THE BIG INTERVIEWVIEW NT


I


first met Tom Cridland a couple of years ago when he proudly showed me around his pop-up fashion store on London’s


Kings Road. He’d had a suitably trendy launch – cocktails and canapés – and the shop was, as you’d expect, uber cool with LP covers from the finest bands of the 1970s adorning the walls. Tom could hardly hide his delight as he enthused about the venue and his plans for the future. He wanted to talk about his young company’s focus on sustainable clothing and, particularly, his plans for a 30-year sweatshirt, something I was keen to hear about and the reason I’d arranged to see him in the first place. “It was an amazing feeling to have a


flagship store on the King’s Road just 18 months after we had started up,” he recalls. “We were offered this opportunity by the Sloane Stanley estate after they saw an article in the Evening Standard which talked about our 30-Year Collection and our sustainable ethos. They said they admired this, so they offered us the shop with no rent for January and February of 2016. It was an incredible experience and it really helped take us to the next level.”


❝


IT WAS AN AMAZING FEELING TO HAVE A FLAGSHIP STORE ON THE KING’S ROAD JUST 18 MONTHS AFTER WE HAD STARTED UP


Two years on and Tom, who works Making a noise: Tom Cridland, centre,


with girlfriend and business partner Debs Marx and Nick Whitehead


closely with his girlfriend Debs, still puts sustainability at the heart of what he does in his £3m business and is known to get quite worked up about it. “Fast fashion is damaging the environment, putting responsible brands out of business and ripping off consumers,” he says with more than a touch of passion. “We are fighting the corporations that are treating both clothing and those who make it as disposable by offering consumers something better.” Tom’s 30-year sweatshirt was the


first item he designed with a 30-year guarantee. “It was an attempt to make sustainable fashion more broadly


SME 31


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