Lazy Oaf

0:00 [Applause]

0:07 how are you doing good thanks Matt how are you very well thanks yeah not too bad welcome to nice and Tuesdays nice to be here. And I'm sure many of the people in the audience today will know Lazio of clothes they'll probably have seen them around even if they don't even know the brand they'll have seen them out in the wild but I wonder most people probably won't know how the brand came about.

0:25 So I thought maybe just to start off with you wouldn't mind talking us through where the brand came from where it started yeah 2001 I had just finished my course in textile design and I didn't really fully understand what textile design was and what the opportunities were really out there in the world for someone that studied screen printing so I was making t-shirts for friends at the time at the end of uni I was like kind of like sneaking screens and t-shirts and doing that.

1:14 So it kind of there was a seed planted whilst I was trying to sort of build a professional portfolio and put myself out there in the world and my portfolio was quite not commercial to say the least I I sort of Drew little figurines and characters and and funny illustrations that perhaps weren't really suited to the commercial textile world.

1:42 So I decided with actually a friend of mine to start printing t-shirts and maybe charging some money for them. And we started lazy oath together. And I was bribing my print technician with bottles of red wine to expose some screens to me while I'd travel up from London because I'm from London up back up to Nottingham because I studied Nottingham to go and print a batch of t-shirts or whatever I could lay my hands on.

2:12 And then come back to London and set up a market store so I was like sending them on this Market still alongside some other questionable stuff and yeah and that's a whole nother story and yeah my Market's still in spitalfields Market we started on a Thursday it cost me a tenor and whatever I made I just went out and bought more black t-shirts and screen printed them from a garage my dad's garage because I was living living with my parents and working a couple of jobs and it just very very slowly grew from there it's an amazing story.

2:53 And I guess like yeah the kind of entrepreneurial Spirit at the heart of it is really incredible I feel like we could even go further back than that I mean we just saw a photo of you and your brother wearing some very sweet t-shirts when you were very tiny but you grew up in a pub in SoHo right. And I guess you were kind of left to your own devices is that fair to say and that kind of fueled your your creative I mean my parents aren't in the audience yeah let's get them.

3:22 But yeah. So come from my dad's Irish and my mum my mum was working as a nurse and they started managing a pub in SoHo and oh so I was born in the very end of the 70s and grew up around that area in the early 80s which was an experience in itself but yeah my parents were super super hard like really really long hours so me and my brother like to occupy ourselves spent a lot of time watching vhs's cartoons and drawing to kind of keep ourselves out of trouble although we did we were quite naughty as well.

4:04 But the pub gave us like so we were surrounded by characters and also I'm from a massive Irish family so a lot of a lot of family word for us as well.

4:14 So it was very much a family orientated place but everyone was like grafting I think I was probably doing the bottling up at seven for like 20p amazing I mean that's kind of I guess you talked us through how the brand started and obviously the market store was a massive massive part of that I guess since then you've you've really grown it into this you know successful global fashion business a business with with creativity at the heart as well how have you managed that I guess and what's the kind of philosophy behind building and growing Lazio have been over the past yeah two decades creative is like the heartbeat of of Lazio for that creativity we don't really exist creativity is so important to me it's been so integral to me throughout my whole life.

5:07 So I think that without that kind of like genuine connection with some in something that I do I I just don't think I would find the Joy or the excitement or the motivation even to to make it or grow it so having coming from sort of like literally drawing and Screen Printing my own stuff it if I'm not connected to that process then I'm a little bit lost I don't know if that answers that question yeah no I mean I think it's so clear that it's been I mean because we're also talking earlier about how at school like actually created the art class and being let into the art room after hours was like a big part of growing up for you.

5:50 And it's always been this kind of I guess Haven for you right yeah yeah definitely yeah I mean I was I was given keys to the art department at I don't know how I like that.

6:02 But it meant that I could sneak in and just like Lose Myself and hide away. Actually. And it we were talking earlier it was like a refuge and I it is for so many creatives right that you can whatever's going on that you can lose yourself in I guess like creating something I mean we we've obviously got some images behind us of lots of your work over the years lots of this is collaborations I guess that's something you've been become known for is is really creative Innovative collaborations not just with other fashion brands but with kind of other yeah I mean other kind of Brands and and logos almost I guess one of them which we've seen already I think is is was Batman and that was in 2012.

