Item 2020.16 - Katharine Hamnett 'Clean up or Die' Denim Jacket

1979–present
Katharine Hamnett CBE (b. 1947) graduated from St Martin’s School of Art in 1969. The Katharine Hamnett label was founded in 1979 and introduced its menswear line in 1981. The initial menswear collection was inspired by utility menswear and uniforms and was characterized by parachute silk, cotton jersey and a prewashed crumpled aesthetic. A denim diffusion range was launched in 1982. In 1984, Katharine Hamnett produced several oversized silk T-shirts with slogans, one of which read ‘58% Don’t Want Pershing’, referring to the UK’s opposition to American Pershing missiles. She later wore one to a Downing Street (the official residence of the UK prime minister) reception where she met then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In 1984 she was named Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards. She launched her magazine Tomorrow in 1985. By 1986 the company’s turnover was £4 million. The same year, the first Katharine Hamnett store opened on London’s Brompton Road, designed by Norman Foster and backed by investor Peter Bertelsen. In 1989 her business was worth £20 million, and she signed a contract with CGA in Italy.
In 1998, Stile Moda’s five-year licence to produce Katharine Hamnett Denim and Katharine Hamnett London was terminated, replaced by an agreement with the Italian company Sportswear International to launch a men’s and women’s sportswear and denim line. Katharine Hamnett Denim was produced from 1994 and was relaunched as Katharine E Hamnett Jeans in 2008. In 2003 it was reported that The Juice Corporation was funding the designer with a line named Hamnett. The brand was relaunched as Katharine E. Hamnett in Autumn Winter 2005. The E was said to stand for Ethical and Environmental, and the line was made with pesticide-, chlorine- and heavy metal–free fabrics. Hamnett relaunched in 2017 with organic fabrics and Italian manufacturing, initially selling online.
Sources: British Vogue; Drapers; Terry Jones, ed., Fashion Now (Köln: Taschen, 2012); The Guardian; The Sunday Times; The Telegraph; The Times; WWD; Manchester Evening News.