#Hype clothing free#

“After that it just exploded, and we had 100 different sku’s in store at any one time,” said Samani. Footasylum sold out of the T-shirt over one weekend. They got an order for 120 pieces two days later, and delivered it in three days. They got turned away, but waited in the car park and pounced on the director’s son, who was the only one willing to back it. They then went uninvited to Footasylum’s HQ, turning up with a floral print T-shirt in a scrunched-up poly packet. Within six weeks they were in over 150 Topman concessions. The collection took £17,000 in two days,” explained Samani. “ We got the collection made locally in Leicester within two weeks and delivered it in-store to Topman on Oxford Street. They said yes to everything, despite not having made anything. They went to the meeting and got asked to make a collection including T-shirts, vests and jackets. “10 years ago people weren’t messaging you on Facebook to ask to come to an appointment, but the buyer added ‘this is not a joke’ on the end of his message.” It also prompted a buyer at Topman to contact them on Facebook asking them to go to a meeting. “We thought we might have something here!” said Samani. They put them on their new website and they sold out within two hours.

#Hype clothing free#

The prize was to have 100 free T-shirts printed. Then they entered a T-shirt competition with a company on Facebook, which they won after defacing an image of Albert Einstein – complete with nose-ring, ear-stretchers and tattoos. Their first product was a lighter emblazoned with the slogan 'Get your own f***ing lighter', which they sold thousands of when it went viral online. They pulled together savings of just £600, got a six-month rent-free period from the landlord, who thankfully saw their potential, and went about creating Hype. It's a long way from 2011 when they set up on their own in the same building as a fast fashion supplier and T-shirt printing business in Leicester they both worked for, following a dispute over unpaid wages. A new 2,236 sq ft outlet store is also imminent at Gunwharf Keys Designer Outlet in Portsmouth. Earlier this month saw Hype open a 2,700 sq ft flagship store at 5-7 Foubert’s Place in London’s Carnaby area, and last week a second 1,195 sq ft store was added at Highcross shopping centre in Leicester, the home city of founders Bav Samani and Liam Green.