Why all Scots must avoid the heartache that I’ve suffered
As top Scottish designer backs healthy heart charity bid...
LEADING fashion designer Christopher Kane last night spoke for the first time about the pain of losing both his father and brother to heart disease.
The 36-year-old Scot, who has dressed stars from Kylie Minogue to Kate Moss, said the death of his older brother Robert at 52 came as a particular shock – and made him want to look after himself better.
The designer, whose sister Tammy is his business partner, added that the tragedy had encouraged him to cut back on his alcohol intake and lose weight.
Kane, who famously told Victoria Beckham she could buy, not borrow, his clothes, said: ‘My father and my brother both died of heart disease. My dad was 60 when he had his second heart attack in 2002. That was what killed him.
‘My brother died last year. It was a shock and a huge loss to the family. What it does do is spark something in your head and makes you think, “I want to get healthier and I want to do something about it and take care of myself and not let that happen to me”.’
He added that their deaths had a profound effect on him, saying: ‘The past six months I have lost weight and stopped drinking as much. There’s people dying younger than ever before.
‘Both my dad and brother led very stressful working lives. Growing up in Scotland, you work yourself to the bone and put a brave face on. They were typical men and didn’t talk about their emotions.
‘We need to talk more and speak louder and look after ourselves and each other.’
Kane, the youngest of five siblings from Newarthill, Lanarkshire, launched his eponymous label in 2006, along with sister Tammy, 41.
They opened their flagship store in London in 2015. The label has won the Vogue Fashion Fund and four British fashion awards.
Kane said the deaths of his father and brother had made him want to get involved in a new charity appeal by Heart Research UK as it was now a very personal family cause.
He is backing its Heart of Scotland campaign, along with other Scots celebrities such as singer Amy Macdonald and actress Siobhan Redmond.
The campaign was launched in Edinburgh last Wednesday and Kane has designed a T-shirt and four heart badges, the profits of which will go to the appeal.
The badges can be had for a donation and the T-shirts, which come in black and white emblazoned with a colourful heart, cost £19.95.
The campaign aims to help Scots safeguard their hearts – and Kane said it was a ‘no brainer’ when the charity approached him.
He said: ‘It’s so insightful what the charity does – and so important. People need to understand it’s a nationwide epidemic and people are dying. We need to do something about it and raise more awareness.
‘I’m happy to help and a T-shirt is something that I like.’
He added: ‘The T-shirt design is a dissected heart that shows different chambers and how the blood flows. I’ve always been into science and nature and the anatomy.
‘Using the key emotive words brave, love, life and care branded on the heart to get the charity’s message out there, it’s very symbolic. And I like colour. The heart badges are adorable and it means people don’t have to go full-on with a T-shirt but can wear a pin.’
Kane hopes that, with the help of Scottish celebrities and politicians, the appeal will be successful.
He said: ‘We have reached out to those in the public eye, which really gets people’s attention.
‘People will really relate to that and it will help to get them to listen. I am Scottish, so it means a lot and I’m very proud to be a part of it.’
With the support of The Scottish Mail on Sunday, Heart Research UK is raising funds to fight diseases that claim 41 lives every day.
Some 700,000 Scots live with heart or cardiovascular disease and Scotland is the ‘heart attack capital of the UK’.
Heart disease accounts for 26 per cent of all deaths north of the Border – double the rate for other parts of the UK. It costs the NHS in Scotland up to £800 million a year – £25 million of that for prescriptions.
‘I’m very proud to be a part of appeal’