FASHION
TOM CRIDLAND :
FIGHTING THROWAWAY FASHION
Rod Stewart ’ s got a pink pair , Brandon Flowers got red , Stephen Fry has turquoise and Leonardo DiCaprio ’ s pair are navy coloured . So are James Bond and Zoolander ’ s .
Trousers that is . Tom Cridland ’ s trousers .
25--year-old Londoner Tom has been donned " a tailor to the stars ", making clothing for a diverse range of high profile names , including Clint Eastwood , Miley Cyrus , Neil Young , Robbie Williams , Kendrick Lamar , Frankie Valli and even UK politician Michael Portillo .
The sustainable fashion brand was founded in 2014 , with the aim of creating the perfect pair of trousers and affordable luxury clothing .
As a teenager , the ethically conscious designer sold nearly £ 3,000 worth of " SWINE 09 " t-shirts in a single week of school and donated all the profits to Médecins Sans Frontières .
Best known for The 30 Year Sweatshirt , which campaigns to fight fast fashion through a product guaranteed to last for 30 years , Tom believes that retail mark-ups are unfair on customers , who ends up paying higher prices for no reason .
His ‘ buy less , buy better philosophy ’ has rapidly grown in popularity , with The 30 Year T-Shirt launched shortly after the luxury cotton crewneck in 2015 . A year later , Tom opening his pop-up shop in London ’ s iconic King ' s Road until February . The same month , The 30 Year Jacket was released .
Tom Cridland also launched in the States during 2016 , with a base in Los Angeles . While here , Tom even squeezed in time to record a first album with his band .
But the menswear founder appears grateful for where he started from . With a £ 6,000 government loan , the company focused on word of mouth and several Kickstarter
and Indiegogo campaigns to start up their online business . Since then , it has grown organically to reach a turnover of more than £ 1m .
Tom Cridland has continued to combine its business savvy with a spirit of being alive to helping others . August saw the launch of The Entrepreneur ' s Shirt , to support entrepreneurs around the world .
Tom wasn ’ t afraid to pass comment and stand up for Kettering , near where he grew up , when Lindsay Lohan passed judgement on the town in late 2016 .
The designer ’ s threads are built to last 30 years and he may well be on the way to building a new kind of fashion trend that could last the course too .
If you want a fine pair of trousers , take your pick from 14 different colours at tomcridland . com .
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