Sustainable Style
Tom Cridland merges a desire to move towards more sustainable fashion with a passion for entrepreneurialism
Article by Rupert Watkins
How bad is fast fashion…? Aside from rather bizarre and questionable ensembles, the environmental aspect of this question is at the forefront of Tom Cridland’s mind. He was heavily influenced by the 2015 documentary The True Cost by Andrew Morgan which looked behind the façade of the fashion world and its attitude to ever more disposable clothing and trends. As a result he founded his namesake, sustainable company who this year launched The 30 Year Sweatshirt.
Before hitting upon The 30 Year Sweatshirt idea, Tom had graduated from Bristol University determined to make his way as an entrepreneur. His initial concept was in designing and offering high quality trousers. Having seen the gap in the market and with no formal experience, Tom started his company, finding a factory in Portugal and working from home in Northamptonshire, “learning as you go is more fun… I just dived right in.”
Initial development was by word-of-mouth and through his website before Tom boldly approached a number of A-listers including Leonado Dicaprio and Hugh Grant, offering his products. Nigel Ollson, Elton John’s drummer, is also a buyer and friend. Off the back of this bold move Tom has gathered quite a US following and has just (as of May 2016) returned from the States where, amidst travelling between New York and LA, he was interviewed by both NBC and CBS.
Having watched The True Cost, he was struck by the reality that fashion is the world’s second most polluting industry after oil, Tom realised however that an ever increasing number of savvy consumers are prepared to buy less but better: sustainability as a wider industrial concept is gaining ground. “You have to encourage people to treat fashion as less disposable” he says, “we are working to make sustainable fashion more interesting and fun.” The result of this was The 30 Year Sweatshirt; . Developed in consultation with the seamstresses in Portugal, the time frame was calculated as to what the actual garment makers would confidently stand by, rather than a number picked out as a marketing gimmick.
Putting it to Tom that he is working within the best English traditions of making durable, high quality clothing but with a due respect for the environment that the material has come from. He cautions that he is not directly working in the rarefied echelons of English tailoring but agrees that this country’s heritage of creating garments that last, sits very well within the modern approach to sustainability. Tom though does point to some British brands – including some of the large scale Jermyn Street makers such as TM Lewin and Hawes & Curtis – who may be leaving behind the small, quality and sustainable ideal in favour of greater shop numbers (“even at railway stations”) and profit. He is a fan of Richard James though, who Tom argues has grown but to a point where he still retains his class and the quality and durability of his clothing.
Tom realistically understands that fast fashion is not likely to ever go away. There is currently no global regulation to control or limit brands or conglomerate’s exploitation of human and natural resources. People, who have come to Tom Cridland, he hopes first and foremost, like the garments – the sustainability ethos is an added plus point but one that helps to retain customer loyalty.
Given Tom’s entrepreneurial streak, he is understandably passionate about the arena. He feels little time is given in educating or understanding young entrepreneurs, as the UK still has a very odd and old-fashioned approach to them. The response at university – even amongst friends - to his ambitions could not have been more lukewarm. He was not lining up milk-round interviews with the big banks and management consultancies and so he was effectively left to his own devices (little different in fact to the response this writer found when he wished as an ex-Army officer to do something other than finance and consultancy). Given the rapidly changing nature of commerce and societal working practises, Tom believes this straight-jacketed view, is extremely limiting and likely to have an ever more harmful impact on the UK economy. Having travelled in California with his brand he hugely admires the entrepreneurial ethos, mind-set and all-round vibe of the West Coast with its adventurous and disruptive mentality.
As such, Tom’s next idea is what he is calling the “entrepreneur’s shirt.” A luxury Oxford cotton shirt, it will be tied in with a campaign to raise the profile of young entrepreneurs everywhere. By buying one, you will be directly supporting their development, as five per cent of proceeds will go to the Young Enterprise charity and another five to Deki, a charity that nurtures and educates entrepreneurs in the developing world. Tom has long had an interest in helping charities. Indeed his first venture just before leaving school in selling t-shirts, netted a profit of £3,000, which he donated to Médecins Sans Frontières, “I was looking at various charities as I wanted to do something more with the money than use it for travelling.” The entrepreneur’s shirt will be launched on July 1st 2016.
Tom Cridland is a small company. Tom sourced factories in Italy and Portugal to make his clothing. Being half Portuguese, travelling through the country and developing those particular links was both an enjoyable and slightly less imposing task than it could have been. He found a small factory in central Portugal; employing a small workforce of just under 50, it does make for other brands but produced the quality Tom desired. Here in the UK, Tom Cridland is a two strong force – Tom himself and his girlfriend. The brand now produces a range of 14 trousers in both cotton chino cut and pleated wool, cotton jackets and The 30 Year Sweatshirts (the cotton is treated to prevent fraying and shrinkage), all in a varying and snazzy range of colours. Certainly one’s inner peacock can be indulged here.
Without a doubt in Tom’s mind, his biggest challenge has been starting up the brand with exceedingly little money, “it was hand to mouth and mouth to mouth to start with,” he recalls. Now with the company firmly on its feet, he is excited at the opportunities that are arising. Where to take Tom Cridland is the next test. Tom aims to stay in menswear; certainly on the horizon is The 30 Year Christmas Jumper – he assures the writer this will (befitting the fact it’ll have to be worn for decades) not be too outrageous or naff (hmmm). Here’s to a sustainable Rudolf the reindeer. 
Enquiries: www.tomcridland.com/