Hamnett, Katharine

   b. 1948, Gravesend

   Fashion designer

   Katherine Hamnett founded her own company in London in 1979 after a decade of freelancing. Her menswear collection followed in 1982. She has become well-known for her allegiance to environmental and political issues, most famously noted in her introduction of slogan shirts in the 1980s, ranging from ‘Choose Life’ to ‘58 Per Cent Don’t Want Pershing’ (which she wore when meeting Margaret Thatcher, then Prime Minister, in 1984). Early collections made use of parachute silk, cotton jersey and drill, and highlighted her involvement with workwear and unisex styles, which have since been hugely imitated. She was nominated British Fashion Industry Designer of the Year in 1984, opened three more shops outside London in 1986, and launched her own short-lived magazine, Tomorrow, in 1985. Her influence declined in the 1990s.

   PETER CHILDS