YHP Interviews the founders of fresh2defclothing
F2D is influenced by our city, surroundings and the music we listen to. Their culture and way of life is the brand translated into raw material.
How are all doing today?
Fine thanks. You?
I’m ok you know, Thanks for asking.
So what’s the concept behind your brand?
We are an urban street fashion brand influenced by urban music and vibrant colours. We grew up listening to 80’s and 90’s music across several genres. Our brands outlook is influenced by that.
Can you give us more information about yourself, your name, your age, where are you from?
My name is Daniel Gardiner I am 28 and I’m from Birmingham.
My names Gary Thompson, I am 27 and also from brum.
And Marcus Isaac, I’m 29 form brum.
How did you all meet each other? A lot is been said of friends doing business together? What do you feel about this?
We have all known each other since the age of 4. We grew up in the same inner city area in brum and have been very close friends ever since. Any problems we might have in the future we are all men enough to sit down and discuss them like gentlemen. But we have a good working relationship and agree on most things anyway.
Do you think your line is effective?
It has been so far. We sold out in matter of weeks with both our men’s and women’s lines so, yes so far so good!
What makes your clothing line relevant to today’s society?
Our brand is colourful, vibrant and in your face. It’s also a bit rebellious. We think today’s youth is a bit like that. Along with the cities we live being very multi- cultural. Our brand is universal and appeals to all backgrounds. Also today’s society is into all things urban and retro. That’s what our brand is.
What’s the most unique thing about your line, so much people doing what you’re doing, what will make me buy your designs?
The main thing for us is that we hand draw all our designs from scratch before they are digitised for printing. A lot of brands in our market don’t do that. So it makes buying an F2D garment feel more personal as you know you are wearing a piece of hand drawn art. And we think our designs are different to what others are doing at the moment.
Have you done any shows, how have they been? The cost, the planning, did you have a budget, and did you go over your budget?
We have not done any shows as of yet, but a fashion show in brum called stylin the runway (stylintherunway.com), I think that’s the web address!) will be showcasing our brand this month.
How did you raise money for your business?
We all put together from our savings. We don’t do loans and have not had any funding at all.
Who are your competitors? (Customer profile)
We don’t know really. Maybe other UK brands like abuze ldn and dark n cold and money. But we love and support all those and any other UK clothing lines.
Who are your target markets?
Anyone that likes our clothes mate!
But we’d have to say males and females from teens to about 30 years old, Into music like hip hop, indie, RnB, old skool hip hop, grime, funky house an all that kinda stuff.
What is your advertising strategy? (Do you use any social networking sites to promote your brand)?
We use MySpace, fashionspace, facebook, and have a website. And they have all worked wonders for us so far. And Daniel has just started a blog, http://www.fresh2defclothing.blogspot.com
What does your range consist of?
At the moment, tee’s, hoodies, crew neck sweaters, varsity jackets and vests. But we are currently looking into jeans and hats.
What fabrics do you mostly deal with?
Mainly cotton, but we also use some wool and leather on our jackets.
How did you make your profit, did you lose more than you made?
We have never lost any money as we started out with small quantities and stuck to our asking prices. This helped us to always make profit and help keep us going to get where we are now.
Describe your collection in ten words?
Fresh, funky, young and retro. A break from the norm.
Do you make your collection to season?
Yes and no! As we do bring out lines to season but we also bring out fresh designs whenever we feel like it. That’s the rebel in us!
How do you get your primary research?
E.g. in the streets, internet, books, magazines.
Mainly in the streets. Our peeps are very fussy dressers and like to look good at all times. From they liked our brand we knew most people would. But we also read relevant mags and websites to keep up to date with what’s going on
Do you try to incorporate your customer’s personality to your clothing line?
Our brand is young, independent and new age. It’s also colourful and knows no boundaries.
We feel the same applies to the type of customer that our brand attracts.
What is your mission statement? (What are your sayings that motivate you)?
It’s not a statement; it’s a word, FRESH. We try to always keep everything we do fresh. That word has helped us to always look at what we are doing and make sure it is something new that people will look at as being fresh.
What was the most important lesson you have learnt so far?
To make sure you choose the right people to work with in terms of the work you outsource to companies. And to make sure you don’t run out of stock to make sure you meet the demand of the customers
Who is your role model/influence?
No one really bro. but we love all street fashion brands
What has been your greatest achievement so far?
Selling out of all our stock in a month. And securing two shops in brum to take our brand
What are your advices for Aspiring young entrepreneurs looking to break in the
Online Business (Websites) or other industries?
Make sure you come up with something new that people will like or need. And never give up if your idea makes sense. If someone closes a door on you then go round the back door and get in through there, so basically never give up.
We will definitely catch up with you to give everyone an update on your company.
Thank you for your time.
I wish you the best in the future.
Thank you and till next time.
Contact Fresh2defclothing:
http://www.f2dcollection.com
