Michael Sean O'Dare Rainey (21 January 1941 – 29 January 2017) was an Australian-born British fashion designer, best known for his 1960s London boutique, '' Hung On You''.

Early life

He was the son of Sean Rainey and Joyce Marion Wallace (1923–2006), better known as Marion Wrottesley, after her later marriage to Richard Wrottesley (later 5th Baron Wrottesley).

Career

In December 1965, Rainey together with his then wife Jane Ormsby Gore opened the fashion boutique '' Hung On You'', at 22

Cale Street Cale Street is a street in Chelsea, London, Chelsea, London. It runs between Dovehouse Street in the west and the junction of Elystan Street and Elystan Place in the east. It originally formed the southern boundary of Chelsea Common. The street ...

, London, with a mural by Michael English. Rainey had no previous experience in the fashion business or in retailing, and instead was inspired by his well-dressed friends including his wife's brother Julian Ormsby Gore, and the antique dealer

Christopher Gibbs Christopher Henry Gibbs (29 July 1938 – 28 July 2018) was a British antiques dealer and collector who was also an influential figure in men's fashion and interior design in 1960s London. He has been credited with inventing Swinging London, an ...

. The decor and tailoring were somewhat similar to Nigel Waymouth and Sheila Cohen's ''

Granny Takes a Trip Granny is a term and nickname for a grandmother, a female grandparent Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, or Grandma and Grandpa, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexu ...

'', which opened three months later in February 1966. His wife Jane Ormsby Gore had been making regular visits to India, looking for fabrics, so there was also an oriental accent to the clothes, as well as a repurposing and reuse of vintage garments and designs. Rainey later relocated ''Hung On You'' to 430

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents) is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

, Chelsea. His then wife, Jane Ormsby Gore, in a 2006 interview with the

V&A 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 ...

said,

Michael made the most gigantic mistake of leaving Cale Street and going onto the King's Road. He felt that it was happening on the King's Road, but it cost a lot of money to move, and people didn't know where we were. It became less successful then. Before it was slightly more slick, with a big jardinière mirrored thing in the middle of the shop. We had got two children by then, and we were seriously into soul seeking and going on fasts and meditating... We left London, sold everything, gave away everything, and went to live in Gozo. London times and everything were over.

He sold the lease to the boutique in 1969 to Tommy Roberts and it became Mr Freedom. Rainey was particularly known for flowery shirts and

kipper tie A kipper tie is a type of necktie primarily fashionable in Britain in the mid-1960s to late 1970s. The primary characteristics of the kipper tie are its extreme breadth (normally ) and often garish colours and patterns. Design origin Wide neck ...

s in bold colours. Rainey's customers included musicians

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

and

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...

and the actor

Terence Stamp Terence Henry Stamp (born 22 July 1938) is an English actor. Known for his sophisticated villain roles, he was named by ''Empire (magazine), Empire'' as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time in 1995. He has received various accolades in ...

. According to

Nik Cohn Nik Cohn (born 1946), also written Nick Cohn, is a British writer. Life and career Cohn was born in London, England and brought up in Derry in Northern Ireland. He is the son of historian Norman Cohn and Russian writer Vera Broido. An incomer ...

in his book "Today there are no gentlemen", ''Hung On You'' "was simultaneously the last fling of dandyism and the first intimation of Hippie, of strangenesses to come".

Personal life

Rainey married Jane Ormsby-Gore, the eldest daughter of

David Ormsby-Gore, 5th Baron Harlech William David Ormsby-Gore, 5th Baron Harlech (20 May 1918 – 26 January 1985), known as David Ormsby-Gore until June 1961 and as Sir David Ormsby-Gore from then until February 1964, was a British diplomat and Conservative politician. Early ...

, about whom the V&A notes "widely perceived as a style leader of her generation, Jane Ormsby-Gore worked for Vogue in the early 1960s". She also worked with the antique dealer

. Rainey latterly lived in

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

, and had been based in Spain for many years. He died in January 2017 at the age of 76.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rainey, Michael 1941 births 2017 deaths British expatriates in Spain British fashion designers