Craig Morrison’s spiky designs were almost lost to fashion history. Now, they’re back

A few weeks ago, Leia Morrison, the daughter of cult designer Craig Morrison, logged onto TikTok. The last thing she expected to see on her FYP was a video showing off one of her dad’s spiked bags.

​“Then a friend sent me a video of someone [else with] their Craig Morrison school bag and asked, ​‘Is this your dad?’” she says, recalling the moment alongside sister Hattie and Craig himself, the trio calling in from home in West Wales.

Naturally, Leia had to dig a little deeper. Soon enough, the algorithm was serving up several videos of Craig Morrison loyalists brandishing her father’s distinctive rubber-pronged backpacks – his signature accessory, alongside a selection of all-the-way-out-there furniture pieces. ​“We found a whole community of die-hard fans on TikTok,” she says.

It might be over three decades since Craig Morrison initially launched, but the lore behind the Morrison studio still runs deep. Craig, then a young theatre design student with a degree from Wimbledon School of Art, rose to prominence in ​’80s London, where he was immediately embraced by the LGBTQ+ community and the city’s underground nightlife scene. It wasn’t uncommon to spot a Craig item – namely his signature backpacks, striking chokers or prickly leather jackets – among sweaty crowds on the dancefloor.

His designs served as armour for outsiders and art school students yearning for a vehicle of self-expression. Over the years, institutions including London’s V&A and Science Museum have cemented Craig’s impact on the fashion industry by housing permanent collections of his works. At the height of his powers, Craig was winning the prestigious Red Dot and Frankfurt Design awards, and appearing in countless publications (not least, this one).

The rediscovery of Craig’s archive, paired with newfound virality, propelled the family’s decision to hit the restart button on the brand. Last January, Hattie and Leia put a few bits up for sale online and watched as everything sold out in minutes. ​“We were not expecting that sort of reaction at all,” Hattie says. Now, Craig Morrison is undergoing a fully-fledged relaunch, with brand new pieces available to buy.

​“I just decided to do a crazy thing 30 years ago!” says Craig, for whom this renaissance has not just been a total surprise but also a beacon of hope. The designer has undergone a series of health issues over the last year, including brain and kidney cancer diagnoses.

Since shuttering the brand to raise his daughters, Craig has been working as an artist, curating and creating lighting pieces for international festivals. ​“To still have some sort of relevance and be able to make a little ripple is great,” he says. And the brand’s ethos, it seems, hasn’t strayed one bit: ​“This new collection is for those who are unafraid to be themselves.”

In fact it was largely inspired by Jamie Hewlett – the artist behind Gorillaz’ unmistakable, sharp, comic book-adjacent visuals. ​“Somebody put together a playlist while I was in hospital, and it had some Gorillaz songs on it,” Craig says. ​“I remember those amazing cartoons that [Jamie] did, and there was one character who had a spiky back.”

Using this as a starting point, the rebooted Craig Morrison line comprises of rubber pieces, ranging from a bag with moulded spikes that would feel right at home in a sci-fi flick to the trademark CM rucksack for those who missed out on the original. Ready-to-wear items are just as ingenious: there are handcrafted, rubber-rendered corsets up for grabs, and bomber jackets boasting smooth dome detailing.

​“The material, which has the thickness of a tire, is amazing to work with,” says Craig, who harvested the rubber from trees himself (!). ​“I wanted to use it for environmental reasons. The pieces are almost like living sculptures that you can look at, wear, and use as you want to.”

In keeping with the family spirit of things, he got his former head seamstress Heidi and her daughter involved, too. It was her job to juxtapose the toughness of the rubber with embroidered outlines, while working on corsetry detailing that harks back to the 14^th century. Magic. Although the brand is now helmed by his two daughters, Craig is as committed to his work as ever, with Leia and Hattie by his side – conjuring up some interesting memories of their childhood.

At one point, Craig’s bags became a hot commodity at Hattie and Leia’s primary school, handed out to friends as a party favour. ​“Dad would say, ​‘You can give her one for her birthday’, and suddenly, six-year-olds were bringing bright pink, spiky bags to school!” Hattie says.

Today, these bags are in demand on an entirely different playground: FKA twigs recently included some of Craig’s pieces in the rollout for her third studio album, Eusexua.

​“Back in the ​’90s, a huge part of the brand was that dad was always working with musicians, and dancers in particular,” Leia explains. ​“A member of FKA twigs’ label got in touch and he was like, ​‘I’ve got an artist who’s been a fan for a long time’. We weren’t expecting it to be her!”

Morrison’s designs are very much a visual focal point of twigs’ new era: she’s perched atop the legendary Lip Sofa in the cover art for her Perfect Stranger EP. ​“Her team was very respectful of [our dad’s] work,” Leia adds. ​“They admire what he does and I think they knew that we’re very protective of his pieces for many reasons. It was a really beautiful thing to witness.”

Not only has Craig Morrison 2.0 got the potential to bring some (much-needed) spikiness back into fashion, it’s also brought the Morrison family closer in ways they couldn’t have imagined.

​“I’ll drive my dad to his chemo appointment in Swansea, and the first thing he’s thinking about [afterward] is how he wants me to photograph a great red sofa he’s made,” Leia says.

​“He’s still thinking about creative collaboration in the hardest of times, which it has genuinely got us through this past year. The passion that Dad has, even now, that’s something I want for my life. This experience has given me clarity on what is important to me, and that’s family and creativity.”