Oliver Proudlock - Made In Chelsea

Full transcript: Oliver Proudlock on London Real

8:21 This is London Real. I am Brian Rose. My guest today is Oliver Proudlock, the English designer, model, influencer, and reality television star who gained mass popularity in the UK series Made in Chelsea. Pursuing your background in art, music, and fashion, you created your own label, Serge DeNimes, focusing on premium urban apparel. You also published the blog Proudlock Style and have collaborated with many British designers.

8:44 And you’re a big supporter of the British Heart Foundation due to a history of conditions in your family. Oliver, welcome to London. Thank you very much, Brian. You got that spot on. Thank you.

8:53 That’s pretty much me in a nutshell. You think so? Yes. Well, we’re going to find out more. There’s so much to talk about with you.

9:00 Um, and uh, and it’s been interesting for me to get to know you, uh, just kind of getting ready for this for this show. And there’s some themes in your life that I don’t think other people are aware of. And if I look at kind of the way you grew up, I see this kind of entrepreneur, this kind of hustler guy that I don’t think people see necessarily from Made in Chelsea. And, you know, when you’re a kid, you’re, you know, you’re buying and selling used shoes, you’re selling Christmas trees out of your, uh, mom’s Subaru.

9:28 Yeah, in batter say um you know you do your own art exhibit when you’re 17 and and you realize okay people might want to buy my creativity and now you know with Serge DeNimes I mean you’re you know you’re a startup guy and I I’m guessing it’s not easy to start a fashion label. No it’s not it’s not easy at all. You know I see this theme that I’m guessing a lot of people don’t know you for because they probably associate you with the character they know or the group of characters from from the series.

9:55 Um tell me a bit more about this guy. Well, yeah. I mean, you you’re completely right. Obviously, people know me from Made in Chelsea. Um, and you know, with that people may think that, um, you know, I just drink champagne and bars and, you know, I come from a very wealthy background and I maybe I don’t even have a day job, etc.

10:15 But like you say, you know, since a young age, um, I like to think that I’ve always had to hustle. And I guess for me um my parents divorced when when I was pretty young and I was brought up with my mom in the countryside and my dad was up here in London. Um and so I guess from a young age I was always very independent. Um and yeah, I guess you know my mom was very creative. She had her own fashion brand.

10:38 She was a photographer. So you know I was always around creativity. So for me you know whether it be painting or taking photographs or I always knew that I wanted to be creative and do my own thing. Um, and then I guess my dad who was very entrepreneurial, he had his own restaurant and he was always managing people. So I guess for me, you know, going to and between the two.

11:00 So growing up with my mom in the countryside and then coming up to London and spending time with my dad, I guess I was just trying to take all of that in. And because, you know, I was around people who, you know, came from very wealthy backgrounds and I saw what they had. And for me, I wanted to try and do the best I could, you know, so I wanted to hustle. I would sell shoes at school. Um, I bought Christmas trees, like you say, with a friend of mine, and we used to put the trees in the back of the car, drive around London knocking on all these people’s doors, being like, “Do you want to buy a Christmas tree?”

11:33 Um, shifted 100 trees in two weeks, which is pretty epic. Um, before they die. Yeah. Before they die. Um, one thing we always offered as well, which was quite funny, we always used to say for an extra10 pounds after Christmas, we’ll come and get the tree um and dispose of it.

11:48 So, you know, we used to go over there and we take the tree down, leave the house, cruise around the corner, and just kind of duck it by a bin just around the corner. Um, but um So, did you need the money here? Did you not come from a wealthy family or did you just like the hustle? No. No.

12:02 So um you know I I my parents when I was when I was very young um I was born in London um and at that time my parents had you know had had a bit of money and um they bought a place down in the countryside and then um I don’t know if you’re aware of the whole thing that happened with Lloyds but they lost a lot of money in Lloyds. Um when was that? Uh this would have been when I was about four I guess so this is kind of in early 90s around 1990. Um so at that point um they had to file for bankruptcy.

12:35 Um and at that time my parents weren’t going through a great time. So that’s kind of when they separated and I moved to the countryside with my mom. Age four. So I was about Yeah, I was about 5 years old then. Okay.

12:48 So I was seven when my parents got divorced. And it does something to a young boy. It it tells you a lot of things on a subconscious level that that are there’s a lot going on there. It tells you a lot about relationships. It might tell you that you’re you’re alone in this world in a weird way.

13:03 I don’t know what what did you think it told you? Yeah, I complet I think for me um because my dad was up here in London, so although I did see him now and then, I didn’t have that sort of father figure with me at all times. Um so like you say, I guess you do there are two ways you can go about it. Either you kind of I kind of took it on myself to look after my mom and I guess just be really independent. I guess for me it helped me grow up a lot faster I think.

13:33 Um but uh yeah it was interesting you know to go um from being in you know we had a really nice house. We’re all living together and then obviously that separation process happens um and you know we sort of downgraded lived in a really nice cute little cottage not too far from the old place. Um and at that time my sister was in London so it was only really me and my mom uh down in the countryside. Um, but I guess for me at that time, that’s when I really got into creativity because my mom was so crazy.

14:04 She was always doing different things. She was changing the interiors of the house. She was doing photo shoots. And so for me, I was around that all the time. So I just wanted to take all of that in.

14:14 And I guess, you know, even little things when I was at school, I used to um I used to go to Oxfam. I used to buy jeans and buy all these little, you know, products and t-shirts. I used to come back, I used to cut them, I used to paint them. And then I used to, you know, sell them to my other, you know, other friends at school again with the shoes. Friend of my dad’s had a shoe company.

14:34 So I used to buy all these shoes off him stock. I used to sell them to all my buddies and then the parents would hear about it. Then I would sell shoes to the parents. So I was just always trying to create and come up with new ideas. Um, so I guess for me it just helped me.

14:47 I guess I just grew up a lot faster. So you had a fashion label back then basically. Um, I guess I like to think so. Yeah. I like to think I had my own shoe company back then.

14:56 Yeah, it’s very American these behaviors, you know, buying things, selling things. Yeah. You know, sounds like stuff I did as a kid. Yeah, I guess so. I mean, it’s funny.

15:04 My my brother actually I’ve got an older brother, my half brother. Um, so I’ve got a half brother and a half sister, both on my mom’s side. Um, and we’re all very spread out. So, my brother lives in America. He lives in Boston.

15:16 Uh, my sister lives in Australia. Um, and then my full sister Laura, she’s actually just moved to Australia as well. So our family is super spread out and then obviously it’s me and my dad here in London and then my mom is in Gloucestershire. So despite us all being so spread out, we’re super close. Okay.

15:34 Um so it’s very unconventional but at the same time it kind of works. Um but yeah, I spent a lot of time when I was younger going to America and I think you know I spent a bit of time in New York and to see they’ve got that sort of hustle mentality. Um and it’s like go get it. Do you know what I mean? And so for me, I kind of maybe think that I I pick that up and and try and bring that into my everyday life.

15:57 Yeah. I mean, it’s the essence of New York is the hustle. It’s that you want it, you get it. You get it now. If not, there’s someone else that’s going to do it.

16:05 Exactly. In front of you. So, but also I find in especially when I spent time in New York, the pos the positivity I found there was was so, you know, it was I couldn’t get enough of it. Like I think here in London, in the UK when you tell people about your ideas or if you meet someone in a bar, they don’t really take it in. They’re like, “Oh yeah, you know, whatever, whatever.”

16:25 In Europe, you tell someone, they’re like so into it, they’re like, “Yeah, go do it.” And then if you meet someone, they’re like, “Why don’t we meet up tomorrow?” Let’s, you know, I want to help you with this.” They actually mean it, right? And you’ll be the next day, you’ll be calling them and you’ll meet up with them.

16:36 Um, so I guess I don’t know what it is, but yeah, it’s it’s that Well, all the great hustlers go to New York City and things actually happen there. And and I think America always has this if you put the work in then you get the results and no one cares about your accent, where you’re from, who your family name is. It’s all about performance really. So, but that’s an interesting observation. So, you grew up, you went back, financial situation dropped, but you still went to Eton, which is fascinating.

17:01 What was that like going to Eton? Did you always want to go there? And then for the people like the the Yanks that are watching us, what is Eton? Um, so it’s funny. I didn’t actually really have any decision in in what school I went to.

17:13 So my dad went to Eton and uh my dad’s dad. So it’s it’s been in my family for many years. Okay. Um so as soon as I was born and my dad realized I was a guy, he was straight on the phone apparently in the hospital calling up to get me on the waiting list because Eton at that time it still is it’s quite hard to get into and so you’ve got to be put down on a waiting list. Um and uh you know it’s it’s it’s been around for so many years.

17:42 Um, a lot of people know it for what we used to wear, the sort of the the tail coats. Um, and you know, obviously Prince William and Harry and you know, they went there. Um, all the politicians, all the politics of the touring party. And as a and as a young boy, you wear like a full tales, a full sort of penguin penguin outfit. Penguin outfit, right, to school every day.

18:03 To school every day. Yeah. Um but you know for me it was um that was the time when I moved from Gloucestershire um to London theoretically because I I started making more and more friends who were living here in London because prior to going to Eton all my friends lived in the countryside. So you know when I used to go up and see my dad I didn’t really know any other kids there in London. So for me that’s when I started meeting people from London started coming to London more often.

18:30 Um, and that’s when I really fell in love with the city cuz despite, you know, growing up in the countryside, you know, deep down I’m I’m I’m all about the city. Um, if you’re in fashion and in art, do you need to be around a high concentration of people ultimately? I I you know, my mom, it’s funny, she keeps um cuz my mom is super creative and she obviously lives in the countryside and she keeps saying to me, “Why don’t you come and you know, get a place down here in the countryside?

18:55 We can have your studio here. We can have all your clothes. We can do it together.” I I would love that, but I need to be, you know, where it’s all happening. You because for me, so much of my inspiration comes from my surroundings.

19:09 Yeah. Ideas, things you see, people you meet, you know. Exactly. So for me, I have to be in the city. Yeah.

19:16 I think that’s where all great companies come from and great art and everything because it’s like a concentration of people physically in one space. I mean, I love the internet, but you can’t really get the ideas you get when you get people in the same space. Right. Exactly. Putting your heads together.

19:30 So, you get to London, you go to Eton. Yeah. Go to Eton. So, that Yeah, Eton was really where I grew up, obviously. You know, I went there when I was 13.

