GLASGOW - The wife of legendary Scots music guru Alan McGee has swapped record labels for fashion labels by launching a clothing line with a kinky twist.
Former indie star Kate Holmes has created Client - named after her band of the same name - and runs the brand from the secluded mansion she shares with the former Creation records boss, in Hay-on-Wye, Wales.
The 40-year-old hopes women and men will get a kick out of the outfits - inspired by 1940s workwear - that have already won over the likes of underwear model Pixie Geldof and movie star Rhys Ifans.
It's clearly been a long-term passion - as some of the clothes look very similar to those she wore in Client during the 90s.
Describing the new line, she explained: "I am trying to bring workwear into playwear so that what you wear to work you can also wear out that evening. You can work in a bank and wear my Stalin Secretary office dress that is sexy despite looking quite straight.
"It has a little split in red and underneath you can wear your stockings and feel a little kinky at work. That is an area of clothing people have forgotten about. It is fetishistic in a normal way.
"I hope staff in banks wear my clothes, as well as people who work in galleries. It's not just aimed at trendies in London. Anybody can wear them up to size 16."
Kate and McGee fell in love in 1994, after he saw her band Frazier Chorus on TV and asked his label publicist to set up a blind date.
"When he came out of his rehab, he saw me on telly and asked if the press officer would sort out a blind date," Kate recalled."He took me to an art gallery, chatted about paintings and I thought, 'Oh my God. He's really interesting'. It was just after the first Oasis album, before they got big, and I thought Alan was really gentle and generous and fascinating."
The couple became inseparable and found themselves at the heart of a Britpop revolution deemed so influential that, in 1997, newly elected Prime Minister Tony Blair invited Kate and Alan for cocktails at 10 Downing Street.
"We went to the cocktail party at No10. It was really funny. I got so drunk on champagne because I don't drink very much," Kate admitted.
"I was in a band called Sirens at the time and I had this Groove Rider remix. I was trying to talk to Tony Blair about drum and bass music. He looked at me and I stuffed the CD in his hand [this one seems me with Liam lol - Marco]. I think he thought I was bonkers but was too polite to say, 'Get that woman out of my face'.
"I was so drunk, I ended up going to dinner with Damien Hirst and Keith Allen. It was mad. But we were on the periphery because Alan had been in rehab and couldn't go back into that."
Aware that she is following in the footsteps of Liam Gallagher, who has established his Pretty Green line of fashion, Kate said: "I can't compete with Liam. I am just a baby compared to him because he has his shops and everything.
"It is interesting that so many rock people are getting into clothes. Liam has done really well.
"For Oasis fans who like that look, the clothes are well made and Pretty Green is well marketed. I say to him, congratulations. But I don't move in the same circles as the Gallaghers.
"Noel is still in touch with Alan. They text each other."
Kate, who was wedded to Alan in 1998, added: "My clothes are all a bit vintage. It is what you would wear if you were Kraftwerk, but you were a woman.
"You might wear a dress called Madam Mao that from the front looks like something Chairman Mao would wear, but at the back there is a zip that goes right over your bum that I'm sure your boss would love to rip the zip down and bend you over the photocopier.
"The clothes have an edge to them but they aren't showing off your breasts or your bum because it is what you don't see that makes it sexy. I have a Remade line as well, which is vintage and sustainable "My favourite era in the world is the forties. I loved the clothes and everything. I have vintage nurse outfits that are beautiful - You could wear them to work."
Kate is determined to make sure all her clothes are of the highest quality. She has refused to have the outfits made in Chinese or East European sweat shops, opting instead for British manufacturers.
"I am just now launching properly after working on the Client fashion line for three years," she explained.
"The production has been a nightmare and I want to keep everything in Britain from now on. I have seen the factories in Shanghai with my own eyes, but I think we should make the clothes here where factories are competing hard with these places where a dress costs £2 and people are not being paid a decent wage. At least in Britain, it is not being made in a sweat shop."
She added: "People look at me and say I am bonkers to think about starting this during a recession but Alan started Creation during a recession. Alan was king of Britpop.
"He is retired and does what he wants. I admire him for that. He has an amazing legacy. But I have something to prove for myself. If I could sell them online and break even I'd be really happy because money from the band Client has gone straight back into it.
"Pixie Geldof likes the jackets and has the T-shirts. Rhys Ifans wore my jacket in Hollywood every day. I ask friends to wear it but it's hard as people like Pixie get given Dolce & Gabbana every day.
"But Alan has one style. He loves his Paul Smith coats and hats he gets from Piccadilly and his Gucci shoes. He buys shoes every three years. He is frugal with his clothes. He buys good quality and it lasts for ages."
Check out the Client line at clientlondon.com

