1 CHRISTOPHER KANE

Here’s the thing. Christopher Kane is only 34 years old. He has been at the cutting edge for more than a decade, making his mark with neon bondage dresses and endorsements from Anna Wintour and Donatella Versace in the early days to pimping crocs and covering cashmere with foil in his latest collection, inspired by factory workers and lab technicians. The boy wonder is now a fixture of fashion, helped by the input from luxury goods group Kering, which bought a majority share in the business in 2013. Before that Kane, from Newarthill in North Lanarkshire, was supplying goods out of his bedroom. Now he has a London store, has teamed up with Nars on makeup and, before that, with J Brand on accessories, and has the financial muscle to back his creativity. That backing has freed Kane, and his right-hand woman Tammy, his sister, to push the envelope of what fashion can be while never losing sight of the fact the craft matters too. Back in the early years of Kane’s rise I remember sitting on his bed in east London while he told me about his ambitions, about who he wanted to see in his clothes and who he didn’t (he has never been one to mince his words). Draped in scarves and long hair he was an out-of-time hippie princeling. All these years later, he has grown up but not grown out of the desire to go his own way. Here, he tells us about his background and his ambitions. Do you think your Scottishness feeds into your design and if so in what way? The landscape of my childhood and my family has certainly had an influence. I love that I can call on certain characters from my childhood as a source of inspiration but, most importantly, it is the strong work ethic which was instilled in me from a young age. I was raised knowing that to succeed you have to work hard. I also think Scottish humour has got me a long way. I don’t take myself too seriously which is helpful when you can sometimes be surrounded by the rich and famous. I do not take anything for granted even after 10 years. Now that you’ve achieved so much what does the word ambition mean to you? I never wake up and think I can relax because of what I have achieved. I know that to achieve all of my dreams I have to work hard every day. You don’t get handed things in fashion – you have to find your place and defend it every season. My ambition is to see my business grow at a steady speed and open shops in major cities all over the world. In saying all that, as I’m a little older I realise the importance of family and friends. What’s the point of it all if you can’t spend time and enjoying life and what you have? (TJ)

PHOTOGRAPH: MARK MAINZ Christopher Kane: ‘Scottish humour has got me a long way’