19:38 Um, is that when everyone starts at Eton? Yes. You start at 13. And prior to that, you know, I went to a school in the countryside which wasn’t very big. And suddenly I’m going to Eton where there’s, you know, it’s 1,300 students, I think.

19:50 So, you know, my school prior was maybe 200 people in the whole school to suddenly we’ve got 250 people in your year. Um, so I guess when I went it was all quite overwhelming. Um, it was the first time I boarded. Um, so kind of being away from home full-time. Um, but yeah, I mean it was an incredible opportunity.

20:11 The people I met, the the teaching you get, the facilities, um, all the sport and for me that’s where art really took over. I mean the art department there was incredible really. Um so before I knew it you know I was in the art schools every day painting you know out you know out of ours and that’s where it really kind of kicked off and developed. How would you describe that first year at Eton for you? I mean the things you saw the things that were different or if you tried to describe it to someone you know in America it’s like this this and this.

20:40 It is um it’s I mean it’s so hard to explain. I mean the whole it’s like a mini world in its own because it is like um Eton’s a little you know it’s like a little town and everyone’s walking around. So let’s say you’re you know from America or tourist coming in you can be walking amongst all the you know the kids in their penguin outfits cruising around and all these incredible buildings you know so historic so much you know so many so many traditions.

21:07 Um, and I guess, you know, going there in that first year, I mean, there was just a lot to get used to starting with, you know, the outfit. Um, starting, you know, from from getting from one place to the next, you know, it could take 15 minutes to walk through. It’s like a university feel. It is. It’s like it has that campus feel.

21:24 Um, and all the rules and, you know, there a lot of rules. There were a lot of rules. Rules, talking rules. Yeah. Talking rules.

21:31 And they would have this thing um called capping where if you see a teacher you would have to go like this which is going back to when they used to wear top hats. So obviously you would have to push your finger up to to lift to raise the top hat, right? Which they still had that. So if you see a teacher which they would call a beak. So there all these terminolog you know all these things you got to get used to.

21:52 You no longer is a a teacher a teacher. It’s a beak. A beak. It’s like a cult. They have all these.

21:56 So you would do this to them. So, it was it, you know, it was coming from the countryside from such a small place, going into a place like that was um it took some getting used to. Um, how did you fit in? I mean, I’m guessing you’ll probably get hazed a little bit, you know. Yeah, it was funny, I guess, because at the beginning, looking back on it, I remember now, it was um it was quite overwhelming.

22:23 Um, and I think it maybe took me the first 3 4 months before I really started settling in and you start properly meeting people because at the beginning, you know, you all live in houses. Um, so you know, you only at the beginning really get to know the people in your house. Um, and it takes a while before you start meeting other people outside of the house and meet meeting more people in your year. Um, and obviously a lot of it comes from sport. Um, so you know, once I started getting into, you know, good good teams and meeting people through that way.

22:53 Um, but yeah, like I say, it was it was an unbelievable experience. Okay. Will you send your son to Eton? Um, it’s funny. I was talking to my girlfriend about that.

23:02 Um, if if if I could afford it, I would love to. I mean, it’s not it’s not, you know, but they’re very good. Like, for instance, when I went there, because my dad and my dad’s dad, they, you know, they’re good at sort of giving berries and things like that. So, I mean, for me it would Yeah, I I think I would. Okay.

23:19 There’s a lot of artists and creatives, you know, that watch us at London Real and I think we they all want to know how they get their art and, you know, actually able to live it, you know, like like you’re doing right now. And I just want to find out about how you pursued art because you went to St. Martins’s after that, but you didn’t stay there and then you went up to Newcastle to study art. So, before we get into the business, I just wanted to know what your journey was like with the art world, with being creative.

23:43 I know you used to paint. Yeah. Now you’re into in fashion. Really? How did that all happen?

23:49 Um I mean, yeah, I guess it obviously starts I mean it did start before Eton. Even, you know, when I was at my prep school, I used to do a lot of drawing and I was I used to stay back at school quite a lot and and that’s when my mom knew that I was kind of really getting into drawing and painting. And um all my other peers when I was at school, you know, and their parents, they were pushing them to do maths or do science or whatever it was. And I remember when I realized I’m trying to think when I realized maybe it was when I’m about 16 that I really wanted to pursue painting you know and give it a shot and after Eton not you know going specialize you know go to a lot of my friends going to Oxford or Cambridge or and doing these various things and I always remember my parents were super supportive um because it was kind of unusual um to to go from from where I was in my you know amongst my other peers at Eton to go to specialized Most Eton graduates go into politics, into banking.

24:50 Exactly. Into science. Exactly. Um, but you know, I was very lucky. My parents were super supportive.

24:56 Um, my mom has always wanted me to be creative. I mean, she she was so so excited when she knew that I was going to head down that path. Um, and although creative people are born like you’re born to be creative or do you think if you didn’t have that encouragement by your mom, you could be a banker right now and you would always wonder like I still like to draw on my weekends. Like do you think people get pigeonholed into being one thing or the other? I don’t you know I don’t know.

25:20 I I honestly think that um I think it’s a it’s it’s a combination of a few things. I think it’s definitely in my blood. Um you know my mom is great of my mom’s mom. She was a painter. Um, and then, you know, I think over time it’s just been nurtured and and just being around that environment has just like made me want to just really go for it.

25:41 And the people I’ve been around, you know, when I went to Eton, my my art teacher there was a massive inspiration for me and he was part of the reason why I went on to Newcastle. Newcastle. Right. So, take me through St. Martins. You started there in art, pure art.

25:53 Yeah. So, no, the way I because coming to the end of Eton, I although I knew I wanted to to be creative, I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do. Um, and I am pretty indecisive. So, I was constantly toing and toing and throwing, going from one to the next, thinking, do I want to go to university? At the time, I was almost thinking maybe I won’t do any education and I’ll just try and be an artist.

26:16 Um, and then I decided, no, why don’t I do a foundation? Um, and really work out where I want to specialize, what path. Um, so I went to Martins uh to do the foundation, which is you do little pockets. So the whole year is made up of um you do a little bit of fashion um you do um printing, you do painting um and then at the end of the year you decide which sector you want to specialize in. Um so for me although I loved painting I I didn’t want to just jump straight into it without trying some of these other paths.

26:50 Um but then I guess half well I wasn’t even halfway through it was about 3 months in. It just didn’t feel right. And I think um I’d gone through my whole education looking forward to having a bit of a break and a lot you know a lot of people here in in the UK take a year out. Yeah. Um and you never did.

27:08 Well I mean all my friends were doing it at the time and while I was there in St. Martins and I just wasn’t clicking in and I had it just in the back of my mind I just I knew it wasn’t right and then you know knowing that all my friends were traveling and and going around to these places I I decided after 3 months to quit. Um, and at that point I decided I need a little bit of a break. So I I saved up some money from all the art exhibitions I’ve done in the last couple of years.

27:35 And um, you actually sold art. I did. Yeah. That’s impressive. Well, that was that was the kind of stage I guess when I I thought to myself, maybe I could actually pursue this as a career because before then it was just a bit more of a dream.

27:49 Do you know what I mean? Yeah. You can paint nice. Yeah. And I’m thinking, oh, but then it was that whole that I remember.

27:55 So that process of putting together an exhibition, curating everything, having you know your close ones and everyone coming down and to people for people to um to you know reflect on your work and to actually invest in some of your work was like oh man it was the best feeling I’d ever had because it’s so personal to you isn’t it? something you’re creating and then to see other people enjoying that and to actually, you know, let’s say if they were to buy something or whatever and hang that up in their in their home. For me, that was like just it’s intoxicating.

28:25 I mean, it was incredible. So, you knew you had something. You’re like, I’m going to go ahead and pursue this. But St. Martins wasn’t the place. So, you took a you took a break.

28:34 So, I took a break. But you hate quitting things. I do hate quitting. Yeah. I hate quitting.

28:38 But you let yourself quit this thing. Yeah. It was um because I like I like to think if I when I commit to something, if I say I’m going to do something, I’ll do it and I’ll do it to the best of my ability. And I guess in that instance, because my parents, you know, they they really supported me. And despite maybe they didn’t think that was going to be the path I was going to take, they still had my back and they trusted me.

29:01 And you know, I guess I kind of let them down in that sense that I did quit. Um but I guess you know, I just knew it wasn’t right. And I guess in the back of my mind, I didn’t want to waste even more time. Um, and so I decided obviously to to have a bit of a break. I went traveling around South America for a few months.

29:21 And um, and then yeah, just just to clear my mind and and have a bit more bit more of a thought process of where I wanted to go. And then when I came back, that’s when I I thought about Newcastle. Right. And I have friends from Newcastle, but I don’t think about it as a metropolis of fine art. So tell me why Newcastle?

29:39 What did you learn there? And what don’t I know about that city? Um, I mean it goes back to again to that my my art teacher at school who who’s who’s from Newcastle and he studied fine art in Newcastle. Um, and he’d always told me what a great course it was and there were quite a few artists who’d come out of there. Um, and it had a really good reputation.

29:59 Um, because there were two options. There was either I would just study art in London. um where obviously there are some very kind of well-known and you know wellestablished um art schools or look elsewhere outside of outside of London and I think for me outside of London having you know visited some of these places and done interviews and and met um you know people who’ve been there previously um Newcastle came up on top and not just because it had a great course but also I think I just there’s something about the city I just love It’s uh Have you been there?

30:35 Yeah, I’ve been there just briefly. It’s actually architecturally very pretty and awesome to go into. Um but I just spent brief amounts of time there. Tell me about it. It’s I mean for me it’s incredible and the people.

30:46 Yeah, I’m big I’m big on people. So wherever I wherever I go um I like to be around like-minded people and there’s you know I think I’d been in London for so many years then and I thought this is a great opportunity for me to spend some time outside of London. Um and you know also get a bit more of like the campus sort of feel cuz I guess you know going to college or going to you know somewhere in London it’s for me it was like just being at home and you know I guess I wanted to be slightly out of my comfort zone.

31:17 I thought um you know I would meet more people and and just I guess I guess just kind of get more involved in the course. I think being in London, there probably would have been too many distractions from my friends here and and maybe that would have held me back from really putting my everything into the course. Yeah, a campus is important because a campus is something away from everything else. I mean, St. Martin’s central London, right? You might as well be you’re in Leicester Square, right?

