Wayne Hemingway Interview

FLIPPING burgers may not be the most glamourous of jobs, but there’s no reason why McDonald’s staff shouldn’t look good while doing it.

And it’s to that end the world’s largest fast food chain has turned to Northern fashion designers Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway and their design team to revamp the staff uniforms. With the former Red or Dead duo at the helm, staff might actually start uttering the slogan ‘I’m lovin’ it’ about their new grease stained kecks.

“We would consider doing a vintage festival in Manchester but we’d have to be convinced we could get the numbers. An event like this needs the critical mass but for certain, yes.”

This isn’t just any old makeover though. The uniforms will be styled on sustainability – a factor Wayne and Gerardine promote in all their work.

“It’s not just about fashion,” Wayne said. “That’s one part of it, but employees have to look good, feel good and be happy in what they wear. But beneath all this is the most sustainably advanced clothing project, possibly ever.

“McDonalds has been very forward thinking. They were the first company to stop using battery farm chickens and eggs. So much is happening in terms of what they’re doing with packaging and recycling and I think this is the next logical step - to do something with clothing.

Wayne Hemmingway“It’s a big investment but between ourselves and Worn Again (specialists in corporate upcycling), there’s the solution - good designers and technical brilliance, working out new ways of sustainability.”

It’s a bold move for McDonald’s, which at present has 64 million customers stuffing their faces daily – with or without sustainably dressed staff behind the counters. Figures aside, Wayne believes McDonald’s is very aware of its moral duty to lead the way.

“The investment in the future is substantial but that’s the joy of being a company like McDonalds,” he said. “They’ve got to lead. A small company couldn’t afford to do this. They serve the mass market. We enjoy working with big companies because we know you can get a job done.”

Wayne wasn’t up for giving away any details of the new uniform design, but didn’t hesitate in answering when asked about his thoughts of the current uniform.

“Time for a change” he said.

So expect the new design to be a far cry from the current two-tone black and brown polo shirt, baseball cap and black trousers designed by Bruce Oldfield three years ago.

“You wouldn’t look at the new design and think it’s weird. It’s very wearable but dramatically different. Lots of the staff have seen the designs so far. We’ve listened to their comments but at the moment it’s getting lots of good feedback.”

Furthermore, the new design will be 100 per cent closed loop recyclable.

“This means you make fabric for work wear so when it’s at the end of its life it gets ground down into the original material and remade into garments again. Nothing ever goes to landfill.”

Mcdonald's Old UniformThe new uniform designs will be unveiled next year before the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games after which it will be rolled out to all 1,200 restaurants.

In the meantime, the Hemmingways will be getting on with some of their other design projects, including next year’s Vintage Festival in London and maybe even one up North, if the demand is great enough.

“The Vintage Festival was amazing. We’re all knackered but it went really well. There’s always things we want to improve on, in the same way Glastonbury strives to improve 40 years after it started. It was a big success but like anything there’s loads more you can do better.

“We would consider doing a vintage festival in Manchester but we’d have to be convinced we could get the numbers. An event like this needs the critical mass but for certain, yes.”

The festival is an annual summer event which unites music and fashion with attention to how previous decades have influenced today’s British creative culture. Looking to potential future vintage, Wayne has his sights set on a few favoured brands.

“Whenever I go shopping I see stuff. Paul Smith, Cos - everywhere you look there are things that will certainly be worn by future generations. A lot of stuff is disposable and so doesn’t stand the test of time quality wise, but there is still lots of stuff that is well made enough. You see book covers and artwork too.”

Vintage Festival PosterFrom fashion to festivals and a project Wayne tells me he’s been working on before speaking to me this morning – ‘housing for the elderly’ – there’s plenty of scope for Hemingway Design. They’ve come a long way since the Red Or Dead days of the 80s and 90s. In 1999, having sold Red Or Dead, they decided to branch out into affordable and social design, with a variety of designers now making up the team.

“We take it very seriously. We’re a multi-disciplinary design company. You only ever see a project through by having a big group of people who all benefit from that idea happening. You only get that by meeting people, talking to people, being a decent human being and obviously having a good idea in the first place."

Ideas-a-plenty is what the Hemingways have always had plenty of. The team has worked on several housing projects including The Birchin in Manchester’s Northern Quarter and Wayne is keen to keep the company’s options as open as possible.

“I like the variation. One medium inspires another, without a doubt. There are hundreds and hundreds of ideas. We’d love to work with companies like Boots. We’ve got ideas for all sorts of products. We’re ambitious.”

Ambitious enough to have a bash at the England Kit succeeding fellow Northern designer Peter Saville perhaps?

“We’d love to have a go at the England kit. That’s after the Blackburn Rovers kit though of course.”