When Liverpool designer Ben Mak first got his keys to an “old shop” in the city centre, he didn’t expect what his career would come to entail.
What the 34-year-old from Walton did know was that he was going to make a name for himself in the fashion industry regardless of what challenges would come his way. However, he initially overlooked how much the LGBTQ+ community would come together to help him become the designer he is today.
The Scouser is the brains behind the fashion label - Ben Mak London. The womenswear technology graduate has dressed the likes of the Spice Girls, RuPaul’s Drag Race winners as well as chasers from the ITV’s daytime programme.
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Where Ben is today - with production spaces dotted around the UK - is miles away from when he opened his first store, Frederick and Maddison, on Rodney Street.
The master's student told the ECHO: “When I was a teenager I knew I wanted to do something different with my life. I used to dress really crazy and people would stop me for photos and get their children to pose with me. If they thought I was cool or crazy or a joke, I didn’t care I loved it. I started to think that I could sell this concept as people seemed to like it.
“I got funding from the Princess Trust when I was 18 and I started teaching myself how to make and design clothes. I designed anything for anyone who wanted anything and it became a success. I did Liverpool fashion week and the ‘very big catwalk’ as part of the Transatlantic 175 celebration weekend.
“It was all around the same time as the credit crunch in 2009 so we had to adapt our business. I would make clothes out of random pieces I found on the street. I made everything eccentric and out there with strips of metal being made into jewellery. It was very apocalyptic.”
After the former Broadgreen High School student opened his first store it wasn’t long before he swapped the River Mersey for the River Thames as he moved to the country’s capital. Today, Ben has a production space in London as well as Brighton and Liverpool.
Ben’s success hasn’t come without obstacles. He has been homophobically attacked on several occasions and as someone with autism, he finds himself “fixated” on minor details.
The former City of Liverpool college student said: “I was in a targeted attack where knives were involved and I felt like I got no help with it at all. Although these attacks happen in the moment, you live with them forever. It remains there in your brain every day.
“I barely got any help or support with my autism either. When someone says something to me, I am quite literal and become fixated. If I don’t get what it is, I won’t be able to focus on anything else or move forward.”
Despite this, Ben has managed to get his designs on the red carpet whether it be on Liverpool’s drag royalty The Vivienne and Danny Beard or The Chase’s Jenny Ryan. A highlight of Ben’s 14-year career almost didn’t happen as he thought it was a “con at first”.
He added: “When Spice Girls messaged me on Instagram I couldn’t believe it. It was a next-level experience. I thought it was a joke at the start. In the end, I made fabric samples for Mel B and Mel C as well as dressing 24 of their dancers for their world tour."
Now, in a position to do so, Ben wants to give back to the LGBTQ+ community - a community he is not only part of but one he owes so much to for the heights of his success.
Ben has been using the experience gained from studying law to help members of the community who find themselves in a situation similar to his younger self - facing hate crimes and hardships.
He told the ECHO: “I am still navigating some unnecessary hurdles due to systemic failures and with the additional challenges of recently being classified as ‘disabled’ because of my autism, I often find myself unheard. I know it's not normal or right, to be shunned, misrepresented, misunderstood, and disregarded, it is wrong.
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“Despite these challenges, I am continuing to advocate for the rights of those in the community and beyond. We need a systemic change to ensure vulnerable individuals in the community are not left behind. Pride month - June - is not over.
"LGBTQ+ youth are more than just statistics – they're real people facing real-life challenges that demand our attention and action. Whereas equal access to facilities, shelter, and legal representation isn't a privilege – it's a fundamental right for all, including LGBTQ+ youth.
"The time for performative activism is over. It's time to take concrete action and address the genuine needs of the community."
