Christopher Kane Lands Creative Director Job at Once Buzzy British Fashion Brand

Christopher Kane was a big deal in the late 2000s. The collection of lacy, tight, and very short dresses he designed for his 2006 Central Saint Martins MA runway show made him an overnight sensation. Soon his designs were flying around the world for major editorials and Kane began working at Versace, designing for their now defunct Versus diffusion line and consulting on couture and accessories. At one point, it even seemed like he might take over at the Italian luxury house, especially after Donatella Versace told Vogue.com in 2011 that, “Christopher reminds me of my brother Gianni when he was young. He has the same energy. That is why I asked him to work on Versus. It was the first collection that my brother Gianni let me work on, on my own, so it’s very precious to me.”

2006 was also the year that Kane and his sister Tammy launched the Christopher Kane namesake label, which, for a while at least, was both a critical and commercial success. He won the Vogue Fashion Fund award in 2011 and multiple British Fashion Awards including New Designer of the Year in 2007 and Womenswear Designer of the Year in 2013. 2013 was also the year that Kering bought a 51% stake in the company with plans to grow the business and start open freestanding Christopher Kane stores around the world.

Those stores never materialized, though, and Kering sold their shares back to the Kanes in 2019. Then, in June of 2023, the brand appointed insolvency firm FTS Recovery to either find a buyer for the business or help secure an investor to refinance its debt. When no interested party could be found, the brand shut down.

After that, Kane sort of disappeared for a while. He made a brief comeback with a fabulous capsule collection of tight little dresses for Self-Portrait that recalled his star-making graduate school collection, but the collaboration was a one-off and came and went without too much fanfare.

Now Kane appears to be back for real though, having accepted the role of creative director of women’s ready-to-wear at Mulberry.

“Welcoming Christopher marks an important moment for Mulberry as we open a new chapter for ready-to-wear,” said Mulberry CEO Andrea Baldo via a press release. “Christopher brings a rare combination of creativity, intellectual rigor and instinctive playfulness, alongside a deep respect for craft and materials. His vision resonates strongly with Mulberry’s heritage and the spirit of British creativity that defines the house. Together we look forward to evolving Mulberry’s creative language beyond accessories and shaping a compelling future for ready-to-wear on a global stage.”

“It is an honor to join Mulberry,a brand with such a rich British heritage and a deep commitment to craft,” said Kane. ” I look forward to working closely with Andrea and the team to create a new chapter of ready-to-wear that celebrates the spirit of Mulberry.”

Mulberry was big around the same time Kane was, but their aesthetics could not have felt more different. Although Mulberry’s bags were huge in late 2000s and early 2010s — seen on the likes of Kate Moss, Alexa Chung, and Sienna Miller at the height of their influence — their ready-to-wear collections, which launched in earnest for Spring 2009, always felt more high street than high fashion and tended to lack the sex appeal and kinky subversion (aka edge) that made Kane’s collections sing.

It will be interesting to see how these former darling’s of British fashion come together when Kane presents his first collection for the brand in September. And how customers react in January 2027, when Kane’s clothes will finally hit stores. Here’s hoping these two can make some magic happen. Kane’s certainly got the talent and Mulberry is definitely lucky to have him. Now they just have to empower him to do what he does best.

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