Red or Dead is a fashion designer and

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

, started in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1982 by married couple Gerardine Hemingway and

Wayne Hemingway Wayne Andrew Hemingway (born 19 January 1961) is an English designer and co-founder of Red or Dead. He is also on the Design Council Trustee Board and having been with the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) for a de ...

. They design products such as

shoes A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture t ...

spectacles Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples o ...

, bags and

watches A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached b ...

History

In 1982, Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway opened a stall on

Camden Market The Camden markets are a number of adjoining large retail markets, often collectively referred to as Camden Market or Camden Lock, located in the historic former Pickfords stables, in Camden Town, London. It is situated north of the Hampstead ...

, London to sell items from their wardrobes. Within a year they had expanded to sixteen stalls of

second-hand Used goods mean any item of personal property offered for sale not as new, including metals in any form except coins that are legal tender, but excluding books, magazines, and postage stamps. Risks Furniture, in particular bedding or upholstere ...

clothes, purchased from all over the world.History of Red or Dead
on official website The company's name (Red or Dead) refers both to an inversion of the Cold War slogan " Better dead than red", and to Wayne's indigenous Canadian ancestors. The Hemingways began making and retailing their own designs. Red or Dead became popular with some young pop artists of the late 80'S, including Kylie Minogue, Bros, Jason Donovan and

Brother Beyond Brother Beyond were a British pop band who had success in the pop rock genre in the late 1980s. Biography The group's first four singles, "I Should Have Lied", "How Many Times", "Chain-Gang Smile" (produced by Don Was), and an early version of ...

. Wayne Hemingway later explained their goal "to be the first designer company that sold to everyday people".

London Fashion Week London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London twice a year, in February and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fashion wee ...

snubbed them at first on the grounds that designer fashion was meant to be

elitist Elitism is the belief or notion that individuals who form an elite—a select group of people perceived as having an intrinsic quality, high intellect, wealth, power, notability, special skills, or experience—are more likely to be construc ...

, but later relented, and Red or Dead won the

British Fashion Council The British Fashion Council (BFC) is a non-profit organization that aims to enable sustainable growth of British fashion in the global fashion economy. Founded in 1983, the BFC organizes biannual womenswear and menswear showcases, London Fashi ...

's Streetstyle Designer of the Year Award from 1995 to 1997. In 1995 they sold the brand to Stephen Hinchliffe's Facia Group. Facia collapsed the next year, and receivers sold Red or Dead back to the Hemingways. At that time it was counted as "one of the UK's leading fashion chains", employing more than 100 people. In 1998, Red or Dead was sold to the

Pentland Group Pentland Group is a British privately owned global company that owns and invests in, primarily, retail and wholesale businesses in the sports, outdoor and sports fashion sectors. The Group is the majority shareholder of JD Sports, which operate ...

Red or Dead products

Red or Dead expanded its product base and it currently includes footwear, clothing, fashion handbags, optical frames, swimwear and "glorious gussets" hosiery. The brand is also used on fragrance from

The Perfume Shop The Perfume Shop is a United Kingdom perfume retailer founded in 1992 and owned by A.S. Watson (Health & Beauty UK) Ltd, which is part of the A.S. Watson Group. The A.S. Watson Group acquired The Perfume Shop in 2005. The company is based in H ...

and fashion versions of

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

bicycles.Product pages on official website. Retrieved 21 August 2012. In the UK, Red or Dead's footwear range was exclusively sold through the Schuh chain of stores, but the brand is no longer listed by Schuh. It is not clear whether the range is currently available elsewhere.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Red Or Dead Shoe brands Companies established in 1982 Watch brands 1982 establishments in England

History

Red or Dead products

References

Further reading

External links