Writing an obituary about a person you haven't met in your life, but you respected as a fan (think about a fashion designer, or maybe an actor or musician…) can be sad, but it is obviously even more moving when you knew that person or you had some kind of connection with them. Irenebrination had a special link with designer Joe Casely-Hayford who died yesterday. Mr Casely-Hayford was indeed a reader and polite fan and in 2011 he mentioned the site in "The Aesthete" column of the "How To Spend It" luxury style magazine of the Financial Times.
Joe Casely-Hayford trained at the Tailor and Cutter Academy and then graduated from Central Saint Martin's School of Art in 1979. He also studied European art and history at the ICA.
In 1984 he launched his label that he called Kit and that revolved around garments made from repurposed military surplus such as recycled World War II army tents that gave the clothes a worn out look. The designs were mainly sold in specialist fashion stores in London. A shirt that opened at the front and back became an instant success and, little by little, he became more popular, especially among musicians and bands.
Between 1984 and 1986 Casely-Hayford was styling consultant at Island Records, but among his clients there were The Clash (they commissioned him the clothing for the album "Combat Rock"), Lou Reed, Neneh Cherry, Betty Boo, Bros, Liam Gallagher, Jarvis Cocker, Take That and Suede. He also designed the stage wardrobe for U2 from 1991 to 1993 (Bono was photographed wearing Joe Casely-Hayford on the cover of Vogue in December 1992 View this photo).
Casely-Hayford injected a new life into the London scene with his tailored punk approach that reunited his passion for refined tailoring and art and his personal heritage (he was the grandson of the Ghanian lawyer and journalist J. E. Casely Hayford, MBE, who published in 1911 the book Ethiopia Unbound, one of the first novels to be published in English by a black African), with penchant for rebellion and innovation. The designer often tried to introduce a bit of anarchy and chaos in classic English styles using for example lighter and more functional fabrics compared to the ones favoured by Savile Row (working in Brick Lane he was fascinated by the Asian men combining English pieces with their religious clothes).
In the '90s he contributed clothes to the Derek Jarman film "Edward II", created ranges exclusively for Topshop and organised a critically acclaimed exhibition entitled "The Art of African Textiles – Technology, Tradition, and Lurex" at London's Barbican Centre Museum (the exhibition was a major feature of the "Africa '95" programme in the UK).
After serving as creative director at Gieves & Hawkes, the 200-year-old Savile Row house, he relaunched his label with his son Charlie Casely-Hayford in 2009.
The label became a regular at London Fashion Week, but in more recent seasons the duo opted for a different approach, opening a retail space in London's Marylebone with interiors designed by Sophie Ashby, Charlie's wife, offering bespoke services for men and women and selling online and through the store.
Casely-Hayford passed away yesterday, after a three-year battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife, Maria Stevens, who became his life and business partner soon after they met in 1976 at Saint Martin's School of Art, and children Charlie, designer and stylist, and Alice, Digital Editor of British Vogue.
Fashion loses a true gentleman, a designer with a lot of integrity and a pioneer of anarchic sartorialism.
Irenebrination loses a reader with a refined taste. In a private email he called this site a "remarkable blog", "a breath of fresh air" and "an inspiration" (his favourite post on Irenebrination was the one about Petrushka).
When he was featured on this site in an interview about photographer Hassan Hajjaj, he used the occasion to talk about the artist's work rather than about his collections, and thanked me for having thought of him for the project.
Though he will be greatly missed, Joe Casely-Hayford leaves us with a lesson – preserve your integrity, go your own way even in adverse times (Margaret Thatcher was in power when he started his label, but we are going through controversial times politically speaking if you think about Brexit in the UK and the rise of far-right groups all over the world…) and don't forget to add to your life a healthy dose of chaos and anarchy.
