‘They’ll design almost anything’: Wayne Hemingway on how his working-class DIY roots helped him in fashion

Award-winning designer Wayne Hemingway speaks to Andy Martin about finding redemption with Red or Dead

‘We were at the right place at the right time with the right attitude,’ Hemingway says (Wayne Hemingway)

Have you ever had anyone tell you: “You’ll never amount to anything in life”? Don’t worry about it. Wayne Hemingway’s harsh and short-tenured stepdad told him exactly that after a poor school report. His attitude was, “I’m going to prove him wrong!” Which worked out well, considering he – in collaboration with his wife Gerardine – set up Red or Dead and Hemingway Design.

His father was Billy Two Rivers (his real name), a professional wrestler and a Mohawk chief. His mum worked for the Post Office by day and was a croupier by night, but “her whole life revolved around fashion and music”. His grandad was a miner in Grimethorpe Colliery and his grandma was a cleaner. Says Hemingway: “You can’t get more working-class than that.” When he was growing up, his grandad would make him toys and his mother would make all their clothes. So there was a great tradition of DIY in his family.

He won a scholarship to Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Blackburn, where he redoubled his efforts after the provocation of his stepdad. “It’s my firm belief, nobody is born with talent – but you can work for it,” says Hemingway. He compares himself with the young David Beckham who would not go to bed at night before he had kicked a ball through a tyre a hundred times.