He studied both English and Japanese pattern-cutting techniques at Leggatts Design Academy (his graduate collection was all reversible) and worked as a costume designer before launching Black Coffee in 1998.
He even nipped back to play a key role in the mostly English Under-18 side which won the FA Premier Academy League and FA Youth Cup double under Steve Bould in 2009.
Perhaps the wilful obscurantism and dreadful English that now afflict humanities faculties in Britain as elsewhere have eroded their influence outside the academy.