Fashion guru Wayne Hemingway to redesign run-down estate

Images: 1 of 2

A world-famous fashion designer who went from blouses to building blocks has been signed up to inject some style into a run-down Maidenhead estate.

Clothing guru Wayne Hemingway, founder of the Red or Dead fashion label, is ready to give the notoriously shabby Evenlode area the ultimate makeover.

Rather than tear down the homes, which were built in the 1960s and are owned by Maidenhead and District Housing Association (MDHA), he has been looking at ways to revamp the existing buildings.

In an exclusive interview with the Advertiser, Hemingway said: "We are looking at what can be done to make it nicer. The reason we are doing it is we have met MDHA and they are a lovely bunch of people and sometimes that's how you choose a job."

The London-based designer gained international fame in the '90s when he set up Red or Dead with wife Geradine. Since selling the fashion label and setting up HemingwayDesign in 1999 the couple have worked on numerous high-profile developments - but this is their first time working on housing association property

Michael Fenner, assistant director of housing services at MDHA, said: "It's great news for us, wonderful."