31:43 Exactly. So, okay. So, that was a great decision. So, yeah. No, it was a great decision.

31:48 So, I was there for so the course was four years. Um, and that was an incredible opportunity for me to really just like get fully into my painting. Um, and I absolutely loved it. I mean, the course was 70% practical and then 30% um, uh, art history. Um, so it was nice to do a little bit of the combination of the two.

32:11 Um, but yeah, that’s where I really kind of developed my skills and I came just got very much into my own little world. Um, which was great, but then also looking back on it is probably another thing why I decided that I didn’t want to have a career as an artist. Um, because it can be lonely. So lonely. Cuz you got back from Newcastle, you went back to your mom’s place in the country, you’re there painting alone and what happens?

32:39 Well, it was it was one of those things like when it was coming into the um the fourth year of of uh Newcastle. Obviously, by that point, a lot of your friends have left because most people have a three-year course. And um as with anything creative, you can kind of go through ups and downs. You can get into a bit of a rut. And I remember I got in such a bad rut and I just couldn’t I just couldn’t think creatively and I I didn’t know which direction I was going.

33:05 Um, and I guess at that time I didn’t really feel that I had someone. I had my tutors and I had a couple of my peers who I was very close with, but I didn’t really feel that I had someone to kind of talk about the concept of the pieces I was creating. I wasn’t necessarily happy with them. Um, and then, you know, like I say, you know, it came to the end of the um end of the fourth year. I moved back down um back back down south.

33:31 Um, and at the time I didn’t have a place in London, so I I went back to stay with my mom and stayed there for a few months. And during that process, that’s when I was trying to think, right, where do I want to go now? What what’s going to be my career path? I knew that I wanted to be creative. I knew I wanted to do my own thing.

33:50 But I just I needed a break from from painting because it was, like you say, it was very lonely and it was just kind of it was just getting a bit too much. So um that’s when I was uh thinking about you know fashion and and during that whole process of my youth I was always touching into fashion you know whether it be you know just touching in on jeans and cutting things and painting or even at my exhibitions I used to print some of my artworks on t-shirts um so I was always using that medium as well um and I remember I was down at my mom’s and she did a book on um carnival in Rio It was called Conan Rio 78 and it was her and her first husband and they went to Rio Carnival four years in a row. Um in the 70s.

34:36 In the 70s really, which is when Rio Carnival was Oh, wait. When it Okay. Just pure. It was out on the streets and it was just crazy. And it was just real, really raw and just authentic.

34:45 And I like Rio a lot. Oh, Rio is incredible. It’s very raw. And I remember I, you know, I s I was looking at this book and I’d been to Rio Carnival during my um when I quit St. Martins. went to Rio for 3 months. Okay.

34:57 I was actually only meant to go there for two weeks. I ended up staying for 3 months cuz I just got I just fell in love with the place. Where Copacabana or So I was staying in um I was staying in Ipanema. Okay. Um and then I actually went to a place called um um what was it called?

35:13 Uh a place called the Maze Inn, which is a a youth hostel at the top of one of the favelas. Okay. Owned by this crazy guy who’s actually a painter. This guy called Bob. Okay.

35:23 Really cool English guy. and he moved there back in the 70s and at the time he was this English white guy coming into the favela and all these guys were like who is this crazy guy and decided that he would build this youth hostel at the top of one of the favela the most insane views um and I ended up staying there for for 2 months with this guy Bob okay yeah the favelas have like the greatest views in Rio uh which because I think traditionally the rich people didn’t want to climb up the hills and so the favela people go there I spent many years there I used to actually box at a gym on the top of one of the favelas between Copacabana and then you know all about it and it’s just fascinating. I mean, the favela culture is fascinating.

35:59 Just looking at the favelas, if you’re from not if you’re from the first world, it just looks weird when you first get into the city cuz there are these homemade homes built up there, homemade plumbing, and yet people live there. It’s insane. Sometimes they have widescreen TVs in there, but it’s it’s fascinating. Well, it’s like you say, you know, that and now it’s funny because, you know, obviously so much has changed there. Um, you know, and a lot of the the crime is getting a lot a lot, you know, all the drug lords have been pushed up north.

36:26 So they pacified a lot of the favelas. Um so all the BOPE went in, you know, with all the tanks and machine guns and everything and they they pushed them all out. I think there’s only one favela now which isn’t pacified. Okay. Which is called because it used to be very dangerous.

36:39 All the drugs were happening there. You could get shot. People would get shot. Whereas now, yeah, it’s it’s much safer. But it’s funny now because all the rich people want to now acquire land in these favelas because like you said, I mean the views in these places are incredible.

36:54 Um and the culture is incredible. the culture and all the everything about it. And anyway, so I was looking through my mom’s book and so all the images they taken over those four years they put into this incredible book and I was looking through this book and I was thinking back to when I went there a few years before and I was like god this was just like the most incredible place and suddenly I was thinking I would love to do something with these images. Um, and then the whole thing just started spiraling and I was thinking, “Wow, maybe I can print these images on t-shirts.”

37:25 So, it was kind of linking back to a process that I was familiar with because obviously I printed some of my artwork on t-shirts when I used to have exhibitions, right? Um, and then, you know, I was speaking to my mom. I was like, “Mom, you know, could I use these images? Could we do some sort of collaboration?” Um, and you know, then I was thinking, “Wow, maybe I set up a clothing brand.”

37:44 And I was thinking all these things going through my mind. you know, I’d never set up a business before, so all this stuff about setting up a business name and doing all the, you know, all that stuff was just I had no idea. Um, and then I was thinking about the name and so my mom, she used to have a a denim business called Denim and Style. Um, and she’s basically denim crazy. So, when I was a kid, I was like head to toe in denim.

38:07 My our house, which which we still have now, your house was denim. It’s it’s the whole thing’s denim. So, no, I’m not kidding. My my room is the walls are black denim. all the walls black denim.

38:18 My like bedboard is slate denim. The bathroom is blue denim. Like the whole house is denim. Like my mom is is crazy. Denim bean bags everywhere.

38:26 Um and she Yeah, she used to have a business called Denim and Style. Okay. Um and so for me, I guess when I think of fashion, I always think back to denim because I guess since I was so young, you know, I was just surrounded by it. So I was like, what does denim mean to you? Like if you think about it, like what does it actually mean to you?

38:46 For me, I mean, denim, you know, everyone always talks about trends and things that come in and out. And I think for me, denim, denim is timeless. Like no matter what the trends are, denim is always there. Um, and for me, denim is part of my everyday life. Like, I wear denim every day.

39:03 Um, and I guess, you know, this is why when it led to me thinking about my brand and the name and the origin and what what it’s going to be about, um, I I look back to the origin of denim. Um, and I was which is what? Well, yeah. I mean, the actual name itself goes back to um, Nimes and the way the cotton is woven was coin surge. So, originally denim was called Serge de Nimes.

39:30 So Serge de Nimes and then became Denim and then denim. Okay. So back in the 60s I believe there used to be a brand called Serge Denim. Okay. And was denim always a functional cloth?

39:41 Was it always a working man’s cloth? I think it was. Yeah. Much more of a working man’s cloth. Yeah.

39:47 I was was told that the San Francisco 49ers wore denim. Yeah. Being from California. I don’t know if it was true, but I was always told like, you know, that’s where Levis’s got their denim from. Yeah.

39:57 I mean, because this was the crazy thing. And I remember I was sitting with my mom and I was like um we were looking back at Nate. This whole process was you know so long and and I remember thinking wow Serge DeNimes I was like that sounds really great. It’s got the origin of denim and it ties in so well. Um and so yeah we went with that name and uh cuz she funny enough knew the brand back in the 60s.

40:18 It used to be called Serge Denim which um obviously was no longer around. Um so then yeah I set up the business name Serge DeNimes. I um I had a contact. It’s It’s It sounds good, right? Yeah.

40:30 Um I had a contact in Portugal because obviously the hardest thing is setting up. I was like, “Right, where am I going to make these things?” Um had a contact in Portugal in the north of Portugal in a place called Porto. Um made my first set of samples printing these images on the t-shirts. And this is back um this is like 5 years ago when graphic t-shirts were really on trend, right?

40:50 You know, people wearing big loud prints and things like that. And then I decided um that I wanted to take the the t-shirt back to Brazil. So then I went back to Brazil for two months. I took these t-shirts with me. I set up a blog and I took my camera and I was just going up to like my mom did when she did her book back in the six uh in the ‘ 70s.

41:12 They had, you know, scarves and masks and they were going up to people on the beach saying, “Oh, can you put these on?” And going up to random people and just taking photos. So, I was doing a similar sort of thing, but using these t-shirts and going up to the Brazilian, just getting that essence of of Brazil, you know, where these images were coming from. Um, and obviously it’s a a time, you know, we’re going from the ‘ 70s to to, you know, to 2000, this was 2010.

41:34 Um, and I just set up a blog and just thought, look, I’m going to go out there, set up a blog, and just get a bit of momentum going. And And that’s your first fora into social media at this point? Yeah, that was actually, yeah, on Tumblr. That was my first kind of introduction to that. And it went well.

41:50 It went well. Yeah, it was um it was uh I guess for me it was nice to kind of I I wanted to take them back to where they came from. And I didn’t want it just to be at that time just to be a brand or just be a t-shirt brand. And you know, part of my trip going back as well was to try and find um a you know, a little charity that I could work for work with um and donate some of the funds from the t-shirts back to them. And that’s when I was going to the favelas and I was trying to meet people and find a suitable sort of charity that we could team up with.

42:27 And um I actually finally went to Rossia, which is um I think it’s the only one now, which is unpacified, right? And um there was an amazing north of Ipanema, right? Amazing. Yeah, exactly. Amazing place.

42:39 Huge, right? Massive,000 people city in itself. Yeah. And at the bottom of that there was an incredible almost like a little school. Um and they had sewing machines upstairs where the kids were making clothes using offcuts and obviously you know had the books and all the everything going on there.

42:56 And um it just seemed like the perfect fit. So, um, we teamed up with them and 10% of all the profits went towards them to help buy books and help sewing machines, all these little things. Okay. Um, but again, for me, that was super important to have just a connection. Do you know what I mean?

