Meet The Badly Behaving, Fabulously Dressed Offspring Of A British Rockstar
REUTERS/John Stillwell
Yesterday, Vanity Fair came out with its annual International Best Dressed List for 2013. Making this year's cut were three very well-heeled brothers — Otis, Isaac, and Tara Ferry — known in Great Britain as the "feral Ferrys."
But they're not quite as well-known here across the pond.
So who are the Ferry brothers? Otis, Isaac, and Tara are the sons of Bryan Ferry, the famous British lead singer of Roxy Music. Their mother is Lucy Helmore, an aristocratic former model, who has since remarried nightclub tycoon Robin Birley. The Ferrys have a fourth brother named Merlin who didn't make the Vanity Fair list.
The four brothers are frequent fodder for the British tabloids thanks to their run-ins with the law, ties to gorgeous socialites and models, and forays into the music industry. They're also incredibly charming, good looking, and talented.
REUTERS/Toby Melville 30-year-old Otis is the oldest of the Ferry brothers, and also the one with the longest rap sheet. His first arrest was in August 2002 when he was caught planning to plaster pro-hunting posters on the walls of then-Prime Minister Tony Blair's home at 4 AM.
His most famous incident was two years later, when he and several other men broke into the chambers of the House of Commons to protest a ban on hunting with dogs.
But the biggest legal trouble for Otis came when he was locked up for four months in a Category B prison after being arrested for robbery, common assault, and alleged witness tampering in 2007. Ferry told The Telegraph he intervened in a fight between three pro-hunting and anti-hunting supporters, and took a video camera from the scene that documented the incident.
One of the anti-hunting supporters, however, claimed he had fought her for the camera and she was left injured, The Telegraph reported.
After his release, a judge later described Ferry's custody as "nonsensical and farcical," according to the Telegraph. He was released on bail after four months and eventually pleaded down to a public order offense and paid a $685 fine.
Otis now lives in a two-bedroom cottage in Shropshire with 60 hunting hounds, five horses, and three pet dogs. His title as joint hunt master of the South Shropshire Hunt doesn't pay, so he makes ends meet by writing for a living and serving as a spokesperson for leather brand Noble Macmillan.
He's currently dating 22-year-old model Edie Campbell, who has been featured on the cover of British Vogue, and is the face of Marc Jacobs, Jil Sander, and Lanvin.
Burberry 28-year-old Isaac is known for partying in London, and has been attached romantically to Sienna Miller, British models, and even his father's now-wife Amanda Sheppard, a 30-year-old former party planner.
He's a music producer — including for his father's band Roxy Music — and DJs fashion parties at night, according to The Standard.
He also works as a model himself. Isaac made his modeling debut when he was 16 at a summer 2002 menswear show for Christian Dior in Paris, and even worked with Kate Moss in a Burberry campaign. Most recently he was a spokesperson for MR PORTER.
Though he's never been arrested, Isaac was expelled from the prestigious Eton boarding school in 2002 after allegedly sending an abusive email to an anti-hunt campaigner, according to Express.
According to insiders, he's also a talented graphic design artist and a good tennis player.
Lanvin 23-year-old Tara is also a model like his older brother, having posed for big brands like Burberry and Lanvin.
A graduate of the Chelsea College of Art and Design, he's a drummer for the band Rubber Kiss Goodbye, and sometimes drums in his father's band Roxy Music as well.
His most tabloid-y incident occurred in 2004 when he was suspended from Bryanston School in Dorset after allegedly being caught with marijuana.
All-in-all, he's the most tame of the four brothers.
The baby of the clan, 22-year-old Merlin may not have made Vanity Fair's best dressed list this year, but he is making headlines.
REUTERS/John Stillwell The youngest Ferry just narrowly avoided jail after being caught carrying a knife for the second time, according to The Daily Mail (For the time being, he was given 100 hours of community service and told to pay a $760 fine.)
Merlin was allegedly carrying the knife when police searched his car for drugs, and reportedly mouthed off to the cops, telling them to go away and "investigate real crime," as well as "you can just unarrest me now," according to The Daily Mail.
Merlin is a guitar player for the band Voltrob, and even played on one of his father's tracks for the 2010 album Olympia.
He's currently at Manchester University, and spent his gap year traveling around America. He says he eventually wants to go back to New York and make films for a living, according to The Standard.
With their recent Vanity Fair title as some of the world's best-dressed men, here's to hoping the Ferry brothers won't be settling down anytime soon.