Christopher Kane's Latest Project Is All About Preventing Heartache

Christopher Kane is putting his name to a charity that is close to his heart. In Scotland, his home country, cardiovascular disease causes 27 per cent of deaths, and coronary heart disease is the biggest killer, causing more than 15,000 deaths a year. As part of a new campaign, Heart of Scotland, in collaboration with Heart Research UK, Kane has designed a limited-edition T-shirt and four badges to benefit the organisation’s research.

The charity contacted Kane months after his brother died from a heart attack. “It was a no brainer that I had to do something to help,” he tells Vogueon the phone during a rare day off in London. “Heart disease is no stranger to anyone in Scotland.” His father suffered from two attacks. “Everyone is too scared to talk about it, because people are dying faster than ever,” he continues of the epidemic. “Today 41 people will die from a heart attack in Scotland, tomorrow 41 people will die, it’s ridiculous.”

Fashion, he believes, can be an instigator of change. “No one watches the news any more, but they will take watch of what a celebrity is wearing on their Instagram,” he asserts. “We’re lucky, in a way, that we live in a world that enjoys fashion and that likes celebrity interaction. We have to use any channel to get the word out there and get people talking.”

Charitable Tees might have received bad rep after some have emerged as unsustainable – such as the Spice Girls’ Comic Relief “gender justice” T-shirts, which were made in a Bangladesh factory where women earn the equivalent of 35p an hour – but, Kane is quick to state that, “This is not just another T-shirt with some bollocks slogan on”. Manufactured in a brand-approved factory in Hertfordshire, he tested multiple prototypes to ensure that the pieces would wear well. “People are buying a little piece of Christopher Kane, so the quality has to be good,” he comments. “I wanted to make something wearable that can stay in a person’s wardrobe for a long time” – something crucial in the wider conversation around sustainability.

Kane also appreciates that £19.95 (all proceeds go to Heart Research UK) is a lot of money for some to spend on a T-shirt. “It’s not even about the donation, it’s about getting the word out there,” he comments. The dissected heart motif, which also comes in the form of £1 pins, is, accordingly, as graphic and brightly coloured as possible. “It’s a real live and kicking heart that’s breathing colour,” says Kane, who loves anatomy but can’t talk about body parts as they “freak me out”.

“People always think that fashion is so frivolous,” he muses upon saying goodbye. “But, fashion is a great way to engage with charities and their messaging.” For him, philanthropy has to be part and parcel of his job. “When you receive attention for what you make, you have to talk about something other than fashion. It’s black and white.”