43:13 It’s it’s wasn’t just about creating a t-shirt and you buying a product. It was about you becoming a part of something, right? Which is now trendy, but five years ago was still kind of a new idea. And that’s always been the essence for my brand. You know, I want it to be more than the brand.

43:28 I want it to be I want it to be a lifestyle. I want it to be something that you as the customer can you can become a part of it. Do you know what I mean? Let me ask you about that and then we’ll dive into Made in Chelsea. But I I watched an interview with you and someone asked you what would you say in parting words and you said you can’t just love it, you have to live it.

43:47 Yeah. What do you mean by that? Um, I think whatever you do in life, if you really want to succeed, um, and do something to your full potential, there’s only so far that loving it can take you. Um, and I think if you really want to push it and go that extra mile, then you have to live it. And what I mean by that is it’s 24/7.

44:11 You can’t switch off, which I’m sure you know about, right? Little bit. Yeah, I can tell. Um, so yeah, that’s I guess has always been my motto throughout life is you can’t just love it, you got to live it. So you become Serge DeNimes.

44:23 Exactly. And the brand isn’t just about t-shirts with prints. There’s a there’s an ethos behind it. There’s a lifestyle behind it. There’s a there’s a lot going on there and you put yourself in the middle of it.

44:35 Exactly. That’s exactly it. Okay. And again, denim to me like I don’t I don’t understand fashion. I find it fascinating, but I wouldn’t say I understand it.

44:44 I know that’s a very general thing to say, but like when I see denim, I just feel like, okay, it’s like a functional material. Maybe it’s a working man’s material, but now it’s a material we can do so many different things. The fact that you’re gravitated towards that, to me, it speaks volume about your personality, your own sense of style, maybe from your own background. Uh there’s a lot going on there, right? Yeah.

45:05 Yeah, I mean I guess it does kind of go back to my um to my background and the way I’ve been brought up and you know with all these materials you know everyone sees things or materials or whatever it is is in in different ways you know um and you know I say you know obviously my brand’s called Serge DeNimes and I I talk about the emphasis of denim so much and before quite a few times people ask me why is there not more denim within your brand um and that this is something that is taking me a while mainly Because as a startup brand, denim is um denim is a really hard material to work with, especially when people are very loyal with denim. And over the last four or five years, trying to find a factory that can create the things that I want at the small quantities has has been super tough.

45:52 So the way we had to do it to start was just to have denim details. So on the t-shirts, all the all the neck tapes are denim. We we do denim accessories like denim caps, bags. But I’m very happy to say that finally autumn winter 16, we have denim jeans coming out. We’ve got denim jackets.

46:09 We’re going to be doing double denim, which is um a big look for me. I love a bit of double denim. What’s double denim as it is? So, denim. Denim.

46:17 Oh, right. Nice. I used to rock that when I in my teenage years. It was powerful. Yeah, it’s powerful.

46:23 Right. Congratulations on finally getting denim into the into the uh collection. Uh the denim and denim just hit me today when I was like watching one of your videos and I was like, “Oh, I just got it.” Yeah. All right.

46:33 So, you started this company up. You had this vision for this brand. All of a sudden, Made in Chelsea comes along. You get a phone call, you get approached by someone. What do they say to you?

46:44 What goes through your mind? Um, okay. So, so I obviously I knew about the show cuz um by this time season one had played out um and my friends had obviously been on been on that. So they were the kind of they had taken the plunge and you know you know really put themselves out there. And I remember I remember when when they first got the call and they were they were telling a few of us about it and they were like oh we’re thinking about doing this reality show and I remember thinking what are you doing?

47:15 Like 100% don’t do it. We’re all like you stupid do not do it. All this stuff and I remember so well we we had a screening of the first episode. Um I think it was at both at house um which is a pub just um in Chelsea and um and we all watched it together and uh we were all just sort of like oh cringing couldn’t even watch it. Um, and you know, hats off to them because they really went into the unknown because, you know, at that at that time they went in having no ideas how how people would perceive them, how the show was going to, you know, react, how they had no idea what was going to happen.

47:54 Um and then obviously when it came about to the second season so when I you know when they came to me and asked whether I wanted to get involved um although I was still really unsure and kind of going back and forth you know I was I was in a position where I’d seen the season one and I’ you know my friends had been in that and I’d seen what would what had happened and over the process of that season one people actually started to you know to actually start watching the show and people were, you know, the reviews are getting a little more positive and things like that. Um, it was a success. It was a success.

48:30 It became more successful, but it was a success. It was a success. It became more successful. Um, but this again leads back to um to one of my worst traits, which is I’m super indecisive. I mean, really bad sometimes.

48:44 I’m getting I’m getting better, but sometimes it can be small thing. I could be in the supermarket and it’s like I’ve got to pick a cereal and it’s like do I get the Cocoa Pops or the Rice Krispies and I I’m just touring in front and I can’t make a decision. It’s better now. It’s not that bad. So anyway, so that’s a tiny decision, but so when it came to Made in Chelsea and deciding whether to do this or not, I was I mean constantly changing my mind.

49:10 Um and the producers wanted you because I guess they asked season one and they said, “Who are your friends?” And they’re like, “Oi’s cool. He’s got a fashion label. Let’s meet him. This will work.

49:19 Yeah. I mean, I think that’s one of the things of the show. Um, why it works is because all the characters on there have history. So, it’s not like they just went to a random group of people and put them together and made a show. The show started they by them going to a group of friends.

49:38 And by doing that, you know, there’s already the history and it’s the chemistry is there and it’s it’s seems very natural. Um so as each season continues they obviously want to build that cast and they find out who’s you know who’s involved or whose friends and friends etc. Um and that’s when you know came season two they came to a few of us who obviously very close to the to the group from the first um and I guess at that time you know I’ve been doing the brand for would have been about five six months then um at the time I was living um at my sister’s um and you know I just bought 500 t-shirts a friend of mine had invested the money in um because I didn’t have the money at the time to kind of pay for that first batch.

50:26 So, he um he had invested. We got 500 t-shirts. I was storing them at his mom’s house. Um I was staying at my sisters every day if an order would come in. I’d go over to his house.

50:39 His mom would let me in. I used to wrap them at that time. I used to get these flat um cardboard boxes. Then I used to have this tissue paper and I used to fold them, put the tissue paper. I used to have um these little stickers that said, “Don’t just love it, live it.”

50:51 I used to stick them on that. And I used to put them in. I used to cut my mom’s denim rolls. I used to cut them and I used to have to make sure that they were like the perfect thickness, do a bow, put it in, have a sack, cruise down to the post office. And so I was doing that, you know, and at this time the orders were, you know, not huge.

51:09 Um, this is how all great entrepreneurs start. I was doing it themselves. Yeah, of course you’ve got to. I think is the most important thing setting up your own business is to really know every aspect of your business. Whether it be the, you know, the e-commerce, doing the website, whether it be picking and packing, all this sort of stuff is super important because if you’re going to be managing this and you know, let’s say as you develop and you have people underneath you, you know exactly what they’re doing and and how it should be done.

51:38 Yeah. And the customer experience is Yeah. The customer experience, which is so important. Um, so yeah. Yeah.

51:43 So anyway, the show came around. I was thinking to myself, “Wow, you know, this could be a really great opportunity. Um, this could be a great platform. I think, you know, I was constantly thinking to myself, you know, I’ve got this brand now and I was thinking, you know, it could give me a platform. It could help me push the product.”

51:59 But then I was also thinking on the other side, oh, maybe, you know, it’s going to be a negative on my brand. You know, maybe people see in a different sort of light. Maybe I won’t come off well on the show. um maybe they’ll, you know, put me in some weird light or maybe they’ll edit it. You know, I was thinking all these things um and constantly changing my mind.

52:17 Um you know, I was meeting up with the producers um and they were like, “Don’t worry, like it’s super chill. You know, you just come on, it’s going to be with your friends.” Um and I was obviously just I was making it a bigger deal than it was. Um but I guess, you know, at the time it was it was a it was a huge decision for me. Um, and then actually funny enough, I remember on so in the end I was like, “Okay, I’m going to do it.”

52:42 And I remember on the day first day of filming, um, I was meant to be filming a friend of mine, Hugo’s with with Spencer and Jamie. And Jamie was another coming into the second season. Um, and we’ve been speaking on the phone every day being like, “Dude, should we do it?” I don’t know. And he was like super positive.

52:58 He’s like, “Come on, do it. Let’s do it together. It’ll be it’ll be fun.” Um, so he was a massive part of, you know, why, you know, I kind of went in to do it along with the fact obviously all my close friends were doing it. And I stayed at my dad’s house, um, the night before because it was around the corner from the place.

53:13 I was sleeping on his pull out sofa. And I remember that night I just couldn’t sleep. I was like constantly like thinking about it and just playing it over in my head. And then I woke up, I was meant to be there at 8:00 in the morning and I just I didn’t show up. Just didn’t go.

53:26 I just turned my phone off. I was like, I can’t do it. Said to my dad, I’m not going to do it. And um I went to a friend of mine’s house in the countryside, took a few days out. Um and then they called me.

53:38 They’re like, “You didn’t even show up. Like, what happened?” And I was I just I just freaked out. Um and then a couple weeks went by and then, you know, I had more conversations with them and I’d spoken to Jamie and Jamie was like, “Dude, it’s fine. It’s relaxed.”

53:51 And then in the end, I guess what I thought I was like, I think um for me, I regret the things I won’t do in life more than the things I do do. And I guess I was thinking to myself, look, if I do this and it doesn’t work out, at least I can say I tried it. Do you know what I mean? As opposed to constantly going through life thinking, oh, you know what? If I done that, you know, maybe that this would have happened, that would have happened.

54:15 Um, so yeah, two weeks in, I was like, okay. And I remember my first scene was just playing table tennis with the guys. Um, and I think that came in in like episode three or something. Um, and then and then yeah, it’s I mean the rest rest is history. I guess they say four years later, four years later.

54:35 Now for people that don’t know, what exactly is Made in Chelsea? Is it a reality show? Is it not reality? Is it scripted? How do you make the scenes?

54:44 Are you an actor? I asked you that earlier. explain it to people that might have never heard of the show. Okay, so they um they describe it as a constructed reality. Um so we’re not actors, we’re real people and we’re going about our everyday life.

55:00 So everything that you see, all the scenes that you see are real. Um we’re not given scripts. So we’re not told what to say or anything like that. Um when they say constructed, that means um the scenarios. So, for instance, it’s not them just following us around with a camera.

