Ian Callum Leaves Jaguar After Two Decades as Design Boss

By Editor

Posted: June 6, 2019

Ian Callum has announced he is to to leave Jaguar after two decades of being in charge of the British manufacturer’s design department.

Julian Thomson, currently the company’s creative design director, has been appointed to the role of director of design, effective as of next month.

Since joining Jaguar in 1999, Callum has established a new design philosophy and revived the British brand’s model range with a number of important cars.

The latter including the F-Type – Jaguar’s first two-seater sports car since the iconic E-type – the XE, XF and XJ saloons, and the marque’s first SUVs – F-Pace, E-Pace and most recently the all-electric I-Pace, which in April was crowned 2019 World Car of the Year, World Car Design of the Year and World Green Car.

“I have had an incredible career at Jaguar. One of my biggest highlights was creating XF because it represented the beginning of a new era moving Jaguar from tradition to contemporary design – it was a significant turning point in our story. Designing the F-Type was a dream come true for me, and I-Pace was an opportunity to create something hugely innovative that would really challenge the perception of Jaguar – and its success is testament to just how far the brand has come,” says the 64-year-old Scotsman, who spent the first 12 years of his career at Ford Design Studios, moving on to become chief designer of TWR Design, where he was responsible for the Aston Martin DB7, Vanquish and DB9.

In 2005 Callum was awarded the title of Royal Designer for Industry from the RSA. In 2014 he received the Minerva Medal – the highest accolade bestowed by the Chartered Society of Designers, awarded for a lifetime’s achievement in design.

Meanwhile, his successor, Julian Thomson (pictured below), since joining Jaguar in 2000, has overseen the development of the design concepts for the entire current product range. He began his career at Ford in Dunton, England, before moving to Lotus, where he became head of design, then chief of exteriors at Volkswagen Group’s Concept Design Centre.