6:47 Just talk us through what that moment meant for Valencia because it felt like a bit of a watershed moment for the brand yes that was I I would say by car first big collaboration. And it started with I don't know if we've seen a slide with a hand-drawn baton at all while we've been talking but I will presume that we have I I have I drew the Batman logo but I wanted to do a bit of a riff on it. And it the whole thing came about was like oh I don't I think someone much bigger and much more powerful than me is probably going to sue me for this.

7:23 So I should probably look into just how I can go around that just check yeah I should probably just check in and I contacted the licensees and had to really convince them that a small London brand could do something Innovative and new with this concept and artwork. And it was I fake it till you make it because it's like my Mantra I'm not a confident person at all but walked into a broad dream essentially and talked to a bunch of suits and just said look I know.

7:59 This is going to look amazing ♪

8:06 dream with me guys so amazing I mean like yeah very very impressive kind of crazy I probably felt sorry for me let's just see what happens do you think that would happen today I mean honestly like was there was that a kind of moment in time where I don't know it just felt like a bit more free to do that kind of thingy like that that kind of approach to a project just wasn't really happening it was happening like for kids wearing Tescos but from it was quite rare to see it in in street wear and fashion in general like that mid-level and even like it was sometimes you might see a like a premium a high level walking down a catwalk and it was always like oh yeah that's incredible but it whereas now it's like it the Market's so oversaturated it's really difficult to know where to how to to make a difference and I think Batman for me is so nostalgic anyway growing up in the 80s with a younger brother who only wants to talk about that man of course yeah Batman pajamas we all have yeah yeah I guess another very famous collaboration that you did was I think this one was in 2016 was with kind of everyone's favorite surreal comedy Don't Hug Me I'm Scared again another kind of award shared moment for the brand could you just talk us through like how that came about how that yeah began because again like a really I guess it summed up everything that lazy off is great at right.

9:34 So that was that was a suggestion. Actually from one of our team like we pick projects that feel kind of like really authentic to us so what we're really into what we care about what makes us sort of like snigger and smirk and that is going to offer something different and completely fresh and we had started talking about don't hug me I'm scared at work just because it was this such a bizarre viral video that we just completely resonated with and was just just thought it was brilliant and we weren't sure how to make that into clothing or even how to translate that.

10:18 But we just thought this is 30 million people have viewed this video there has got to be something also in this like people are going to like the product if we make it I'm sure so we got in contact with Becky and Joe and who are the nicest people in the world and fashioned together a collection which it was really fun and I think like looking back.

10:42 That's looks pretty iconic and little did we know how intense the the fans were the true fans were and that that collection is like gold dust and it's still being I mean people still ask for it right it's yeah yeah it's like one of the most requested collections ever I mean how do you choose you kind of gave us a little bit of a hint there but like you know something that you've seen out in the world that has a bit of a I don't know a specialness to it but how do you pick which brands or which you know people to work with because I don't know it just seems like there's such a unique approach there behind it with a lot of consideration like lots of people approach us. And I say no to more than I definitely say yes to and then we prefer to come up and with our own kind of like collaboration ideas rather than because then it becomes it is coming from a more genuine place and it's it's either artists that we really really love or something that feels really genuinely nostalgic to us or like fits the sentiment of laser it's got a very particular sense of humor I think it's my sense of humor so it kind of like it has to connect it has to connect to our story I mean that's yeah it's interesting because I guess I want to come on to the process of how a Collection comes together even from that very early like ideation or references stage because I think there's there's so much to be said there.

12:12 But I guess I mean we've talked about some collaborations with I guess non-fashion Brands you've also worked with a lot of fashion brands you know you partnered with Dr Martens Crocs Umbro I mentioned I guess what of those collaborations allowed you to do that you maybe couldn't do on your own and I mean is there something in the fact that you know Vans as well like there's something in there that there's a lot of Footwear companies as well I guess and maybe Footwear is not something. That's easy to do on your own is that fair that's a very fair question yeah that those Partnerships it's the opportunity to to go and play in in with a product that we don't have the capabilities necessarily or expertise or skills I love working with Footwear because I'm obsessed with shoes and often think about my outfits from the shoe upwards so yeah like Footwear gives me the opportunity to also be challenging for them to work with because I ask all the silly questions and don't necessarily understand the rules so we kind of like it's a good process to be able to like use that to kind of get more creativity in and some of these brands are much bigger than us as well. So it's given us an insight into how they operate and has like definitely taught me a lot on on like organize it organizational structure that might be the longest I mean I guess you mentioned the the scale of these Brands is there a bit of a challenge there as well like how do you stop feeling like the kind of the junior partner in a collaboration or is that kind of a good place for you to be really oh well no because I am quite controlling creatively or can be in a good way.

