ave you ever had anyone tell you: “You’ll never amount to anything in life”? Don’t worry about it. Wayne Hemingway’s harsh and short-tenured stepdad told him exactly that after a poor school report. His attitude was, “I’m going to prove him wrong!” Which worked out well, considering he – in collaboration with his wife Gerardine – set up Red or Dead and Hemingway Design.
His father was Billy Two Rivers (his real name), a professional wrestler and a Mohawk chief. His mum worked for the Post Office by day and was a croupier by night, but “her whole life revolved around fashion and music”. His grandad was a miner in Grimethorpe Colliery and his grandma was a cleaner. Says Hemingway: “You can’t get more working-class than that.” When he was growing up, his grandad would make him toys and his mother would make all their clothes. So there was a great tradition of DIY in his family.
He won a scholarship to Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Blackburn, where he redoubled his efforts after the provocation of his stepdad. “It’s my firm belief, nobody is born with talent – but you can work for it,” says Hemingway. He compares himself with the young David Beckham who would not go to bed at night before he had kicked a ball through a tyre a hundred times.
