THE DEFINITIVE CHRISTOPHER KANE TIMELINE

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Christopher Kane yesterday announced that PPR have acquired a 51% stake in his business. Though it's not the end of Kane's story by any stretch of the imagination, its a huge milestone. To put it into context, I've compiled everything you need to know about Christopher from his Scottish beginnings to international fashion stardom in a kind of This Is Your Life style. It's quite a tale...

26th JULY 1982: Christopher Kane is born in the village of Newarthill, near Glasgow. Speaking about the area where he grew up, Chris says "Deprived areas are always the best dressed". He's the youngest of five children- brothers Jimmy and Robert, Sandra, who now heads up his Human Resources, and Tammy, his muse, constant collaborator, model and business partner. His Father Thomas, who died ten years ago, was a Draughtsman. His Mum, Christine, always gets a front row seat at his shows, of course.

EARLY 90s: Kane's Dad bought the first Satellite dish in their town. TV was a huge part of their life with their Auntie Sandra letting the Kane kids stay up late to watch horror films. Chris would religiously watch Versace Couture shows on Fashion TV, as well as Jeanne Barker's reports from the shows.

1994: Twelve year-old Christopher saves up his pocket money to buy Tammy a bright pink Versace Jeans Couture rubber dress for her school prom. Tammy remembers, "the teachers almost had a heart attack".

Chris and Tammy celebrate Louise Wilson's OBE (via style.com)

MID 90s: Chris goes to Taylor High, a Catholic school in Newarthil. Chris's art teacher, Jane Broughan, spots a talent and encourages him to take up life-drawing classes at Glasgow School of Art. At 14, he brought her an illustrated essay on Versace, including miniature outfits on hangers he had fashioned himself.

2000: Christopher moved to London and began studying at Central Saint Martin's, first completing a Foundation Degree in Fine Art. He goes on to do the BA in Fashion. While studying, he interned at Giles Deacon's studio: "I worked there for a couple of months as an intern. I didn’t really have any contact with Giles, but I absorbed how it all worked. It was a really useful experience."

2004- 2006: Kane does the legendary Fashion MA at Central Saint Martins under the watchful eye of Professor Louise Wilson. One night, he shows her "a nude lace dress made of stockings and cheap lace he’d bought at a Dalston market", according to Kane "Louise was smoking at the time. She looked at it, took a long draw, and said, ‘That. Is. Fucking amazing.’". Tammy was working in an Aston Martin showroom at the time but Chris would do his fittings on her after work.

Kane's MA graduate collection- March 2006 (image via thefoxyman.blogspot.co.uk)

MARCH 2006: His MA show- a collection inspired by Melanie Griffith in Working Girl- is a huge hit, winning him the Harrods Design Award. Donatella Versace and Anna Wintour get in touch. He's signed on as a consultant for Versace after turning down a full-time design role .

Melanie Griffith as Tess McGill in Working Girl

20th SEPTEMBER 2006: Kane gets NEWGEN for Spring/ Summer 2007 and does his first LFW show. It is widely declared to be a fashion moment.

"All this had been accomplished in Kane's rented living room in the East End with his sister, model, and business manager, Tammy—and a little help from Donatella" wrote Sarah Mower.



JANUARY 2007: Christopher designs his first capsule collection for Topshop. He says "Fashion is becoming more and more demographic and this will make my clothes more accessible."

2007: Christopher Kane for Topshop (image via nitrolicious.com)

FEBRUARY 13th 2007: The second collection in Kane's repertoire takes a dark turn, with a man-eating woman summing up the mood. Shoes were by Manolo Blahnik. That "fashion moment" seemed to have turned into something with real commercial possibilities; 22 dresses from the SS07 collection had sold in two days at Browns.

SEPTEMBER 2007: Kane wins Scottish Designer of the Year, but then disaster strikes as 23 pieces and a lap-top are stolen from the studio days before his SS08 show.

OCTOBER 2007: He dresses Beth Ditto for Swarovski Fashion Rocks. He later tells Opening Ceremony's Humberto Leon,  "I love Beth – she is beautiful inside and out. If you have a connection with someone, it shouldn't matter what clothes size they are."

Beth Ditto in Christopher Kane (image via Glamour.com)

NOVEMBER 2007: Wins Best New Designer at the British Fashion Awards

JUNE 2008: Kane gets Fashion Forward sponsorship from the BFC, the next step in establishing brand Christopher Kane.

FEBRUARY 2009: Spring/ Summer sells out on Net-a-Porter in an astonishing 24 hours.

MAY 2009: Ever eager to make his designs democratic, Christopher launches a t-shirt line featuring key motifs from each season's collection. The BBC follows the Kane crew for a documentary Raising Kane: Fashion's New Star.

Model in a monkey tee (image from 10magazine.com)

SEPTEMBER 2009: Christopher designs his first Versus collection which is shown at a presentation in Milan. Chris's Mum and sister Sandra give a super sweet interview to the Daily Record about how they always knew he'd make it in fashion.

