Christopher Raeburn

DESIGNER NAME: Christopher Raeburn

BACKGROUND: Raeburn graduated from the Royal College of Art nearly four years ago. He freelanced mainly as a pattern cutter before setting up his own studio, and later his label. He comments, “I knew that I wanted to do my own production and because the label’s remade nature is fairly specialist, it’s taken a while to grow to the point I’m at now. I’m excited about the next steps”.

SIGNATURES: “Innovative, functional and fun.”

IDEAL CLIENT: “I think my customer changes a lot but I’d like to think they are looking for something different, ethically intelligent and proudly remade in England.”

TRADEMARK PIECE: “The Pop Out Parka. I take the iconic and trademark shape of the parka and re-develop it into two jackets that can function together or separately through their innovative cut and technique.”

THE COLLECTION: “Spring/summer 2013 will see the development of our original parachute concept, with a broader interpretation of the idea...”

3 LONDON TIPS: “The Chiswick Boot Fair has always been a personal favourite. I also recommend The Wapping Project and a walk around the surrounding area, as well as escaping the city (sort of) to Epping Forest.”

ON BRITISH MENSWEAR: “British menswear is distinguished by its breadth. The backbone of the industry isn’t one strict idea of what British menswear should be, we’re not reliant on just one look. We have everything from heritage and craft to experimental design work, fusing so many cultures. The tribes that have dominated different decades also serve as globally inspirational references.”

FUTURE PLANS: “First of all, I'm looking forward to London Collections: Men in June but beyond that it's Paris, New York and trips to Tokyo. I'm very excited about a collaboration that I've been working on that will launch in the autumn. I'm proud of the team that's growing around me and I'm looking forward to building the business into the future.”

Christopher Raeburn won the Emerging Talent - Menswear award at the British Fashion Awards 2011