14:02 And I think that. That's that's kind of like a the pitch for us I think to work with those is that we are going to bring a creative Edge to that project. And so like before we Embark it's quite important for us to have those conversations of what what our input and what our expectations and what we want to have our arms around and then have a bit of negotiation like you want to sort of like build up a bit of trust and confidence as well like you know we've done this.

14:32 This is what it's looked like before yeah I mean do you think they're getting a lot out of it as well right. That's you know you you have that confidence of saying and we know that you're going to get a lot of this as well it's not just a kind of one-way street right yeah yeah I mean you say that as a black to begin with and then.

14:49 And then you work it out I would do want to come on to that that kind of talk that discussion of kind of process and and how you find your inspiration because you very kindly shared with me your your kind of internal company Manifesto and it's full of like photos and screenshots of I guess like funny odd amusing things that you've seen around the world whether.

15:09 That's you know online or offline just talk us through what the kind of that process you know where does a collection start and yeah who's bringing those ideas to the table but right at the beginning and how are you choosing from those ideas I guess as my teams have like changed in the way that we work has changed but we we try and work as collaboratively as possible at the SEO and we like to theme our collections so we have like a very clear starting point and those themes are kind of ideated as a as a bigger team and we pick how many like where they sit within the year.

15:51 And then like so it could be let me see what we work it's something like restaurant themed or we did something called the oath license or at the moment at the moment we're working on something called once upon a time.

16:08 So we have very clear themes and we build out our briefs from that and and we like to sort of make though that inspiration as Broad and as sort of strange as possible and try and go to sort of like the corners of things or go out and see things or build huge mood boards it could be kind of like random stuff that I've saved from Amazon which might sound strange but there's some really great product pictures that like sometimes inspire me.

16:43 That's really crap isn't it to say like I just go on Amazon and thank you.

16:50 But it is kind of looking in really odd places I guess that's the point right you're not looking at fashion magazines yeah yeah or music or like he's like even conversations at the bus stop or like random things that you hear and can just sort of like spark off like sketch ideas or or quite often if someone's sort of sitting near me I'll be looking at what you're wearing and you're like oh that's interesting that detail's really cool I mean what's the process then from that point because I feel like I mean lots of people here will be like me really interested in the kind of creative process behind something like this so you've got all of those references all of those sketches all of these interesting ideas how do you then hone that and choose from that and kind of distill it into a collection that makes sense and still speaks back to that kind of broader theme at the top workshopping a lot I forgot that slide and yeah.

17:54 So we kind of and we do selections we sit around the table we ask everyone everyone in the team's opinion do you like this what do we think of this we have to sort of we do have to bear in mind unfortunately commercialness which is very frustrating for me.

18:10 But we can't always do butts on t-shirts if only if only I mean I guess it's it's there's something here for I think any not just people working in fashion but anyone working in any kind of creative discipline that finding a unique style and a kind of unique tone of voice which is something that you've done so well.

18:29 And it's so identifiable so identifiably lazy open when you see something how have you managed to kind of create that that tone of voice and I guess maintain it for yeah as we said like you know two decades it's a really incredible achievement yeah it not easy and I think that tone of voice it's me so lazy life is that is me.

18:51 So I've had to kind of like try and translate my brain and the way that I see things what I find what we find funny and surround myself with people that get it and find that Affinity because there's no sort of like strict rule book of what it is it it is a it sounds really pretentious.

19:11 But it is a Vibe but you can't get into over without but everyone has like a similar sense of humor we're not none of us are pretentious we all take a very like sort of sleeves up approach to to what we do and and we try and be as honest as we can in in how we work and and hopefully that humor is essential to to getting through everything I mean that yeah that humor definitely comes across and that's such a big kind of pillar of of your your daughter voice is there a point I mean is there a balance to be struck I guess with when you update or how much you update that tone of voice or do you think that is something that you can really say from day one it hasn't changed I mean like is that something that you have to evolve over time a little bit or is it is it just the DNA yeah.

