This interview originally appeared in our first issue. An exclusive chat with Jay from Eighties about the what they do and much more. We've also added an update to include what plans Eighties Casuals have for this year. Enjoy.
Why did you start the 80s casuals brand? And could you have ever anticipated the success of the brand?
At the time I was a buyer in top end Men's fashion retail and was disillusioned with the quality, availability and looks starting to come through in the post 90s. The football terraces had pretty much dominated the UK look through the 80s and 90s, but a new look was starting to come through which we referred to as the 'fun boy or parrot head', this wasn't for me.
In hindsight I'm glad this happened now, as it weeded out the plastics and hangers on....by this I mean we used to get gangs of lads coming in to the store where I worked, looking like they had just walked through the turn styles yet they weren't even match going lads. Most of them turned to bed head hair and tight Lyle & Scott tops, which was a blessing in disguise really.
The other thing that really made me dis heartened, was the change in countries of origin and yet the prices remained high. When your selling something to someone that is manufactured in say Italy or German, people appreciate it won't be cheap as it's a wealthy country with a good standard of living and high production costs. Now when you start to offer them the same goods made in say China, people aren't daft and know it's costs much less to produce there, the quality is still fine, but why is it still so expensive? This is something that didn't sit well with me as I started to feel the customers were being ripped off somewhere along the line.
Another one of my bug bears is the easy with which you can obtain so called 'exclusive' products these days. I grew up in an era when you had to graft and travel to find something to get one up on your mates, but by the new millennium lads were all wearing the same £600 coats to the match.
So these three factors led to me wanting to go against the grain and start wearing clothes from an era when it really meant something to me. I have always looked after my gear, so I delved into the attic round my mum's and started to dabble on Ebay for old Fila, Armani and Adidas ect. I started to get a few compliments off some older lads on my alternative dress sense, but I would always be reminded I could get away with it as I'm small and slightly built. So I came up with the idea of printing some t shirts with reminders of this golden age for lads who felt the same, but weren't so comfortable bouncing round in a green Fila Bj.
So it just went from there really, a year or so later I met my now long term business partner Dave Hewitson, who felt exactly as I did and just happened to be a printer! Did we expect to come as far as we have? no not in a million, but we love doing what we do and although we have had to adapt and change our product along the way, we still get such a buzz to see someone at the game in a bit of our kit.
What has been your favorite product from your brand so far?
Tough one as we know what's coming next and are always most excited about that! I guess for me it would have to be the 'Summit smock we produced in the recent 'Off Peak' collection.
How much fun was it putting the 80s casuals book together?
God that book became our life for three bloody years! It was a labour of love which involved a lot of travel for photo shoots, such as waiting to get a cheap flight to Turin just to photograph some trainers named after the city in an underpass just to make it more authentic. Every time Dave would say 'right are we ready to go to print?' I would think of something we had missed and spend months trying to source it so we covered as many iconic brands and items as possible.
It was a hugely important era that had only been cover in words and memories, but a picture speaks a thousand words as they say. Personally I also wanted to do something I could give to my mum and show to my kids and say 'I did that'. It's hardly Bravo two zero by Andy Mc Nabb, but I'm proud of it.
What are your inspirations behind the brand?
Our basic inspirations will always be football 'peacocking' as we call it, which is simply wanting to look the part and turn a few heads at the match. We also have a passion for closely associated scenes, such as the music which has provided the sound track to all of our weekends, weather it be Joy Division or Frankie Knuckles. The beauty of the casual is that they have always taken looks from other walks of life and mixed it in on the terrace, we love that.
We always like to give a nod to brands were it all began for us were possible in our garments, but times have changed since the 80s revival, so for us now it just has to be a hint.
Personally, what are your favorite clothing labels/designers?
I don't like to pidgin hole myself by saying I'm into one label or another. I like garments and looks, this changes all the time.
A few years back I was running around in vintage tracky tops and trainers like a lot of others, but things are always changing which is the nature of what we do. Like many I have probably been influenced recently by Oi Polloi (fucked if I can afford to shop there though!), as the lads there, have broken the mould which was frustrating me so much in retail and started pushing the boundaries again. That said it must be hard for them as they seem to be victims of their own success with many stores now following their lead taking us back to square one.
Personally my own signature of late is mixing in bits of the past (say a vintage Cerruti jumper or hiking boots) with more modern labels from Uniqlo to Universal works. I'm not a label snob, if it looks good I wear it.
If you could only keep one jacket and one pair of footwear, what would it be?
I have got a bit of a thing for Belstaff jackets! I have three that I love, but don't make me choose. Footwear changes all the time, I have fell back in love with New Balance of late with all this adidas over kill.
What plans do Eighties Casuals have for this year?
This year we will be consolidating our offer and focusing on the simple things that we do best. We are switching from two themes a year to one with the Curva's of Italian football grounds as our inspiration for 2013.
The stand out pieces for this year are the Nord jacket for the Spring, the Paninaro jacket for the Summer and the Sud for Autumn/Winter. We also have our classic pique polo, denim shirt and sun hat due for Spring delivery followed by knits, hats and scarves for the colder months.
However our core focus will be based around the basic items which carry the logo it's taken us ten years to finally settle on and we feel it was worth the wait. This has already appeared on pastel sweats giving that Continental feel and will soon be released in an array of plain t shirt colours. Add to this our usual array if tee's from cultures we live and love, add a smattering of 'can't say right now' and that's us.
*Issue 4 is coming soon and features some great interviews and features with the likes of 6876, Walsh Trainers, Peter O'Toole illustration and more...*
