This year marks 40 years since Patrick graduated from Cordwainers College, which gave him his grounding in fashion, design and shoe construction.
‘Why shoes? I took everything very scientifically. For me a shoe is like a building, it’s like architecture, it has an inside and an outside, and a concealed supporting structure.’
His extraordinary career has included celebrated shoe collaborations with Vivienne Westwood and recently Sophia Webster, along with his iconic own brand and famously the ‘Wannabee’ loafer, a staple of 90s’ shoe design.
Jonathan Church, Master of the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers, said ‘We are delighted to be welcoming Patrick who will be an absolute inspiration for the students’.
Patrick is the latest star interviewee to feature on the ‘In Your Shoes’ podcast series.
He recounts his time as a disruptor at Cordwainers College in London in the 1980s. Obsessed with international design, he bunked off college to attend fashion shows in Paris, embracing the New Romanticism of the era. He was the ultimate design polymath interested in all aspects of fashion, but it was footwear – specifically – that caught his attention.
Patrick recalls working with the brilliant Vivienne Westwood and her team – ‘for the absolute love and joy and honour’ – which gave him the key breaks he needed on his footwear journey. The connection kickstarted his career, from launching his own label and first collection in 1986, through to projects with John Galliano, Geox and Sophia Webster, who credited him with inspiring her design career.