20:01 I think I'd love to say it's just been on 2009 I am dying inside so it's definitely evolved as as as that you evolve as a human as well I think what I found funny back then is really not okay anymore yes I mean you've talked about humor and I guess one place that that comes across really really well is is in your social media and I think you know you use your social media presence not just as marketing it's not just about selling selling clothes I think it's very much about building a kind of community and building people a community of people who I guess like share a lot of those you know that sense of humor how important do you feel Community is now to a kind of modern fashion brand I mean it definitely wasn't 10 15 years ago right you just you just bought some ads and you you bought some ads and you and you and you sold some some garments but now it's it's much more about kind of building that Community isn't it yeah ♪

21:06 I think Community was like so important to how lazy oath has even got to 20 odd years old we like we used to have like big exhibitions and parties and events all the time couldn't afford to do them.

21:23 But it was like the way that I could meet Attractive people and get drunk and they just say and draw stuff which is like brilliant all my favorite things.

21:37 And so we built a community that way and A really lovely creative Network as well. And I like that's something that has always remained important as is that sense of connection with the people that you're creating with and creating for and if you don't have that connection like how do you understand what's going to work or what what's gonna oh yeah be any good and relevant I mean yeah that totally yeah totally makes sense one of the things that I guess I mean we we've we've talked about this before.

22:18 But there's lots of different challenges of you know getting to the scale that you are now. And I guess you know one of those is you. Actually start to see people maybe aping your style a little bit or kind of copying what you've done and copying that tone of voice which is something.

22:30 That's you know as we've mentioned kind of very unique how do you deal with that I mean do you kind of just brush it off and say oh you know there's going to be copycats we can't do anything about it or how does it affect you creatively yeah what are the challenges that around that it well it's not nice when someone copies you I think we can all agree and it's something. That's happened to us a lot. And something that I used to take massively personally probably like years a few years ago it's it's one thing when it's like another small label or another artist and it's a completely different feeling when it feels like it's a bigger business that is that doesn't give a and there are things that you can do about it and there's definitely times where I've seen some very questionable stuff on the High Street and had to kind of like approach lawyers and solicitors and get advice and kind of do cease and desists and all of that.

23:44 But there's also times where we've been like on the other side of that situation right where we have a unintentionally we've produced a product that might have a similarity to someone else so I feel like there is a real kind of like I feel really sensitive about this subject actually because it's really not nice being the person that it's happened to so I can kind of like empathize and also unintentionally been the person that has done that to someone else which is feels awful but we are all kind of at some point subconsciously getting all of this reference points right the same reference points the same yeah I'd say they should really have a word with me yeah.

24:40 I was gonna say that's my best joke I mean that is absolutely fantastic for the tape it says Louis Vuitton yeah yeah no I love I mean that is I think it's really it's great to be honest about that because I think it's it's probably something that yeah lots of people don't talk about. Actually is is both sides of that as well.

24:59 So yeah and I appreciate you appreciate you talking about that you talked there a little bit about I guess standing up to bigger Brands and these you know enormous corporations I mean one thing that you did I think during the pandemic or at least relatively recently was take Lazio out of wholesalers and take it I guess yeah go back to being very much in control of where you were selling and selling basically directly do you want to just talk talk us through why you did that what was happening that made you make that decision because quite a big decision to to go to take it out of 150 stores or whatever it was yeah yeah we're stocking at one point over 150 like Global Stores like a mix of Independence really cool shops some really not very cool shops we were working with like big Brands like Asos Urban Outfitters and American Site called dollskill and it was kind of like over half of our business actually and the pandemic hit I mean my dream was like actually one day I just don't want to be working with these people because when you enter relationships with these some of these bigger Brands you are kind of working for them and and it's what their consumer wants what's selling and it's all done their terms so pandemic hit nobody knew what the hell was going on I was getting phone calls canceled orders that were worth hundreds of thousands of pounds at the time and my business was being held to Ransom basically.

26:27 And I just I just don't want to operate like this I don't want to work for Asos and I don't want to work for urban if I wanted to do that I'd go and get a job thanks I've I've built my own business to kind of I have to tell myself this I don't just like throw all of this in my head I have to convince myself and so you made that d2c pivot and we we started to shut down our wholesale business and sell directly to our community of oafs online and through our stores which is a massive risk especially when we didn't know what the hell was was happening but it it felt the right thing to do and I got control of my brand back yeah amazing I've got one final question for me.