55:18 Um, part of the reason why I think the show has done so well is to do with the production. Um, the team behind the scenes are incredible and the way it’s shot, like aesthetically, because obviously there are a lot of reality shows now. Um, but the way ours is shot just it’s it just looks really really great. Um, and it’s like a movie, right? It’s like a movie, right?

55:38 And that’s that’s what they wanted it. They wanted it to be really high-end and really slick, right? A lot of long shots like a lot of right out of the show was really close. So many different shots and different angles and in public places where audio is tricky and I don’t know. It’s it’s an incredible, you know, I mean, you know what that’s like.

55:55 And um and so when they say constructed, basically what that means is um so they would call you and be like, “Right, tomorrow we need you, um at Boxpark, and we need you there at 10:00 a.m. You’re going to be doing a scene with so and so.” And then when you get there, um they’ll brief you and tell you, “Okay, so in this scene, we need you to, you know, talk about what happened last night because obviously, you know, so and so kissed so and so.” So everything that’s happened is real, but obviously you just need some sort of direction.

56:25 Um um but yeah, I mean, and that’s, you know, I guess like I was saying to you earlier, part of the um the hard part at the beginning was getting used to being in front of a camera. Um which is strange because your mother’s a photographer. I know, but there’s a huge difference between uh camera and a video camera. Um I don’t know why that is. Why?

56:46 I I have no idea. because I maybe because when I was a kid I wasn’t around a video camera but my mom was always shooting us obviously. Um so I I was I was comfortable in front of a camera. Soon as a video camera came out I don’t know what it is. It’s just like just couldn’t be natural. I think also because I was aware that behind that camera there was a huge you know huge amount of people watching.

57:13 Um, and because I wasn’t only just representing myself, I saw myself as representing my brand. I was very cautious and I, you know, I didn’t want to let also anyone of my friends, you know, a lot of my friends I hadn’t actually told that I was doing the show. Um, so these are friends of mine that I’ve known for years, you know, and um, you know, had I gone to them and said, “Oh, I’m going to do Made in Chelsea,” they would have been like, “What are you doing?”

57:37 All this stuff. And so in the back of my mind, I had, you know, the my friends, I had, you know, my parents, my family, I didn’t want to let down, uh, my brand. So all of those things were were playing in. And then I was, you know, had the camera there. So it was one of those things at the beginning, becoming comfortable and then being able to kind of be more relaxed and be yourself.

57:59 Um, but that for me was an amazing sort of thing to overcome. Um, and you know, I think with a lot of people when they started, everyone’s a little bit rigid and over time as people kind of loosen up and get used to the camera, I think that’s when the show really started getting stronger and stronger because I mean aesthetically it was always there. It was always on point. Um, and it was just as people became more comfortable um, that’s when it really, you know, started developing.

58:29 Do you look at your early earlier episodes and do you cringe and you’re like, “Oh my gosh.” And then you just get more open and more relaxed. Yeah. But even even when even I I can’t actually really watch it. I very rarely watch it.

58:41 Okay. They used to do every week they would want everyone to watch it together. So on Monday nights they would do a screening. Um and I would always not I would never turn up. And then over time they started putting it in the contract that you had to show up.

58:54 Um but yeah, there was something about watching still I have it now watching myself on TV. I just cringe every time. And like so now they they say show up at Boxpark. You got to talk about someone who kissed someone last night. And then does the plot just go wherever it goes?

59:06 And are they told to you guys, “All right, time to mix it up. Time to cheat on your girlfriend. Time to pick a fight with this guy.” Because like stuff stuff has to happen. And do they wait on your cues and then develop?

59:17 I think what happens is um you know, obviously in the back of their mind, they have an idea of of the direction they want it to go, you know, and obviously it doesn’t always go that way. So I think from a writer’s point of view because there are there are people behind the scen you know there are people coming up with ideas and we should shoot here and let’s bring in this character from the past and that might create this sort of tension. So they have ideas of what they think will happen.

59:40 You know a lot of the time it’s not going to happen like that because we’re not acting. We’re not given a script. So that’s why it’s quite hard to film the show and that’s why you have to be on call. You’re on call all the time. And for me over time that’s what started becoming hard because you know I’m trying to run my brand and do my other creative projects and then at the same time trying to do the show and it goes back to that whole thing of you know you can’t just love it you got to live it and for me to try and live my creativity and doing my projects and doing my brand while trying to live doing this show started becoming you know it started becoming hard juggling the two together.

1:00:22 Um but at the same time you know the show opened up so many doors and you know I was I was learning so much. I was meeting amazing people and you know it was possible to do the two but you know I I you know four years I thought was a pretty quite a long time. A pretty good time. And how much of that time like during the year are you on call? I mean is it shooting like a few months and then you have a break?

1:00:43 We shoot um so you do two seasons a year. Okay. Um and it’s I think it’s four months. four months on and then you have a break and then another four months. So pretty full on.

1:00:53 Yeah, it’s pretty full on. Okay. And you did a couple you did a season in New York City as well. We Yeah. So we did the season in New York City which was Yeah.

1:01:00 That was unbelievable. And like a year in are you thinking like this is crazy? Are you super popular? Are you a celebrity now? Does it feel weird?

1:01:07 I would never say we’re a celebrity. Um if a zed list a zed list celebrity probably zed. I wouldn’t say list but no it was very surreal. Um it was very surreal being um for people you know people recognizing you even now I find it weird you know people coming up or asking for photos or whatever it may be. Um but yeah I guess you know none of us had any idea how the show was going to go and how season on season it was going to get bigger and bigger.

1:01:37 Um and it was a huge success. Millions of people watching it. BAFTA nominated. Yeah. I mean you know that’s that’s real that’s cred.

1:01:44 Yeah. But not just here. The weirdest thing is not just here in the UK. Um, I just got back from Australia. I went to to Melbourne for a week for their fashion festival there.

1:01:53 Um, and to be on the other side of the world and to have people recognizing you there is so surreal. Um, you know, I think they even play it in Mexico and dub you and we’re dubbed and in America too. Do people watch it in America? See, it’s funny because, you know, I think obviously they had plans to get it into America and I think that’s part of the reason why we filmed in New York. Um, because they wanted to have these Brits over in New York and it would kind of create a bit more of a noise.

1:02:23 Um, but for some reason, I know it went on Bravo. I think it was on Bravo for a little bit. For some reason, it just never kicked off, which I find very, very strange because obviously they love reality TV in America and they love Brits. They love the Brits and you know Chelsea and it’s a highly competitive TV environment. I know that’s the thing.

1:02:39 There’s so much television so you just never know something pops. I think that’s probably it. Yeah. Maybe they didn’t get it. You know it like it is it’s filmed very movie like sometimes quite maybe the Americans didn’t realize it was reality.

1:02:52 You know maybe that’s it. It’s a weird Maybe they just thought it was a really bad sitcom. Maybe. You know it’s it’s hard to to know what pops in America and what doesn’t. Yeah.

1:03:01 So, no, it never it never worked in America, but um but yeah, it it was um it was very strange. Um but an incredible experience and um what was your best moment and worst moment of those four years of Made in Chelsea dur during the filming period? Um best moment 100% New York. Those three months in New York were I’d probably I yeah probably three best Yeah. three best months of my life I reckon, right?

1:03:28 To be in that city, an incredible pad with all my good friends. Um, filming schedule was a lot more relaxed there than here. So, we had a lot of free time and it was just 3 months to kind of it was it was like having that year out again, you know. It was like being 18 again and having that time where you you just kind of feel that you you can just do what you want and just have a great time. And to be in New York, you know what New York’s like.

1:03:52 I mean, it’s the most incredible city. Yeah. It’s like crack. Yeah. It’s insane.

1:03:58 Worst part? worst part. Um I guess I guess for me the whole thing of um the the juggling it was just the thing of um I got frustrated sometimes about I kind of felt that I think a lot of people did and and that’s that’s not their fault. I mean they’re trying to create a show here obviously but this whole thing of um being so within that per filming period of four months you just can’t make any plans and you know having to you know especially with my business if I had things planned and then you know I would have you know they call me and be like oh we need you to film tomorrow and I’d be like well I’ve got this thing they’re like and you would just have to drop it you would have to always go with that.

1:04:42 Um and you know at the time I you you get frustrated but it’s not their fault at all. I mean, they’re just trying to create a show and they did an incredible job and they still do. Um, so I guess for me that was a hard thing trying to kind of juggle between the two. Did you grow tired of the work or was it ever a point where like you’re going to go to Boxpark, somebody kiss someone last night and you’re like, “Yeah, I did this so many times like I can’t even get excited about this scene anymore.”

1:05:05 I guess, yeah, there were times like that. Um, I guess for me I I didn’t mind doing um I didn’t mind doing this kind of smaller scenes with friends and stuff like that, but it was when you’re having to do the event days. So every season you would do like an event day um and it would be like a full 12hour day, right? A lot of time it would be in locations outside of London and there’d just be so much sitting around and you know you would you might not even have a scene.

1:05:30 I remember sometimes you’d be sitting around, you didn’t even have a scene and it’s like or if your scene it could be at the end of the day and you’re just kind of sitting around waiting. And those days were kind of kind of frustrating. But um as with anything, I guess at the beginning when you do it, it was like so exciting, you know, it’s like, “Wow, look at all this.” And then slowly as it goes on, it kind of gets a little bit repetitive. Um and like you say, there’s so many times that you could, you know, oh my god, who kissed who?

1:05:58 And you know, I I’ve I’m I’m not I’m not big for gossip. I say that and I’m on a TV show is all about So, do most people think you’re I privileged, superficial, gossip hungry Chelseier? Um, you know, I guess with the show people have Yeah, I mean, people have concept, you know, people put me, they probably put me in a box and and think some of those things. Um but yeah, you know, obviously another thing that annoyed me was like how, you know, a lot of the time we’d be in bars drinking champagne and and you know, obviously I have a job and and that was just unin people thinking probably people watching it would think that I just go to bars and drink champagne and talk about who you know what I mean, which is so far from from what I do.

1:06:42 Um but uh but were you unique in that standpoint? Did most of the other cast actually did sit in bars and drink champagne? I mean I mean I mean some of the guys on the show obviously they they would probably do that more so than than me and some of the some of the other guys as well have set up businesses and they they have jobs and stuff. Um, but I guess for me as well because I knew, you know, I wasn’t going to be in the show forever and we were in this, you know, in the limelight for for a little, you know, for this period of time.

