Redefining heritage

摘要

Certain brands have strong national heritage. You could say that the brand is dependent on this, but how do you keep this identity fresh and contemporary, asks Nargess Shahmanesh-Banks. Jaguar, like Mini, is quintessentially a British car with an exceptionally strong national heritage. An American, for instance, is buying into exactly this British-ness when he or she invests in a Jaguar, which can possibly also explain the new Mini's overwhelming and unusual success there. The beauty in national identity, however, is that it is not static. It is something that is constantly absorbing new elements and by nature, it needs to go through a continuous metamorphosis. Ian Callum, Jaguar's design director, has been thinking hard about defining what it is to be British today.