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Wayne Hemingway | |
|---|---|
 Hemingway in 2013 | |
| Born | (1961-01-19)19 January 1961 (age 64) Morecambe, England, U.K. |
| Label | Red or Dead |
| Father | Billy Two Rivers |
Wayne Andrew HemingwayMBE (born 19 January 1961)[1] is an English designer and co-founder ofRed or Dead.[2] He is also on the Design Council Trustee Board[3] and having been with theCommission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) for a decade since its inception (as Chair of Building For Life) is now on the Design Council CABE Committee. Hemingway is a Professor in The Built Environment Department of Northumbria University, a Doctor of Design at Wolverhampton, Lancaster and Stafford, a Fellow of Blackburn College and a Senior Fellow ofRegent's University London.
Hemingway was born inMorecambe, Lancashire, the son ofMohawk chief and formerwrestlerBilly Two Rivers.[4] His father left the family and returned to Canada when Wayne was three years old, but the two later resumed contact.[5][6]
Hemingway's earliest memories are of his mother and grandmother dressing him up asElvis, aBeatle orTarzan and being paraded up and down Morecambe pier.[7]His grandfather worked atGrimethorpecolliery as a civil engineer.[4]He lived on Thirlmere Drive and attended Lancaster Road school.[8] He later earned a scholarship atQueen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn.[9]
In 1982 he completed aDegree inGeography andTown Planning atUniversity College London,[10] and subsequently completed an MA in Fashion at theUniversity of Surrey.[11]
On 25 June 2014, Wayne Hemingway and his wife, Gerardine Hemingway MBE, were made Honorary Senior Fellows ofRegent's University London.[12]
Hemingway started his fashion career by selling items from his wardrobe, and that of his childhood sweetheart (now wife) Gerardine, inCamden Market.[7] It was such a success that Gerardine opened a stall in the Kensington market, selling clothes she produced from a sewing machine on-site.[13]
It was £6 rent for the stall and we took £80 the first day. It just took off from there.[14]
They proved successful, and by the end of the year they had 16 stalls at the market, with shipments of second-hand clothing and footwear brought in from all over the world.[2]
By 1983, they had opened a shop inKensington, London, selling Gerardine's self-made clothes. That same year, the first Red or Dead collection was also created, inspired by Russian peasant clothing. It was well received and they obtained a large order from US department storeMacy's. Red or Dead stores began to sellDr. Martens work-wear shoes as a fashion item, thus began a range of fashion shoes within the stores.[2]
Their Red or Dead brand went on to win theBritish Fashion Council's Street style Award in 1995, 1996, and 1997.[15]
In 1998 Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway sold the Red or Dead company toPentland Group a privately held, global brand management company.[16] The sale financed Gerardine's design of their house inChichester, West Sussex.[17] The house cost around £330,000 to build and furnish (in 2005).[18]
In 1999 they set up 'HemingwayDesign', which specialises in affordable and social design. The highest profile project Homes. theStaiths South Bank, an 800 property mass market housing project onTyneside forTaylor Wimpey Homes[19] Award has won a series of high-profile awards, including the 2005 Housing Design Award for best large project[20] and Building Magazine's "Best Housing-Led Regeneration Project"[21] and the highest rating of any large-scale scheme in a recentCABE audit.[7] Other major projects include The BridgeDartford, a development of 1,000 homes inKent.[22]
He designed thePure Bug digital radio receiver.[23]
Hemingway has designed beachpods inBoscombe for rent and sale, which raised over £1 million for the local authority.[24]
In 2010, he wrote theforeword to the bookCycling in the North of England.[25]
Hemingway's team organised a new cultural event in August 2010, the 'Vintage Festival'. In 2011, the festival took place atSouthbank Centre in London, as part of the 60th Anniversary of theFestival of Britain (held originally in 1951), and again in 2012. In 2013, the Vintage Festival took place inGlasgow[26] andMorecambe. Hemingway said
We loved visiting Glasgow when we had our Red or Dead shop on Buchanan Street and have always enjoyed visiting Glasgow's Merchant City.[26]
A Vintage New Year was held at Southbank Centre in 2013. October 2013 saw the launch of Vintage presents A Classic Car Boot Sale.[27]
In 2012, Wayne, Gerardine, and the 'HemingwayDesign' team were appointed as designers of the historic and disusedDreamland site inMargate. This included the transformation and branding of the £10m heritagetheme park.[28]
In 2012, Hemingway received an honorary degree ('Doctor of Arts') fromLeeds Metropolitan University.[29]
In 2014, Hemingway's company introduced a new London Underground staff uniform, initially trialled at several stations and train depots before being introduced company-wide in 2015.[30] In the same year, it was announced he was to become patron ofThe Unite Foundation, a charity providing free university accommodation to young people in the UK from challenging backgrounds.[31]
Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway were both appointedMBE in 2006, for services to the design industry, in theQueen's Birthday Honours.[32] They live in Chichester, West Sussex and have four children - Jack, Tilly, Corey and Beck.[4] They also have aspringer spaniel called Minnie.
Wayne is a supporter ofBlackburn Rovers[33] and became an Honorary Patron of leading Blackburn Rovers supporters group, The BRFC Action Group, in May 2012.[citation needed]
Hemingway has made several appearances on theSky Sports 2 TV showSoccer AM.[34]
Wayne has also written a few design books.
