On-message in a bottle: Darren Kennedy

Dismiss Darren Kennedy as hot air at your peril: the effervescent Dubliner credits his success across a dizzying array of projects to ‘preparation’ and sticking to his values as he launches a new range of grooming products

Darren Kennedy photographed at The Grayson on St Stephen’s Green Pic: Marc O’Sullivan

Darren Kennedy is not smiling. And this, reader, is not the norm. Kennedy is sitting in the Blue Room at Dublin’s The Grayson, a good-looking space that suits the 37-year-old just so. He has laughed, smiled, brooded and expertly hair-flicked for the Magazine’s photographer. But now, as he settles down to chat, it seems the Kennedy positivity bank is running on empty.

“Are you . . . stressed?” the Magazine asks.

“No, do ...