Red or Dead was started by Wayne Andrew Hemingway Esq and his good lady wife, Geraldine Hemingway back in 1982.

Red or Dead was a reference to Wayne's Red Indian background and the fact that the first collection that Geraldine did was Russian inspired and so Red or Dead was started.

Before long they had a decent sized company and then they stumbled across Dr Martens and changed them from just being a work-wear item into something that became fashionable all around the world.

The public liked Red or Dead as a remedy even though the rest of the industry didn't and at first Red or Dead were not allowed to be part of London Fashion week. The fact that people wanted to buy Red or Dead forced the industry to accept Red or Dead as part of the fashion establishment and as a result started doing catwalk. The first collection was in 1989 and that was Space Baby and then it was just onwards and upwards. In the mid 1990's Red or Dead won Street Style Designer of the Year for three years on the run.

Red or Dead is a lot more than a fashion label; it was never about spending a lot of money, it was more about ideas and trying to make things as affordable as possible. Basically being creative with the materials you have, the early eco warrior!

There are lots of messages that we try to get across in our products that other designers have never tried to tackle before. Red or Dead is a brand that is for everyone.

Whilst a lot of high fashion is taken very seriously, we don't think it should be taken seriously; fashion is about fun and Red or Dead has always been about fun.

For more information about Red or Dead read the book 'Red or Dead - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' written by Tamsin Kingswell, published by Thames & Hudson.