Wayne Hemingway believes in the supremacy of design, whether in clothes or in buildings.

At the height of his fame as a fashion designer, he sold his iconic company, Red or Dead and turned his attention to social housing.

Red or Dead began as a market stall in Camden. The label went on to receive global acclaim for its distinctive footwear, clothing and accessory collections and won the British Fashion Council’s Street Style Designer of the Year award three years running.

Wayne’s focus now is Hemingway Design, which specialises in affordable and social housing.
Projects include a new settlement of 3000 homes in Lothian and apartments in Manchester’s
Northern Quarter. Their high profile project on Tyneside has won a series of major awards
including Housing Design Awards (best large project) and Building Magazine’s Best Housing-
Led Regeneration Project. Other developments include those at Dartford, Aylesbury and
Maidenhead.

Apart from housing, Wayne’s company has designed anything from digital radios to tiles, foldup
bikes and water-butts shaped like bottoms. His published books include Just Above The
Mantelpiece and Mass Market Classics. As well as writing for architectural and housing
publications, he is a regular on television and radio. He is a Professor at The School of the
Built Environment at Northumbria University, and a judge of the Stirling Prize. He is currently
on the panel of the Eco Towns Challenge.