The 30 Year Jacket is a revolutionary international sustainable fashion campaign in the form of a men’s jacket that is so well made it is backed up with a 30 Year Guarantee. Handmade out of Italian wool and cotton, the jacket has eleven features that makes it different, from reinforced elbow and shoulder seams to military grade buttons. By guaranteeing it to last for three decades, Tom Crinland and his team are trying to encourage people to think about how they consume fashion and to fight the fast fashion retailers that have taken over the world’s high streets and are driving independent brands out of business.
That brilliant idea was created by UK based young entrepreneur Tom Crinland who will make his way to L.A. and New York this March and April to showcase his unique one-of-a-kind fashion line.
“I founded the brand, Tom Cridland, aged 23, with a small $9,000 government start-up loan two years ago and we are now turning over $1m. Crowdfunding has been instrumental in our organic growth that has been achieved without any further investment,” said Crinland.
With its given success, they have had the honor of making Tom Cridland trousers for Leonardo Di Caprio, Rod Stewart, Ben Stiller, Frankie Valli, Hugh Grant, Daniel Craig, Stephen Fry, Brandon Flowers, Robbie Williams, Stephen Merchant, the Elton John Band, Nile Rodgers and Jeremy Piven. Now that’s a fashion dream!
Read on for my exclusive interview with Tom Crinland.
Natalie Neece: What made you interested in the fashion industry?
Tom Crinland: I’ve always been relatively interested in dressing well and in beautiful clothing, art and furniture. I first became interested in the fashion business aged 18, when I sold $5,000 of “SWINE 09” t-shirts in a single week and donated the money to Medicins Sans Frontiers. The thrill of entrepreneurship has never escaped me since then.
NN: What was your inspiration for the 30 Year Jacket?
TC: The 30 Year Jacket aims to invoke a bygone era when clothing was made with exquisite care. A blazer should be the cornerstone of many a gentleman’s wardrobe and I wanted to encourage people to think about the way in which they consume fashion by placing a three decade guarantee on a wardrobe staple like this. It also encourages us, as a young, independent fashion brand, to make the jackets as well as we possibly can.
NN: What made you continue the rest of your 30 Year Jacket collection?
TC: We made the first ever 30 Year Jackets for Nigel Olsson, Elton John’s drummer of over 45 years, with his “stick man” logo hand embroidered onto the back. We loved the design we had come up with and decided that we wanted to develop a whole collection of them.
NN: What is your fashion inspiration?
TC: John Lennon and Elton John.
NN: What are your fashion must-haves this year?
TC: As always, a pair of glasses by L.A. Eyeworks or a pair of sneakers by Greats Brand.
NN: How have you been expanding to other fashion markets, like the U.S?
TC: We have always shipped all over the world and we have customers on all five continents. We always wanted Tom Cridland to be a truly international brand. To promote the brand internationally, we’re touring various markets, starting with the US.
NN: What is the best part of the 30 Year Jacket?
TC: My favourite thing about The 30 Year Jacket so far was The Telegraph describing it as “practically indestructible”.
Cheers!
xoxo, natalieneeceoutandabout