1:07:12 And I knew that I had this brand and I had this opportunity and I knew that I had to really hustle and work hard at it because before you know it, it would be over. And the last thing I wanted to, you know, for the show to be over and then I’m I’m sitting here and I’m like, “Oh my god, what am I doing or where am I going now?” And I guess for me that was so important to make sure that I was super productive and you know when I were to move away from the show to to to look back and be like I’ve done all these things and because a lot of the time you know when I when I meet people or meet people from magazines or other young creatives or established creatives um and I sit down with them and I talk to them about what I’m doing or what I’ve done and a lot of them have no idea.

1:07:54 Do you know what I mean? and and they have, you know, they see me from the show and they think a certain thing. Um, and in one sense it’s kind of frustrating, but in another it’s it’s it’s kind of nice in a in a sense, mainly because people just think, “Oh, I’m just going to be some spoiled rich kid or whatever.” And so you surprise them. Yeah.

1:08:15 Do you know what I mean? Um, so I don’t know. But yeah, it it was um No, it was an incredible incredible. You think a lot, don’t you? As I do.

1:08:24 Yeah, you do always you think maybe overthink things and you’re So during the series you’re always like, “Okay, but this is time is running out. I got the label. I we’ve got to leverage this.” You think a lot. I do think a lot.

1:08:37 Yeah. Okay. Um and also maybe even sometimes with the show, maybe I was thinking too much and thinking too far ahead. Do you know what I mean? Um and as with the show, you know, a lot of people on the show give a a lot.

1:08:52 So they give all their personal life, they give their relationship, they give everything. And I think one thing for me when I went into the show, I was very satisfied just kind of cruising and and and doing bits and bolt. I didn’t want to be on the forefront. I didn’t want to give everything. Um I wanted to keep some stuff to myself.

1:09:12 Um, and I guess for them that was a little bit frustrating because you know what they want is they want characters to come in and really like give everything, you know, so they’re like, “What’s going on with you?” So they they wanted they wanted me calling them up and being like, “Oh my god, you never guess who did this? Guess who did that?” And I was never one of those people even when they would call me. This was the annoying thing.

1:09:32 I used to get frustrated when they would call me. They were like, “What have you been doing?” And I’m like, “I’ve been working.” They’re like, “Oh, but where’s So” And I’m like, “I I just wasn’t I don’t know. I just didn’t have that hunger to like to give everything.

1:09:44 All right. So, you wrote yourself kind of out of the show. I don’t know. I think a lot of the show is to do with um to do with relationships. Um and you know, I guess I had a relationship that was outside of the show.

1:09:59 Um and you know, automatically by doing that, it cuts you out of a lot. Um and for me, I I didn’t mind that. You know, I think a lot of people on there obviously wanted more airtime and to be on on the show more and more. I think for me, what I really wanted was because had I done that, it would have been impossible for me to do my brand and do my other creative projects. So, Right.

1:10:22 Yeah. that you’re talking about Emma who you were dating outside the show. Did they ever want to bring her in the show? Of course. Of course. Yeah.

1:10:28 Yeah. She’s a fashion model and they’re like, “Perfect.” Yeah. Perfect. Holly, they’re like perfect.

1:10:32 And you were like, “No.” She was like, “No.” Yeah. Okay. But this was on the last last the last last year or two.

1:10:38 Yeah. Well, even actually before Emma, I had I had a girlfriend prior to that and again, you know, it was the same, you know, obviously they’re trying to get them to come on and um it’s Yeah, it’s that’s got to ruin relationships in itself. I mean, looking back at the history of the show, I can’t think I don’t think one relationship is is has survived the show. It’s like any television show, even friends. No.

1:11:01 But I think that’s one of the things like especially as well with the viewers is they like to see the creation of a relationship and they like to see it, you know, blossom and rise and rise and then they like to see it crash. Yeah. Classic tragedy. Exactly. Just to finish up on this, why do people love Made in Chelsea so much?

1:11:19 Is it because it’s a soap opera, but it’s real people like you with with real lives? I mean, it’s obviously hugely popular. Why? Why? Um, I think it’s popular because of a number of things.

1:11:32 I think one, aesthetically, the way it’s shot, the way it’s, you know, created so so beautifully. Just even if you’re not taking in the the story lines or whatever it is, just watching it is is kind of incredible. Um, the characters, um, some of the characters are, you know, pretty interesting. Um, your friends. Yeah.

1:11:54 Yeah. Um, and just the story lines. I think what it is for people, you know, at the end of the day, they’ve got their work, they come back and I think for a lot of people it was their sort of guilty pleasure and, you know, people would watch it but not tell anyone about it and then over time I think people have accepted it and been like, I actually kind of like it and they actually talk about it now. Um, but I think what it it’s it it’s an opportunity people to switch off and get sucked into this whole other world.

1:12:18 And it’s kind of a SP it’s looking at it and I guess people kind of want that sort of lifestyle in a sense you know they see you know going to these nice places and going on holidays to you know wherever it may be and you know it’s it’s yeah I mean it’s just a nice thing to switch off and and just kind of get lost in it I guess. Did you ever compare the show to The Hills or to The Only Way is Essex? Do you have thoughts on on how those all Yeah, I mean they’re all they’re all slightly different.

1:12:47 Um I would say it’s closer to The Hills. I guess that’s why I always thought in America it would it would kind of work quite well because I mean the Hills was obviously huge. Um but yeah, out of all of them, I would say it’s kind of I would say it’s similar to that. Okay. And Essex was different.

1:13:03 Essex is kind of different. The way it’s shot Essex as well, correct? It’s um they shoot much closer to time. So everything that that you see is pretty much current. Like they shoot weekly.

1:13:14 Okay. Um whereas our stuff what you see happened 3 months ago. So it’s much more edited and cleaner. Um and then you’ve got like Jordy Shaw which is just like you know crazy. Yeah.

1:13:25 Pure reality. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um are you done with Made in Chelsea or who knows?

1:13:30 So yeah. So, no, I um so the when was it last year when they went into I think it was season 10 they you know obviously it comes around to doing the new contract and I you know I didn’t really want to carry on um I said you know there’s potential that I would maybe do little cameos coming in and out um and I did one in November when Alec came back from New York I did a little cameo with him um because you know at the end of the day I love all the the production team and and everyone behind the show um and you know I really feel that I’ve gone through a lot with them over the last four years and I would never say never, but at the same time, you know, I feel I’ve very much moved on. Um, and I would never get fully back into it.

1:14:11 You know, they occasionally call me and they’re like, “Oh, you know, do you want to come back?” And and I’m like, “Oh, but there’s so many people on there I don’t know now.” And they’re like, “Yeah, but you could get to know them.” And I’m like, my girlfriend always says the same. She’s like, “I’m I’m not I’m not in to make uh I’m not in the industry for new friends.”

1:14:25 I can’t remember what she always says, but anyway, I’ve, you know, I’ve got I got everything going now in terms of my job and, you know, I love my girlfriend and I just I would feel like I was going backwards a little bit if I went back to it. Yeah. But that’s not to say that I wouldn’t do, you know, little cameos here and there. Okay. And now you have a brand and you have a platform and, you know, people know you.

1:14:48 I mean, your your social media game is strong. You got great Instagram pictures. You’re training every morning at 6 a.m. You got naked pictures of you and your girlfriend. Yeah.

1:14:56 You probably You got healthy snacks. I mean, there’s a few healthy snacks and unhealthy snacks in there. Okay. Big on the chocolate. You know, you you but you you put thought into that, right?

1:15:07 Um yeah, not I mean, not I don’t not too much thought, but yeah, obviously um social media is I mean, as you know, it’s it’s a huge thing. Um, and especially in terms of my business and you know in terms of my brand, social media is a huge thing whether it be through Twitter or Instagram and you know what you’re putting out there is very much reflecting your brand. So I put thought into that obviously and you are your brand essentially and I think probably more entrepreneurs need to live that maybe a bit more and you have no problem with that, right?

1:15:40 No. No. No. Um, but even now, you know, there’s obviously always new social media platforms coming out. Now you got things like Snapchat and it’s it’s a constant thing trying to keep up with all these things.

1:15:50 Um, and it can kind of become a little bit much and kind of start consuming you. Um, so I do think it’s important to kind of not get too sucked into all of it. Um, because it’s easy easy to do. Let me get your thoughts on the state of art of fashion right now. Um, I don’t know what why, but Kanye West comes to mind.

1:16:09 You know, he does music. He’s very outspoken. He just had a big show in Madison Square Garden where he introduced his clothing line. Uh following his Twitter feed is just a fascinating glimpse into the human mind. He’s just so controversial.

1:16:21 He is. But isn’t that what artists are? I mean, someone once told me that great artists uh they piss off 50% of the audience and they inspire 50% of the audience. And no matter like despite the fact, yeah, he may be pissing people off or some people loving him, everyone’s talking about him. Right.

1:16:38 Right. Which is important. You know that. so important, right? And at the end of the day, I’m a huge Kanye fan, by the way. And um no matter what people think about him, um he is he’s making noise and he’s setting trends.

1:16:53 You know, all the stuff that he’s creating, some people may hate it, but you know, look at his Yeezy shoes that he does with Adidas. They sell out the whole oversized thing, which is, you know, all the stuff that he’s doing, everything he creates, people people go on and follow. And I mean he is I mean he’s selling trends whether it be in the fashion or whether it be in music. Um he is extremely controversial but I mean and now that he’s got the power of the Kardashians with him as well.

1:17:21 I mean it’s kind of a little bit much. I mean some of the stuff that’s going on she’s she’s on point too. I mean yeah you know she you know people talk about her and she does things that are controversial but also quite artistic in a way. like the thing she does afterwards you’re like how come no one else thought of that but she does it with that like bravado and confidence where she can pull it off. I know it’s it’s hard to admit but it’s true. I know it is true.

1:17:47 Um but so much of this you know especially with social media and you see all these um things you know all these things that go viral. I always think to myself, I’m like when I watch videos, I’m like, how has this gone viral or whatever it is and it’s the noise and all this stuff that’s going on underneath us and there’s this like massive community this like all bubbling there’s like so much going on. Um, and I guess for me that’s why I love London so much, you know, especially is as a city there’s just so much going on.

