Lining, coat lining

This Katharine Hamnett coat, with matching belt and removable tartan lining, was bought by Kim Philpotts in the mid to late 1980s. Philpotts was lent the money to buy it by her mother, but despite Philpotts' fondess for Hamnett's designs because of their practicality and wearability, she was not able to wear the coat very often because it was too long and heavy.

Hamnett's designs featured prominently in Philpotts' wardrobe during the 1980s and 1990s, from which she has donated a number of items to the Museum of London. Philpotts grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon in the 1960s, and studied Set & Costume Design at Birmingham, graduating in 1981. She moved to London soon after this, and an early love of fashion developed further, encouraged by the city's optimistic feel following the austerity of the 1970s. This optimism was reflected in fashion design at the time; Philpotts remembers that fashion became much more glamourous in the 1980s, with an emphasis upon self-projection.

Hamnett is an important British designer, now best known for her ethical business philsophy and oversized t-shirts bearing political statements. She launched her own label in 1979, and opened her first store at Brompton Cross, London, in 1986.