Patrick Cox

Patrick Cox (born March 19, 1963) is a Canadian‑British fashion designer celebrated for his daring use of unconventional materials and a seamless blend of avant‑garde and classic aesthetics. Born in Edmonton, Alberta, to a ballerina mother and an English linguist father, Cox spent portions of his childhood in Nigeria, Chad, and Cameroon before completing his schooling in Canada and moving to Toronto at age 17. At 19 he crafted his first pair of shoes for designer Loucas Kleanthous, an encounter that sparked his ambition to pursue footwear design. He refined his craft at Cordwainer’s Technical College in London (now London College of Fashion) from 1983‑1985, graduating with merit and quickly becoming a fixture in the city’s nightlife where he forged friendships with icons like Vivienne Westwood. Westwood commissioned him to design shoes for her “Clint Eastwood” collection in 1984, and his 4‑inch platform shoe later inspired a 9‑inch version famously worn (and dramatically fell from) supermodel Naomi Campbell’s foot in 1993. Cox’s early collaborations included work for John Galliano, Anna Sui, and Lanvin Haute Couture, and in 1991 he opened his first boutique opposite Peter Jones in London’s Sloane Square. His diffusion line “Wannabe,” launched in 1993, catapulted sales from a modest 2,000 pairs to 200,000, cementing his reputation for marrying runway spectacle with mass‑market appeal.
Throughout the mid‑1990s Cox expanded internationally, opening flagship stores in Paris, London, and New York, and earning the British Fashion Awards’ Accessory Designer of the Year in both 1994 and 1995. A ten‑year licensing agreement with Japan’s Isetan in 1996 introduced his brand to a cult following in Asia, while his tenure as Creative Director at Charles Jourdan (2003‑2006) revitalized the historic French footwear house. After a brief hiatus following the 2008 closure of his eponymous label, Cox re‑emerged with a patisserie venture, “Cox Cookies & Cake,” in London’s Soho, and later collaborated with Geox for a witty capsule collection. In 2016 he launched Lathbridge, named after his middle name, featuring a bulldog logo inspired by his beloved English bulldogs, Caesar and Brutus, and continues to influence contemporary shoe design with his irreverent British sensibility.