Katharine Hamnett is a London fashion icon, a trail blazer when it comes to style and a religiously dedicated champion of all things ethical, fair trade and environmentally friendly.
She first hit the scene back in the 1979 when she launched her debut slogan T-shirts, emblazoned with things like ‘Choose Life’ and ‘Ban Pollution’. Yes, she got there first, inspiring countless copies by everyone from Paul Morley, who designed the Frankie Says Relax tees based on Hamnett’s offerings, to the more recent riffs that propelled Henry Holland to stardom.
Not that she simply focused on the political statements. For years Hamnett had a fully fledged line, with boutiques across the globe and a hardcore cult following among the most stylish men and women the eighties had to offer. In fact, you can thank her for developing the stonewashed denim that's so associated with the era, not to mention being the force behind the harem pant. She's also responsible for discovering a clutch of now-familiar names in the fashion industry: Ellen von Unwerth and Terry Richardson both kick-started their careers by shooting campaigns for her.
Her creations earned her the accolade of Designer of the Year in 1984, awarded to her by the British Fashion Council. And they also bagged her a now legendary trip to 10 Downing Street, where she met the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wearing a '58% Don't Want Pershing' T-shirt.
Clearly she has never been one afraid to speak her mind, and she’s probably best known for pushing environmental issues and fair trade fashion to the foreground. In 1989 she began looking more closely into the impact that the fashion and textiles industries were having on the environment, and what she found propelled her to launch a 'Clean Up Or Die' collection and spend the next 14 years championing better ways of producing clothes. In 2004 she even shuttered her label in order to rebuild it with a completely ethical supply chain.
This season she’s launching her first full collection for years, made from ethically sourced fabrics of course, and she’s offering up everything from beautifully cut jeans to slouchy jumpsuits. The pieces are set to hit Net-A-Porter this month.
And that’s not all. In support of Fairtrade Fortnight and to celebrate 20 years of fair trade cotton, she’s also designed a couple of T-shirts for the Environmental Justice Foundation. As modelled by Pixie Geldof, the tees are emblazoned with ‘No More Fahsion Victims’, and profits from their sale will be used to help the charity.
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