day I have people asking if we have any more copies of it! 

So I was at Dom’s house, and he showed me this suit. My thoughts were ‘oo damn, this is a sick suit’, the quality was amazing, super weighty, it just banged! He went to put it on with a shirt, which looked okay, but I told him to lose the shirt. If you didn’t already know this, Dom is wham! The outfit looked serious. We went to walk downstairs and I just got this idea and told Dom to lay down on the carpet. He was just so chill about it. I needed to get some height for the shot I wanted, there was no ladder in sight haha so I decided the best thing to do was to stand on his banister on the stairs. So here I am balancing on this banister, trying to take this shot with Dom laying on the floor, a £2k camera that I’ve loaned from Fatllama attached to me by a tiny wrist strap and my head squashed up against the ceiling! I managed to get the shot but thought it was gonna be dark so I had to jump down, run downstairs to grab a couple lights and do the whole thing again, all whilst Dom just layed there! I sprinted back upstairs and retook the image. The moment I took the shot I knew we had the cover. The interview as well was sick, he said this really good anecdote during it – He is who he is, he has interests elsewhere and doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. The instagram comments don’t get to him, people’s opinions don’t matter to him. 

This shoot would not have been possible without the trust Ten Toes placed in me to work with DCL, one of their clients. As a result of this shoot and other independent projects, months later I was offered a role at the agency as their Creative Director. It just goes to show, when you do the work, the barriers to entry can easily vanish, this is my first full-time role, and to be in such a senior position speaks to the late nights I put in as an inquisitive 18-year-old. I am beyond proud of the opportunities that this journey has provided me with and it feels truly special to be a part of the Ten Toes family. Large up Adam Parker for that instagram dm (he knows which one) and Ben Weisfeld for having faith in my abilities.

FP: Dean, I have thoroughly enjoyed hearing some of the behind the scene stories of Gauchoworld. Before we let you go we wanna use this opportunity to give a chance to sign everything off?

DG: I say the same thing all the time but I mean it. Just be ignorant man, do what you want. Who can tell YOU what to do, absolutely nobody. Make the mistakes, embrace them, use them as lessons. There is no better university than the university of life. Take everything day by day, step by step – everything happens for a reason. There are so many things that have happened to me where it’s been tough, but I look at the next day, month, year and do I remember any of those things anymore, no. It’s only helped to build character. Everyone’s journey is unique, never look at anyone and think that you want to be them. No one is telling you not to be inspired but champion your own greatness first, be your number 1 fan.