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Can we still call Christopher Kane a “boy wonder” now that he’s 34? I think we can. I mean, Jean Paul Gaultier is our enfant terrible forever, and he’s 64.
Back in 2006, Kane deserved the term in its literal sense. The then 24-year-old Scot was fresh out of London’s iconic St Martins fashion school when he was proclaimed New British Designer of the Year.
But “boy wonder” is a state of mind. It suggests more than simply kicking goals at an impressively early age; it’s about attitude.
Kane is a rebel with a cause, a style revolutionary, with a punk-meets-disco sensibility, a proper sense of humour and a passion for neon.
Cate Blanchett
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Anne Hathaway
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FKA Twiggs
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Who else could get Cate Blanchett on the red carpet in a frock full of holes? Or Anne Hathaway in a striped boob tube covered in thorny blue roses? Kane dressed both Poppy Delevingne and Alexa Chung for last year’s Serpentine Summer Party, the latter in surreal lace that depicted lovers having a snog. FKA Twigs wore a dress from the same collection to last year’s Met Gala.
Kane famously toughed up spring pastels with strips of black gaffer tape, and annotated his floral prints (handy if you don‘t know your stamens from your stigmas).
For Autumn ‘16, he sent models down his runway wearing plastic headscarves like ones his mum used to embarrass him with as a kid.
We say you can be our boy wonder for at least another decade, Mr Kane.
