SCOTTISH fashion star Christopher Kane has had his new designs for London Fashion Week stolen just days before they were due to be unveiled.
The Motherwell-born designer now faces a race against time to recreate parts of his collection before the event gets under way next week.
The news broke after Kane, 24, was due to attend an award ceremony at Stirling Castle last night. But Sandra
Kane, the designer's sister who collected the award on his behalf, told the audience that Kane could not make the event because his East London workshop had been burgled.
Tessa Hartmann, organiser of the event, which was attended by the culture minister, Linda Fabiani, said: "He is devastated. It is a terrible blow for him."
A friend of the designer added: "It is very strange - it was only discovered in the morning. It is not the whole collection, just a few of the pieces. It is a setback, but he is confident he can get everything back together in time for London Fashion Week."
The theft is also a blow for upmarket cashmere maker Johnstons of Elgin, whose luxury products were due to feature heavily in Kane's collection and were among the stolen items
London Fashion Week is expected to provide a major boost for the Scottish knitwear industry, which has suffered in recent years due to cheap competition from garments made in China.
It will also highlight the work of other young Glasgow designers, including Jamie Bruski Tetsill, Scott Ramsay Kyle and Deryck Walker, whose designs are among those featuring in an exhibition put together by the city's marketing body, See Glasgow.
Kane is one of the hottest new names in fashion circles and has already worked with the top fashion house Versace.
His recent own-label work costs from £2,000 upwards.
Last month, Kane, who was the star of his 2006 graduation year at the prestigious St Martin's School of Art in London, was asked to provide designs for Fashion Rocks for the Prince's Trust in October.
The event, an extravaganza of frocks and rock music sponsored by the world's biggest crystal- makers, Swarovski, is to be held at the Albert Hall and is expected to attract some of the biggest A-list celebrities from Britain and the US.
Kane, who designed his first collection in his bedroom and made the clothes with help from other sister Tammy, a knitwear specialist who graduated from the Galashiels College of Art, said that the two top shows were an ideal opportunity to find financial backers for his business.
He said: "The next show is my last season for New Generation sponsorship and I'm frightened as to where the money will come from after that. I need to find a major commercial sponsor, which is why the shows are ideal for my profile, and I need to do a really good spring collection, so I'm concentrating totally on it."
A Scotland Yard spokesman was last night unable to confirm any details of the break-in.