Versus SS10 (via style.com)

SEPTEMBER 2010: Back to neon for a "Princess Margaret on acid" collection. Fluoro lace clutch bags emerged around this time as Kane's first experiment with accessories, not that it was completely intentional, “Tammy was unwell for a couple of weeks and I made them as a little ‘get well’ gift. I thought it would cheer her up.” Chris told The Times.

"Neon gets me going" (image via ColinMcDowell.com)

FEBRUARY 2011: J Brand collaboration announced. Chris and Tammy had already worked with the L.A denim label on the 5x5 project the previous year.

Christopher Kane for J Brand Resort '12

EARLY 2012: Tammy gives birth to baby Bonnie who then stars in her own LOVE magazine shoot a few months later, obvs. 

JULY 2012: Duchess of Cambridge wears Christopher Kane at the Olympics Opening ceremony

Kate in Kane (image via GraziaDaily.co.uk)

Chris on Hampstead Heath with loads of hot, young girls dressed in his AW12 collection, Dominque Young, Tali Lennox, Mickey Sumner and Cara Delvingne (image from Vogue.com)

NOVEMBER 2012: Kane denies that he is about to take over at Balenciaga, following Nicolas Ghesquiere's departure. It is also announced that he will no longer design for Versus.

JANUARY 2013: PPR buys a 51% stake in the Christopher Kane business. 

What next in the modern fashion fairytale???

Christopher Kane sells 51% Majority Stake to Luxury Group PPR, joins roster including Balenciaga, McQueen, Stella McCartney and Yves Saint Laurent

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

Christopher Kane

It's been tough keeping this one quiet, but at the stroke of midnight today, January 15th 2013, at last the news became public (my lip has been buttoned for ages). Christopher Kane the 30-year-old Glasgow born designer has sold a 51% stake of his business to the PPR Group in order to develop his business into a global luxury fashion brand.

This is brilliant news for a designer who graduated eight years ago with his Fashion MA from Central Saint Martins, and became an instant critical and commercial success. It makes today a very good day for British fashion and the education and grant system that supports and nurtures young talent, including not least the NEWGEN scheme which launched Chris into London Fashion Week for his first colour-popping show in September 2006, for S/S S2007. (Although sadly, if Christopher Kane was looking for a university place in England today, his 18 year old self would not be able to afford the fees.)

Even better, Kane will not be moving his catwalk shows to Paris; he stays in London.

In aligning with PPR Group (Printemps-Pinault-Redoute) Kane joins an impressive portfolio of luxury brands jockeying for 21st Century domination including Balenciaga (with newbie Alexander Wang as creative director), Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent with Hedi Slimane at the helm. His achievement is particularly sweet given the biggest fashion rumour connected to his name over 2012 was that he may be heading up design at Balenciaga following his departure from Versus, and the departure of Nicolas Ghesquiere from Balenciaga. "The Balenciaga thing wasn't a bad thing" Kane told Style.com, "but I had to make sure I denied that straightaway so that the PPR investment in my business didn't look like a consolation prize."

If this still leaves you slightly baffled as to its significance for Kane and the wider fashion picture, here are a few reasons why this is important news. Fans of Christopher Kane can rejoice in the knowledge that the Dalston, East London based designer will now be able to A) open stores globally over time, B) launch leather goods (woop!) C) spend more time creating his signature collection and less time on paperwork and the running of what was very much a family business with a small team of close confidantes.

"He is still the one and only graduate who was ever awarded New Gen funding right out of college," says Sarah Mower MBE the BFC Ambassador for Emerging Talent who discovered Kane while he was still at university. "We took a risk, which was stunningly well rewarded with his first neon-bandage show in Holland Park in September 2006 - one of the best London fashion shows ever and one which not only launched him, but marked the beginning of the wave of creativity and self-confidence which has transformed London in the eyes of the world." As head of the New Gen who has nurtured Kane from day one, Mower is also understandably pleased that he is staying loyal to his homeland. "I'm thrilled that Christopher has no thought of showing anywhere but London. That fact is the absolute proof and endorsement of how this city has been transformed as the international platform for new ideas."

For Kane and his business partner and sister Tammy Kane this means they needn't worry financially for a long time to come. Selling 51% of your company to one of the world's most powerful luxury groups is a mahoosive payday. Alexander McQueen is rumoured to have got £30 million in 2000 when he sold a 51% stake to the Gucci Group (as the fashion arm of PPR was still called then when it was co-run by Tom Ford).

It is worth noting that what Christopher has pulled off is even more impressive than it looks, as PPR group has not backed a young designer for a decade. Indeed, this is the very first fashion acquisition actively made by PPR chairman Francois-Henri Pinault; all the previous acquisitions were made under the leadership of Tom Ford and Domenico de Sole.

Francois-Henri Pinault described Kane as “ A truly great talent who in just a few years he has built a very distinctive and exciting brand with a unique DNA." For his part Kane told  US Vogue "Tammy and I have been dreaming of what we would do since I was about nine years old...we instinctively feel that PPR understand what we’re about and how we can grow- not headlong, but step by step. It’s fantastic to have that sense of security.”

I'm so proud of Christopher and Tammy and utterly delighted for them. They have been building their brand cleverly and diligently from day one, and it really couldn't happen to nicer people. Onwards!