Emma Mary Constance Hope MBE (born July 1962) is a British shoe designer.

Early life

Emma Hope was born in July 1962 in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. Her father, who died in 2005, was a Captain in the Royal Navy, and her mother is a former fashion journalist. They lived in Singapore until she was five. She was educated at

Sevenoaks School Sevenoaks School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school. It is co-educational, a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school, located in Sevenoaks, Kent, England. Established in 1432, it ...

, and

Cordwainers College The London College of Fashion is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers undergraduate and postgraduate study, short courses, study-abroad courses and business t ...

, London. When Hope graduated, '' Harper's and Queen'' named her alongside

John Galliano John Charles Galliano (born 28 November 1960) is a British fashion designer. He was the creative director of his eponymous label John Galliano and French fashion houses Givenchy and Dior. From 2014 to 2024, Galliano was the creative director ...

as someone to be aware of.

Career

Hope started out designing shoes for

Laura Ashley Laura Ashley (née Mountney; 7 September 1925 – 17 September 1985) was a Welsh fashion designer and businesswoman. She originally made furnishing materials in the 1950s, expanding the business into clothing design and manufacture in the 1960s ...

, Betty Jackson and

Jean Muir Jean Elizabeth Muir ( ; 17 July 1928 – 28 May 1995) was a British fashion designer. Early life and career Jean Muir was born in London, the daughter of Cyril Muir, a draper's floor superintendent, and his wife, Phyllis Coy. Her father was ...

. Her first shop was opened in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

in 1985. In 2002, she designed shoes for

Paul Smith Paul Smith is the name of: Music * Paul Smith (composer) (1906–1985), American film music composer * Paul Smith (pianist) (1922–2013), Los Angeles jazz pianist * Paul Smith (English singer) (born 1979), vocalist and songwriter of British in ...

, and opened two more shops in London, in

Sloane Square Sloane Square is a small hard-landscaped square on the boundaries of the central London districts of Belgravia and Chelsea, London, Chelsea, located southwest of Charing Cross, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The area forms a ...

and

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...

. Hope's 1988 shoes featuring embroidered depictions of the dancer

Josephine Baker Freda Josephine Baker (; June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975), naturalized as Joséphine Baker, was an American and French dancer, singer, and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in France. She was the first Black woman to s ...

were exhibited by the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

in 1990 as an example of the work of "one of Britain's leading young shoe designers." In 1995,

Sandra Boler Sandra Boler is an Australian-born British fashion journalist and former editor of '' Brides'' magazine from 1983 to the early 21st century. In this role she was a widely consulted authority on wedding-related matters from the 1980s to the early ...

, editor of ''

Brides A bride is a woman who is about to be married or who is a newlywed. When marrying, if the bride's future spouse is a man, he is usually referred to as the ''bridegroom'' or just ''groom''. In Western culture, a bride may be attended by a maid, ...

'' magazine, chose a pair of Emma Hope shoes to accompany the

Catherine Rayner Catherine Rayner (born 1982) is an Edinburgh-based British illustrator and writer of children's books. She was born in Harrogate and grew up in Boston Spa, later studying at Leeds College of Art and Edinburgh College of Art. She won the Kate G ...

bridal gown selected to represent 1995 in the Dress of the Year collection at the

Fashion Museum, Bath The Fashion Museum (known before 2007 as the Museum of Costume) was housed in the Assembly Rooms in Bath, Somerset, England. The collection was started by Doris Langley Moore, who gave her collection of costumes to the city of Bath in 1963. T ...

Personal life

Hope goes "hunting every weekend during the season" and is a keen surfer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hope, Emma 1962 births Living people Shoe designers British fashion designers Members of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the London College of Fashion People educated at Sevenoaks School Businesspeople from Portsmouth