Where does the name Casual Society come from?
The term casual society is a sociological term derived from scientific study and theory. It suggests that fashion tribes, otherwise known as “Casual Societies” originate from relatively small, definable areas. These subcultures with the help of music tend to spread rapidly across towns and cities and eventually across the British Isles, then onto the continent via the media. Casual Societies come together loosely for acommon cause based around shared interests, values, and beliefs, whether that be fashion, music, arts, politics or other expressive events that can draw individuals together.

The evolution of subcultures normally rises to prominence in changing times of uncertainty, where societies national or international are adversely affected, by war, political and financial instability, hardship and/or discrimination, and civil action.

Where do your find inspiration for design?
Since childhood I’ve been fascinated with all, but primarily British male subcultures. Teenage subcultures are a very British phenomenon which becomes ingrained at primary and secondary school age for many. Male subcultures have flourished influentially since the 18th Century. From the
Victorian Peaky Blinders and Mancunian Scuttler’s, all the way through to the post war Spivs, Teddy Boys, Mods, Skinheads, Rude Boys, Soul Boys, and the Casuals of the 1980’s. Many of these groups have taken design inspiration from the Military and British aristocratic style, culture and behaviours.Where does your approach to design come from?
As the creative director of the brand other than the history of menswear, military insignia, print and embroidery design, including a genuine passion for research and development has always been at the forefront of what I do. Design is a lifestyle choice, hobby and passion, and a vocation. R&D is a way of life.

How does research and development affect the outcome of your garment design?
The way fabrics and materials are made and applied has always been a constant source of fascination. When researching I’m always thinking… “WOW” that’s an amazing design idea and/or technology. Then automatically without thinking comes the question to mind….?
“How did they do that” and “How could I apply idea to textiles design or branding? Therefore, technology and materials science and the R&D thereof is a great source of inspiration. This is reflected in the artistic embellishments we apply to garments.

How does the business of fashion compare torealities of factory production life?
Design, management, production, and people management skills have been invaluable developing
this business internationally. A high level of business and inter-personal management skill sets have been a valuable, rich and authentic vein, into which the brands have tapped, to develop its’s own atelier in Izmir Turkey. Moreover, working in the corporate world planning and financing large commercial projects, has also provided a valuable substrate on which to build our fashion business, operating across international borders.

What is it like working in Design & Production, and what are the key skillsets required?
Factory production is a gritty and draining business, its’s very emotional and not for the faint hearted. Here, a high level of emotional intelligence and people management experiences are always required. The people producing our garments are as far away from the glitz and cameras as can be. Inter-personal skills, empathy, and a genuine like of people and the understanding of personal hardship of your workforce outside the workplace is as imperative as financial cultural hardship is an important factor when considering reward for extra hard work, over and above salary is essential for success and the wellbeing of your employees.

With our own design and production atelier in Izmir Turkey, a careful and delicate blend of cultural understanding, creative, corporate, business leadership and inter-personal relationship building skills have been invaluable to our success in production so far.

How does the business stay ahead of the curve and what are the primary business objectives when developing an international manufacturing business?
Knowledge, experience, insight and forecasting, coupled with a healthy dose of R&D is most valuable when manufacturing internationally. The menswear arena is competitive, fast and operates at lightning speed, therefore, forecasting is a do or die skilled activity.

Traditionally, menswear fashion used to be a national affair, however due to the advent of Fintech and the Global Village, fashion trends now run at the speed of the digital highway, which makes the industry evermore dynamic, diverse, and convoluted, due to the speed that technology dictates. Designers and manufacturers must react to trends that are local, national, and global all at the same time, when designing menswear collections and devising business strategies to survive post-Covid.

Creative directors need to develop strategies that are global in appeal, whilst at the same time reaching beyond current trends to stay ahead of the curve of relevance, by way of innovative design, materials innovation, branding, multi-channel marketing.

Casual Society has achieved this goal by setting up its manufacturing infrastructure in Izmir Turkey, where Hugo Boss has its largest manufacturing plant in the world. Unitex one of the world’s largest textile clothing producers working exclusively for the likes of H&M, Zara, Pull & Bear Tommy Hilfiger and Matalan are also situated in Izmir.

What is the operating point of difference between Casual Society and other boutique brands?
Our approach to design, manufacturing, and marketing draws inspiration and owes as much to the subcultural history of British menswear, as it does to the commercial approach and success of luxury and mainstream brands such as Reiss, Paul Smith, Ted Baker and Superdry. Not to exclude our continental cousins such as Stone Island, Hugo Boss, Kenzo, D’Squared, Moncler and industry giants such as Zara and H&M.

The difference being there is a wide chasm and niche market to be infiltrated and captured in the Sports-Luxand Luxury casual wear markets within the UK and Europe. To achieve our business objectives, we have opted to build a “In-house – Vertical Manufacturing & Digital Marketing Infrastructure First” approach when developing our business and brands.

We therefore have the luxury of time, and being able to design, manufacture, and market our goods in-house vertically with High-level digital marketing operatives and highly skilled senior crafts women and men. This ability allows the business space and time to craft best-in-class products and marketing campaigns crafted to suit the needs of our customers and target audiences more readily.

What are the goals and ambitions for Casual Society?
Our mission in the short-term is to deliver brands that are global in outlook, with a business strategy that is outward bound in-light of Brexit. Our brands and business are beacons for championing diversity and inclusion, whilst opposing segregating from the wider European fashion community due to Brexit. We aim to Champion collaboration with European brands to eliminate some of the damage which Brexit is having on longevity, innovation, and creativity of the British fashion community.

Our vision for Casual Society nationally is to compete in terms of innovation, design, quality, flexible price points, bespoke fabrics, and high-end accessorising and branding, when embellishing our products.

The power of our own atelier and digital marketing sales hub provides us the advantage of being able to ramp up production turn-around and lead times, with the ability to react to new trends seamlessly, at a much faster rate than our nearest competitors.

Our B2B aims and ambitions long-term, is to capture the attention and imagination of the mega online retailers such as Selfridges, Farfetch, Matches, Mr. Porter and others who deliver well established routes to the European single market and the USA.