1:18:15 And I guess with me within my brand, one of the things we’re trying to always do is kind of collaborate with these young creatives and all these people who are making noise in these little pockets of London. Um, some who are known, some who are unknown. Um, and it goes back to all these young creatives, so many people around us doing some amazing things, but so many people don’t have a platform. Do you know what I mean? And it’s like when I had my brand, I was like, I need a platform and then the show gave me that platform.

1:18:45 And for me now what I’m trying to do is is collaborate and work with established brands like for instance Oliver Sweeney or Theo Fennell but also some like unknown you know young designers or even now with with Serge DeNimes we do these um we do these every season we do um these documentary style videos called Lip Sge and we pick a young creative and we kind of delve into their world and we did our first one with a Krump dancer called Ricardo and this is a few years ago and this is when Krump was kind of a a little bit unknown, whereas now it’s it’s really well known. Um, and I just want these videos. I want people to be able to come into their world and I want it to be really inspiring and people to watch these and be like, “God, I want to krump or I want to skate or I want to be a graffiti artist.”

1:19:29 And for me, if if within our brand we can give some small platform and work with these creatives, that’s like, you know, that’s what gets me up every day. That’s what I want to do. You know, I want to collaborate and create this sort of community. Is it essential for you not to just be a clothing label? Do you think well two questions for the future does any type of a brand need to be art fashion music ethos and then also does do you need to be all those things?

1:19:57 I I think so. I mean that for me it’s like that all those sectors are a massive part of me and my life and I personally don’t think one comes without the other. Like for me, art and fashion like massively the two and then music is so fully influential as well. Like we all listen to music and we all get different emotions and different feelings from music. We all get inspiration from music.

1:20:20 Um I think especially now you see fashion and music so intertwined. Um Kanye, yeah I mean Kanye prime example, right? Um, so for me, yeah, all of these things, you know, we’re doing now we’re doing a live um this incredible rapper called Kelvin Colt who’s from Germany, young kid, super talented. Um, and we’re going through the filming process now. And again, within what he’s doing, you know, he’s he’s so creative and obviously, you know, music is his main focus, but then fashion is too. and we’re just bringing this together and we’re filming in Berlin in the next couple of weeks and then we’re gonna film him doing a live set at District.

1:21:01 Um, and again, we’re just going to create this sort of documentary style video for people to just get a pocket into his life, why he does what he does. You know, for me, like Serge is all about being young and being creative and it’s about having an idea and having a passion and following that passion and giving it everything. Do you know what I mean? for me that is like I find that so addictive um and that’s what makes me tick like and to see these other people doing these things that is what I get you that’s what inspires me so if I can do that within my brand and and video is a big component for you massively yeah okay how’s business it can’t be easy to make money in the fashion industry I hear it’s hard even when you’re Victoria Beckham yeah I mean my business is so small you know I mean we’ve only been going for five is um you know for me I am the I love the creative process.

1:21:58 I love designing. I love collaborating. Um the business side is something that I’ve kind of learned along the way. Um I’m still making mistakes. Um I think sometimes that’s uh how you learn by making mistakes.

1:22:12 Um I’m lucky in a sense that I have a few mentors and people around me who kind of direct me and help me out. But yeah, it’s not it’s not easy. I mean, especially now you see, you know, with everything that’s going on in the high street and so much competi, you know, there’s so many other brands and it’s just fast fashion, right? People are so impatient, whether it be looking at stuff on social media or watching videos or if if if someone goes into a store tomorrow, when they go in the next week, they want to see a whole different shop.

1:22:46 They want to see different products, right? and as a small brand to be you know I do my two seasons every year but I need to start now like dropping in pieces every like one two weeks and it’s like people just get bored you know um so yeah the business side you I love it but I’m still learning um but you know obviously you know for a brand to survive and to keep building and to keep going you know you’ve got to you got to make sales you got to get in stores so we’re now in 38 stores in the UK we’re slowly building I want to get around 50 here and and then for us what’s super important is to start branching out and look at America um look at Asia, Australia, um look at start looking at these other regions so that hopefully in let’s say however many years, five years from now, you know, we’re sort of a recognized brand worldwide.

1:23:34 When are you moving to New York? That’s a very good question. When I mean I’ve just moved into a new house with my girlfriend. Um so we’re just renting a place in West Brompton, so I don’t think we’re going to be moving anytime soon. Um, but when I read your CV, when I learn about you, I just am like I’m like, “This guy’s got to spend a couple years in New York.”

1:23:53 I I really Yeah. After you after it’s not up to me now. It’s It’s up to Emma. But yeah, it’s uh when I spent those three months there and when I came back, actually remember coming back on the flight and we were all um all of us were on the flight coming back drinking champagne. I I was Yeah. drink everyone drinking champagne obviously and and talking about who kissed who and um I was sitting next to Stevie and I had a couple of the producers in front of me and again in like emotions and music and things like that.

1:24:19 I can’t remember what the song was. was I think it was probably Ed Sheeran or something like that and I just started crying and I was like why am I and that that that’s how much those three months in New York meant to me and that that’s how much you know I I mean I love that city and I remember coming back thinking to myself I mean I need to to do at least a year there. Yeah. But it’s also hard because you’re building your label here and that’s the problem.

1:24:42 You know, I’ve got my label here and then since coming back I met Emma um and I’ve been with Emma now for um for a year and a half. Um and you know, so you got all these these other factors now, but Emma loves New York as well. I mean, we try we go there I think we went there three times last year. Um so we love it. So I always head back to the Barry.

1:25:02 Yeah, that’s your favorite hotel, right? I love that spot. Love the Barry. And what’s it like dating her? She’s pretty high profile. when you guys come together, is it is it is it get tricky with Paparazzi?

1:25:11 No, she’s amazing. You know, it’s it’s so nice to be with someone who um she’s just so down to earth and she doesn’t take herself too seriously and we’re we’re very um we’re very similar. Um and obviously we’re in a similar business. Um and she’s just got like great star. She’s super quick.

1:25:30 She’s witty and we just have a good time. and you know, we we’re constantly asking each other questions about how things are going and we help each other out. Um, you know, she studied fashion herself. Um, so, you know, she’s she’s given me tips and helping me out a lot of the time and and yeah, it’s just it’s great. I feel like a real team, you know, it’s nice.

1:25:49 It’s nice to when you finally meet someone like that and you’re like, you just know it feels right and you know that that’s the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. Powerful statement. Talking about your fitness routine. Yeah. You’re uh you’re rocking some crazy abs.

1:26:04 You’re working out at 6 a.m. every morning. This you transformed a couple years ago. You took on like a health fitness challenge with magazine and then it clicked with you. Well, a few of us um a few of us from the show um got approached by Men’s Health to do a sort of six week transformation.

1:26:21 Um and prior to that, I’ve always been in sports. So, I used to play a lot of football, a lot of tennis. Um never used to work out at the gym. I’ve always been like super skinny. um always found it quite hard to like kind of put on put on weight and mass. Um and then yeah, we got approached by Men’s Health do the six week transformation trained with a guy called Nick Mitchell um who has got a gym called UP Fitness.

1:26:44 Okay. Um huge guy. I mean he’s massive. I mean I remember the day that I went into his gym and it was me and Jamie both um training with him at the beginning but then Jay didn’t didn’t finish the the the whole process. And um I remember I mean his you know he’s one of these guys and he made us take our tops off and he was he was kind of pointing out being like ah what is it like kind of analyzing us do you know what I mean?

1:27:07 It was brutal but it was funny because I remember when we started like with a you know a lot of people he had an idea of of who I was and you know he’d heard about the show but never really watched it. So again, he thought I was just going to be this lazy, spoiled, rich kid. And then over the period when he realized that, you know, I really was going to commit to this and and give it my all. Um, I remember at the end of the process, I I bulked up in six weeks by a stone.

1:27:34 Um, and often it’s actually harder to bulk up than to you see a lot of these transformations as people losing weight and cutting down, but to actually bulk up and put on mass is actually really hard. Yeah. Um, takes a long time. And there’s a lot of people out there, you know, a lot of people get, you know, whatever it is for being too big, but also people who are skinny and, you know, a lot of people it’s quite hard to to kind of gain that. And, you know, it came to the end of the process.

1:27:57 And um and we did a book together, me and Nick, um which was called um the six week muscle plan. And it was it was aimed at kind of skinny guys looking to bulk up. And so for me that was my first introduction to to kind of working out and also like really delving into nutrition because obviously during that process I really changed my whole diet. Um you know obviously I was trying to gain mass so I was eating a lot of lot of carbs, a lot of protein, a lot of veg um but but at the same time trying to keep lean muscle.

1:28:32 So I was being you know super strict as well. So that was the first time I did that and that kind of for me I got hooked. For me when I get hooked on something I you know I really becomes a part of my lifestyle and I I you know I just carry it on. So that’s when I started and then um obsessive. Yeah I guess.

1:28:49 But in it it’s it’s a healthy it’s a healthy addiction. But you do train every morning. Yeah. Okay. Um just because I like to do in the morning because I feel it sets me up for the day.

1:29:03 Um I mean some people train at the end of the day. I personally when I leave the office at seven I’m just too exhausted to even think about training. So I like to go in the morning. Um and also for me it gives me time to think about the day ahead and what I need to achieve. Um so yeah so that was the kind of set and then and then actually funny enough after that is when I started picking up with the British Heart Foundation.

1:29:26 You kind of touched on that at the beginning. Yeah. Um and you know cuz I’ve got an irregular heartbeat which u some people in my family have. kind of have a um a few heart conditions in my family and and I was obviously becoming more and more into my health and and doing more fitness and um I really wanted to team up with with the British Heart Foundation and do work with them and um and that’s when I remember I went to sit down with them and talk about various things that we could do and this was shortly after doing that um the men’s health transformation and that’s when we decided that I I said I would do the marathon three-hour So yeah, and so that but then I kind of went from training, you know, heavy weights, bulking up, and then suddenly I’m doing long distance train, long distance running, and I just like lost all of that, you know, lost all of that.

1:30:14 Um, but yeah, so then, you know, and that’s when I started doing that was the first thing I did with the British Heart Foundation. Um, and again that was the first time I’ve got a real buzz for I’ve always want I’ve always said I wanted to do the marathon and and for me to do that and I don’t know if you’ve done a marathon before but it’s like such a as with any doing some sort of feat like that it’s such an achievement and also to know that you’re doing it raising money for such an amazing cause and again I kind of got the bug for that. So I mean we’ve got a few plans coming up.

