Magnus Walker

Magnus Walker (born July 7, 1967), nicknamed the Urban Outlaw, is a British fashion designer and car collector. After emigrating to the United States in 1986, he established the Serious Clothing Brand, which was worn by the likes of Madonna, Alice Cooper, and Bruce Willis. Having been fascinated with Porsche since childhood, he started collecting and customising vintage Porsches, mostly of the 911 model. After the documentary Urban Outlaw about his life and fascination with Porsche was shown at the 2012 Raindance Film Festival, he became one of the world's most visible faces of the Porsche and car collecting scene, and has since been featured in a multitude of media, such as The Joe Rogan Experience (2015), and Jay Leno's Garage (2017), and the 2015 video game Need for Speed.

Early life

Walker was born in 1967.^[1] Growing up in Sheffield, England, Walker's fascination with the Porsche brand sparked when his father took him to the 1977 Earl's Court Motorshow as a 10 year old, where he saw the Porsche 911 for the first time. After that, he wrote Porsche a letter, asking for a job. Porsche actually replied and encouraged him to apply for a job when he had finished school. However, in 1982, Magnus had dropped out of school without a degree, got involved with the punk rock and heavy metal scenes, and bounced around places and jobs. Seeing no perspectives for the future in Britain, he decided to follow the American Dream and try his luck in the US. He got accepted as an instructor at a summer camp north of Detroit in 1986. He traveled to Los Angeles soon after the camp was over.^[1][2][3]

Fashion career

Shortly after his arrival in Los Angeles, Walker stumbled into the fashion scene by accident. Having resewn a pair of $10 pants to make them fit, he was approached by Taime Downe of glam metal band Faster Pussycat.^[1][2] He sold him eight pairs of his customised pants for $25 each and soon after established a stall on Venice Beach, where would sell customised clothing he revamped from cheap clothes he bought at flea markets or second hand stores. Soon, he was earning $2,000 a weekend. By the early 1990s, his brand, now dubbed Serious Clothing, was a multi-million-dollar business venture, and was worn by the likes of Madonna, Alice Cooper, and Bruce Willis.^[2][3][1] To accommodate his company's growth, which was now being sold at retailers worldwide, he bought a huge but run-down factory building in the Arts District of Los Angeles. This accidentally established a second venture, as when interest in his person grew, he was approached whether he would rent parts of his property as filming locations. Bruce Willis, Victoria Beckham, Jay-Z and Prince, among others, have filmed adverts, films or music videos on his company grounds.^[3][1] After about 15 years of manufacturing clothes, the sales of Serious Clothing began to dwindle, and Walker and his wife no longer felt connected to the scene, so they sold their business and the company eventually closed.^[4] On June 1, 2017, Walker published his autobiography Urban Outlaw: Dirt Don't Slow You Down, detailing his rise and fall in the fashion industry.

Car collection and Porsche scene career

With his fashion business soaring, Walker was finally able to fulfill his childhood dream of buying a Porsche when he bought a 1974 Porsche 911 in 1992. He started to collect more and more cars and joined the Porsche Club of America in 2002, to find a more suitable outlet for his love for speed. He started participating in race events and he sold all cars of his that weren't Porsches and instead focused his efforts on completing his collection of vintage 911s.^[2] At a later point, he sold some of his over 40 Porsches and now holds a customised collection of 25 cars worth approximately $7.5 million, which are not for sale.^[4] He, however, sells merchandise and offers customisation services under his own imprint, Urban Outlaw. Having a background in fashion design, he did not conform to the unwritten rules of vintage car restoration and strived to turn every car he owned into a unique piece of art without compromising its Porsche roots.^[2] Due to this and his edgy appearance, unusual for a Porsche enthusiast,^[2][1][5] he soon attracted more public attention.

In 2012, Walker was approached by advertisement director Tamir Moscovici, who intended to film a documentary about him and his car collection. The resulting short film, Urban Outlaw, was shown at the 2013 Sundance Festival to "rave reviews"^[2] and suddenly turned Walker into a public phenomenon for the custom car scene and he was featured in multiple automobile magazines and invited to events. His newfound fame led to Porsche, 35 years after he wrote a letter of application as a child, reaching out to him. He has since featured in several Porsche adverts and acts as a spokesperson for the brand.^[2][4][1] Furthermore, he appeared in several other documentaries, such as I am Steve McQueen (2014) and Motor City Outlaw (2016) and TV shows, such as How I Rock It (2013), The Joe Rogan Experience (2015), and Jay Leno's Garage (2017), mostly centering on his role as a Porsche collector and customiser. In 2015, he was featured in the video game Need for Speed, as one of the icons the player character and his crew seek to impress.

Personal life

Walker was married to his wife of 21 years, Karen, who passed away in 2015.^[1][3] She along with him designed for and managed Serious Clothing and had the idea of buying the property that would turn into his film venture.

He is now romantically involved with Bloomberg cars editor Hannah Elliott.^[1]

Filmography

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Magnus Walker.

• Official Website of Magnus Walker
• Official Website of Urban Outlaw
• Magnus Walker on IMDb