27:19 And then we'll go to some questions from from the audience which I haven't forgotten about.

27:21 But I I guess it can really that story you've just mentioned really kind of resonates with this you said something over email which was that you didn't feel as though you were kind of purpose-built in a factory to be a boss or to be to be a CEO and it's kind of it's something that you've had to learn along the way yeah maybe could you just talk us through that because I think there's I don't I just think that that whole story you just mentioned kind of resonated with that yeah yes I think I've probably got imposter syndrome times a thousand but yeah I I mean I started this out of uni I'd worked in retail behind the bar and in a kitchen and in Sainsbury's so I hadn't had any boss-like experience really apart from seeing my mum and dad work which was really really inspiring but yeah I don't I don't know how to run a business I don't know what being a CEO CEO is so if I I every day is like a learning day and or a school day and definitely I'm not your typical boss my team will attest to that I very much have built a business and a brand around me and how I like to work and how I like working with a team so it's yeah also got to sort of like manage like how I am as a person and how I like to create and not that I haven't got sort of like good life work balance or anything I forgot no like she boss girl boss advice [Laughter]

29:04 that is very funny because the first question is from Eleanor and it's advice for people wanting to set up a startup is that next question can wow so much stuff out there so many people doing like amazing stuff so I think it's so important to know what your product is who you are making and creating this product for and like how is it going to change their lives and how is it going to change your life you have to know like you can't just be nice and you think some people are gonna like it you really need to sort of like do your homework I think because it is sort of a big hungry world that might eat your product up but might eat you up as well.

29:56 That's a bit dark but it is quite competitive I think so yeah your your proposition has to be pretty unique I think so you need to know it and back it the next question comes from Percy what inspired your brand ethos me [Laughter]

30:23 decided not to tell that story I'll go on when I first started Lazio if I was going to call it fat trucker which was kind of like not me but me.

30:32 And then lazy oaf was like the second option I thought that kind of summed up my approach to life and my love of trash and yeah junk food so I think that's the first of lazy oaf is like creativity hard work being funny finding kind of like the playfulness and stuff and it it it's essentially yeah me trying to put that bit out into a business I can say I'm quite happy that it's it's lazy open not yeah me too because people call me lazy right.

31:12 And I don't want to be like hey fat trucker after a pharaoh yeah yeah exactly this question comes from Mary how do you find the inspiration slash motivation to keep making work when work gets busy sorry keep making when work gets busy oh that's really hard yeah.

31:33 So the joy for me and everything that I do is when I get to draw or be creative or come up with ideas and quite often what does get in the way.

31:43 But that has to be like sometimes that's just the priority or what what needs to happen on that day so I love ideas I love I love collaboration I love workshopping stuff so actually when I kind of like need that motivation hit I will probably drag people into a room and just say let's get around the table and talk about some things and that seems to sort of like re-spark some energy and also ends up doing which is not this is why going back to like the work life balance because I love drawing and being the creative bit quite often I end up doing those bits in my free time because I just love them and that I miss doing them which it's not a great example to set but it's how I tried squeeze that fit in yeah well you've got to I mean if it's your if it's your passion I guess that's that's what you've got to do right yeah yeah work-life balance as you said this may be the yeah yeah one final question from from Martina how do you push your work and not stay stagnant really good question.

32:43 And I guess again something that kind of probably across creative disciplines people will understand you know how do you yeah how do you push your work further I really like narrowing the inspiration Source or like giving yourself like really strict parameters and that's also why I like collaborations actually because sometimes you're given like loads of things that you can't do which I think makes you more and more creative you've got to think harder about stuff so I think my biggest drive for ofis like to keep getting kind of better keep thinking of new things all the time I have maybe an overactive imagination.

33:24 But that's definitely a driver on like well why can't we do a car or like you know like these silly ideas and and I don't think that any idea is a silly idea until you've sort of explored it and exhausted it.

33:40 And then defeated by it that sounds amazing when can we make that happen Gemma thank you so much so much I'm afraid we're out of time but thank you for your time today and yeah everyone Gemma from Lazio thank you thank you so much [Applause]