Wayne Hemingway

Wayne Hemingway MBE is a celebrated British designer who transforms how creativity drives social change through fashion, housing, and community regeneration. Co-founder of the award-winning Red or Dead brand and HemingwayDesign, he has spent over four decades pioneering affordable design solutions, from award-winning housing schemes and coastal regenerations to the groundbreaking Charity SuperMkt, which has raised millions whilst revitalising high streets across the UK. His work spans advising over 40 local authorities, reimagining heritage sites like Dreamland Margate, and creating beloved festivals including Vintage Festival and Festival of Thrift. Audiences leave his sessions equipped with practical insights on entrepreneurship, purposeful business, and how design thinking solves real-world challenges facing communities and organisations today.

When Wayne Hemingway MBE sold Red or Dead in 1999 after three consecutive Designer of the Year awards, he and his wife Gerardine could have retired comfortably. Instead, they founded HemingwayDesign with a mission to prove that good design could solve real social problems, from housing crises to high street decline. What began at market stalls in Camden selling second-hand clothes and Dr Martens has evolved into a four-decade career demonstrating how creativity, when paired with purpose, transforms communities. In 2023, the couple launched Charity SuperMkt, a groundbreaking retail concept that has already raised millions for charity whilst breathing new life into struggling town centres across the UK, destigmatising pre-loved fashion in the process.

Wayne's credentials extend far beyond his fashion legacy. As a professor in The Built Environment Department at Northumbria University and a longstanding member of the Design Council CABE Committee, he has advised over 40 local authorities and even the House of Lords on housing design. His 800-unit Staiths South Bank development in Gateshead won the 2005 Housing Design Award, setting a new standard for mass market housing that balances affordability with quality. HemingwayDesign has since delivered projects ranging from the £10 million heritage transformation of Dreamland Margate to coastal regenerations in Weymouth and Morecambe, uniform designs for Transport for London and the National Portrait Gallery, and beloved cultural festivals including Vintage Festival and Festival of Thrift. His client roster spans The National Trust, Shelter, Social Work England, and major brands, all benefiting from his team's deep understanding of how design intersects with social issues and community needs.

Wayne's speaking engagements offer audiences far more than design theory. Drawing from his unconventional journey and refreshingly honest reflections on entrepreneurship, he equips leaders with practical frameworks for building purposeful businesses that create measurable social impact. His insights on retail futures, town centre regeneration, and sustainable business models resonate across sectors, helping organisations understand how creative thinking solves the challenges facing communities today. Audiences leave with actionable strategies for embedding social value into commercial success, inspired by a speaker whose life's work proves that doing good and doing well are not mutually exclusive. Whether addressing corporate leaders, students, or public sector innovators, Wayne's warmth, Northern directness, and proven track record make complex ideas accessible and immediately applicable.