Red or Dead
London, n3 2ql
England
About
founded by
Wayne Andrew Hemingway Esq & Geraldine Hemingway
belongs to
Wayne Hemingway
about
Red or Dead was started by Wayne Andrew Hemingway Esq and his good lady wife, Geraldine Hemingway back in 1982. They had no money, so they emptied their wardrobes and sold them on Camden market one Saturday and before they knew it they had 16 stalls.
By 1983, they had opened an outlet in fashionable Kensington, London selling Geraldine's self-made clothes. That same year the first Red or Dead collection, inspired by Russian peasant clothing, was launched and was an immediate success with large orders from US department store Macy's. To meet demand, Red or Dead opened a small production unit and the first ever Red or Dead shop opened in Blackburn, Lancashire. Red or Dead also began to sell Dr. Martens work-wear shoes as a fashion item.
In 1984 footwear becomes a major force at Red or Dead, first with old stock of 1950's and 1960's canvas and then canvas sourced from the Far East. Stores opened in Camden and Manchester in 1985 and in 1986 stores opened in Soho, London selling the first Red or Dead footwear range. The Neal Street store in London opened in 1987 and regular queues outside the shop appeared due to the success of the Red or Dead 'Watch' shoe as sported by teen band 'Bros'. The design team began to build in 1988 and in 1989 the first catwalk collection 'Space Baby' (for Spring/Summer 1990) was shown to world-wide acclaim.
The Look
Red or Dead was a reference to Wayne's Red Indian background and the fact that the first collection that Geraldine did was Russian inspired and so Red or Dead was started.