ENGLAND’S Ashes victory in August and a dancing cricketer have boosted sales at Crease Clothing in recent months. Simon Wickham, who started the cricket- inspired clothing business last year, says: “Darren Gough wore our T-shirts in many of the rehearsals for the TV series Strictly Come Dancing, which created a boom in demand. There is also a lingering glow around cricket after England’s success in the Ashes.”
Crease Clothing, based in Reigate, Surrey, produces cricket-themed T-shirts for men and women. Mr Wickham says: “I set up the label to knock the dust off the uninspiring, dull and boring image of traditional cricket leisurewear. The messages are tongue in cheek, some might say controversial.” One T-shirt carries the slogan, “Make runs, not war”, while another has a picture of a football with the message “It’s just not cricket”.
The 35-year-old entrepreneur, who worked in advertising and marketing for more than ten years before going it alone, says that he was inspired to set up the business because he has a genuine passion for sport. “I wanted to create something that I would have wanted to be involved in even if someone else had come up with the idea.”
Mr Wickham says that the biggest challenge to setting up his business was getting access to good-quality clothing. “Because we are a small brand some manufacturers were able to offer only promotional- quality T-shirts, not the premium quality I wanted.”
All the T-shirts, which are 100 per cent cotton, are imported from overseas and printed in England. “I come up with all the slogans and designs, so if the printers have a query about colour or design I can hop on a train and see what’s happening,” he says.
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While the bulk of sales are via Crease Clothing’s website, Mr Wickham has also set up agreements with several other specialist online retailers such as cricshop.co.uk and worldcricketstore.com. The Oval cricket ground stocks Crease T-shirts in its shop, as do the shops at Edgbaston and the Rose Bowl.
Crease Clothing is set to achieve turnover of £85,000 this year, with a profit of just over £30,000, which Mr Wickham will plough back into the business. He has big plans for the future, calling the results “a promising start”. Plans to sell the T-shirts overseas are under way.
“We are talking to retailers in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. I think the humour of the T-shirts will strike a chord in these cricket-loving countries,” he says. The company will also launch a range of polo shirts and sweatshirts in the summer.