1:30:46 So, you be doing more marathons or I I mean, yeah, maybe I want to take a few things a little bit further, but um I got a suggestion for you on movement because I saw you doing some of your routines and it looks like you’re you’re lifting you’re lifting in the morning and doing that kind of thing. But, uh I had a guest on here named Ido Portal who’s a movement expert and he I think I saw that. Yeah, you might have. and he’s gone on to be one of the instructors for Conor McGregor, who’s, you know, one of the big mixed martial artists in the UFC.

1:31:14 And he’s really changed the way I move. And I I trained martial arts for many years. I lifted weights in all shapes and forms for many years. But after meeting Ido, I’m just doing different things. And I’m doing like Olympic ring work.

1:31:26 I’m doing handstands. I’m doing lizard walks across the ground. You would love the lizard walks. Um, and I’ve actually started break dancing on the way on the back of it. Show me.

1:31:35 I I could show you my windmill right now, maybe after. Um, and so, uh, and so I’ve just done this whole way where I’ve now gone into really movement and then now the body comes after and the muscle development comes afterward. I’m not just doing squats, doing bench press, doing pull-ups. I’m now, you know, swinging on the bars or like I said, doing muscle-ups and doing parallel bar work. There is a movement going that way now.

1:31:53 I see a lot of people doing it very much so. And it changes the way you feel cuz it’s a very different fulfilling. It’s quite fulfilling this movement. And so for me, dance was a natural thing. But as a tough guy martial artist, you know, you’re not allowed to dance, but you can punch someone in the head.

1:32:07 So for me, it was just a way of being creative. And funny enough, now that I’m into the break dance, I’m having a different appreciation for the music. Now I’m understanding the fashion that came along with break dancing. Even I take You don’t This is not your get up for the No, I don’t wear this for that. This is my London Real get up.

1:32:21 Is there a spot that you I mean, do you go out at night do some break dancing? No. Well, the break dancing championships is coming up uh in Kentish Town, so I’m not performing this year, but I’ll be going. And uh I I train at Pineapple Studios every Saturday. I get out there and break dance.

1:32:33 Yeah, most of the people are younger than me. But yeah, I love that. I do. And I love it. I’m a real I’m a white belt, as we say in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, as in I don’t know what I’m doing.

1:32:42 It’s nice to be a white belt. It’s something, you know, it’s not you don’t want to be it’s all up from that, right? Yeah. It’s like you being on camera for the first time. You know, it’s it’s painful.

1:32:50 It’s anxious, but the learning curve is amazing and it’s very reward. I would love to do something like that. It’s it’s great. And so, yeah, just check out his stuff cuz I think you really enjoy that as a compliment to some of the other stuff you’re doing. Um, and it’s all kind of a cycle.

1:33:01 I think it’s I think it’s super important as well to always mix things up, you know? I think you can I mean I I do and now, you know, you get into this routine of doing the same thing, but I think by doing that, your body obviously just gets very it doesn’t it’s not really working it. Whereas, if you mix it up and try and do different things, I try and do boxing maybe twice a week. Um, but yeah, that does sound pretty cool. I might have to try it out.

1:33:25 Keep it moving. Keep it moving. Keep it moving. Let me ask you a few questions about some of your own like personal success secrets. Like are there things that you do every morning, every day?

1:33:34 Obviously, we talked about the training, meditation, things you tell yourself, like you told me you used to be very indecisive about things. Are there ways you’ve kind of overcome that? You know, anything that you’ve picked up over the years? I always ask everyone question at the end. Yeah.

1:34:15 Uh, if you could make a phone call to the 20-year-old Oliver. Yeah. Give that young man a bit of advice. I guess he’d be in Newcastle at this point. I would be Yeah, I’d be in Newcastle.

1:34:24 What would you tell him if you could tell him one thing? That’s a great question. Um, what would you tell him? What would I tell myself age 20? Um, I would probably God that’s a great question.

1:34:42 Wow. Trying to think when I was 20 what I was going through. So obviously just gone to Newcastle. See delving into art. I think maybe just um you know at that at that point in time I was thinking so much about oh what am I going to do?

1:35:00 Where am I going to go? I think, you know, it’s all well having an end goal and knowing the direction in which you want to go. And this is not to say that I wasn’t having a great time, but I would say maybe just live more in the moment and just, you know, really just take it all in and Yeah. And just and maybe just not not overthink things sometimes. I get that a lot.

1:35:20 Huh? I get that one a lot. Yeah. Yeah. Really?

1:35:23 Yeah. Yeah. Everything’s going to be okay. Yeah. Uh Yeah.

1:35:26 I think that’s the thing, you know. I think we worry a lot. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. Um, but yeah, just like just love it. On that same note, best advice you’ve ever received could be about art, about design, about expressing yourself, or just anything.

1:35:43 Um, what did that teacher at Eton teach you? Yeah. Do you know what he he was a huge inspiration for me? Um, I guess I guess what he really gave me, which was super important at that period in time, is he gave me confidence. Um because I think you know when you’re doing something creative you know it is you’re in your own little world and it’s very personal and you’re creating something and you’re thinking to yourself wow you know I really I really love this but is are other people going to like this and I think to have um to have that sort of support and someone giving you that confidence and saying you know what that is good and you know you can go with that and that’s for that for me was was massive and he I guess was the first person to make me realize that I had something when it when it came to creativity.

1:36:33 Whereas previously I was thinking to myself, yeah, I love doing this, but could I really could I really, you know, push myself further and make a thing of it? Right. So, yeah, he was he was super influential. Yeah. Last part to the 20-year-old that’s out there.

1:36:47 Yeah. listening. What advice do you give to them if they want to, you know, grow up one day, be like Olly, sip champagne and Chelsea, sell sell lots of fashion wear while doing no work? You know, what do you tell them? Uh, that’s not possible. It ain’t going to happen.

1:37:03 Um, no. What would I tell what would I tell you? What would I tell someone um who for instance wanted to set up their own fashion company? And um I would say um I would say to any young creative out there um who’s got an idea or who’s trying to do something um take your time. Don’t rush it.

1:37:28 I think I I do this a lot as well is when you’ve got an idea and you’re super excited and you just want to get it out there. um just take some time and just really think about it and don’t rush it. Um and just get it to the point where you are 100%. Um, I think actually, funny enough, looking back, I would tell myself that too, is is just because I think when I set up my brand, maybe looking back, maybe I rushed it. And I think um, yeah, just just don’t rush it and and really take your time.

1:38:00 And um, and again, it goes back to I would say whatever you do, don’t just love it, live it. It’s 247. Give it give it your everything. It’s a great slogan. Yeah, it’s good.

1:38:10 Right. It’s my next tattoo. Oliver, um, thanks for the time. No worries. Thank you, Brian.

1:38:16 A real pleasure getting to know you. I judged you based on Made in Chelsea and I never saw the show and I’m sure this happens to you all the time and it’s a crazy thing. People do this all the time. They don’t even watch what they’re stereotyping someone on and yet they already make I’m guilty of that, too. 100%.

1:38:32 And yet, the more I’ve learned about you, I’m like, “Okay, this guy is is a bad motherfucker.” you know, you are because you go and you you put yourself out on the line. You know, you’re building your business. You you put your art on the line and then you turn it into a business. And I know how hard that is. And any real entrepreneur knows that that’s not easy.

1:38:49 So many creatives can never make that jump. And it’s that leap of faith, isn’t it? It’s a leap of faith. It’s a lot of Yeah, it’s a lot of risk takingaking. It’s a lot of taking the hard hits that no one sees you take.

1:39:00 The fashion business, I can imagine, is highly competitive. and uh you know I know famous people and famous labels that are still burning through money and so um the fact that you’re out there doing it much respect to you and I think it doesn’t take long for people to figure out that you are more than what they think you are on a television show and so uh I love what you’re saying about Serge DeNimes it sounds awesome I love how you’re featuring these young artists I love how well maybe I just thinking about it maybe I need to do a feature on you oh no and the break dancing the break dancing we can get you in some of my gms get the suit off, get some of the TE’s and stuff. That’s a good idea.

1:39:36 I’d love it. I need a makeover. Okay, done. Next London Real. Okay.

1:39:39 I need more rings, too. Yeah, we need to bling you out there. And uh yeah, wait till you see my break dancing. But yeah, I’m in. I’m totally in.

1:39:46 Good. Um and I love the fact you’re doing video. I think that’s a crucial part of any brand. I always tell any young entrepreneur that you’re a media company first and then you’re a mobile company and then you’re whatever you think you are. You’re unified because you’re creating this and it’s nice to see you giving back right away.

1:40:00 You know, it’s hard to give a percentage of your profits away when you’re not making any money. It’s hard to spend time producing videos about other artists when you’re trying to set up your own business. So, yeah, of course. Um, but that’s going back one thing I didn’t tap in on is how lucky, yes, the creative industry is super competitive, but at the same time, there are so many amazing people out there who want to collaborate, and that for me is is the most amazing thing.

1:40:25 Do you know what I mean? And you know, especially as a startup company when you don’t necessarily have a lot of money, there’s so many people wanting to help each other out and you got photographers who want, you know, to do favors and everyone’s in it to help each other out. Do you know what I mean? And I think looking back, you know, it is still competitive, but look at some of the collaborations that have happened over the last few years with established brands.

1:40:46 That never would have happened. And it’s nice now to see that that you know it’s an environment where people are working together and people are recognizing wow you know if you get your skill set and you come together with my skill set think of what we can create. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Which is like oh man for me that’s what I love.

1:41:02 Yeah. And people want to see that. And with everybody you know producing video and sharing their brands. It can happen so quickly in a place like London. Yeah. you can bump into someone and bump into that and come on this show and all of a sudden there’s something to do and it is exciting and people are open-minded and uh it’s like a new industry and so people are like yeah open-minded to where maybe 20 years ago that stuff wouldn’t happen.

1:41:23 So 100% it’s exciting stuff. It’s exciting for sure. As we say on London Real, it’s about the journey. I wish you well on yours in the future. Stay in touch.

1:41:32 We’ll do some break dancing together. We’ll do some movement and uh all the best. Thank you so much, brother. Legend. Cheers, Brian.