Inside Syna World, the viral streetwear brand from Central Cee

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Back in mid-October British rapper Central Cee launched his own broadcast channel — wittily titled CCTV — on Instagram. Cee uses the subscribers-only channel to share with his fans exclusive content, such as a clip of him in the recording studio or a preview of his new music video, ‘There's Truth In The Lies’.

He also teased the upcoming drop of his new clothing label, Syna World. Alongside a selfie featuring a black sweater and beanie with “Syna” (short for “synarchy”) spelled out in green lettering, Cee wrote: “Follow Syna World”, with directions to subscribe to receive an announcement on Sunday at 9pm GMT. These private messages have been viewed by more than 340,000 fans and collectively accumulated more than a million likes.

It’s unclear when Syna World was founded. Posts from its Instagram account (with 252,000 followers) date back to October 2022. There is no information as to where the clothes are made and who else is behind operations, although there is speculation that buzzy streetwear brand Corteiz could be involved, given that Corteiz founder Clint knows Cee well. Clint recently commented that a Syna World social post was “cold” (British slang used to refer to something that is very cool).

Cee did not respond to requests from Vogue Business and has not spoken to the press about his brand. What do we know? Stock is limited and sales are driven by secretive, fanbase-first events that drum up hype among consumers jostling to get their hands on the latest drop. In this, Syna World takes a page from the guerilla playbook written by Corteiz as well as other buzzy streetwear labels including Trapstar (Cee knows the founders of this label too).

A number of brands associated with modern streetwear are building fandoms while keeping everything slightly mysterious, leaving people wanting more. Corteiz and Syna World avoid becoming too mainstream by limiting the number of potential customers who have access, says Ana Andjelic, brand strategist and author of The Business of Aspiration. All of this is attractive at a time when streetwear has been criticised for losing touch with its origins, replaced by commercially driven imperatives.

The challenge for Syna World will be growing the brand beyond basics like T-shirts and joggers while maintaining that mystique. Corteiz has evolved its offering to include varsity jackets, denim and shoes following a partnership with sportswear giant Nike in January. Syna World is competing in a crowded market that includes juggernauts such as Supreme (now owned by VF Corp) and Stüssy, as well as newer names that have built devoted communities, such as Rare Humans in Austria, Broken Planet in the UK and Thug Club in South Korea.

Catch it if you can

Here’s how it works. On Saturday, Syna World held a Halloween themed ‘Syna Fair’ at Gunnersbury Park in west London, with McDonald’s vans, candy floss, games, fairground rides and photobooths. To gain access to the fair, fans could buy discounted tickets priced at 99p if they had purchased a piece from the latest online drop, or wait for a second drop of tickets priced at £10.

Exclusive styles were sold at the event, including teddy bears with miniature branded T-shirts, making it a honeytrap for resellers looking to make a profit. Central Cee’s favourite Kalenji hats — “all the kids wear it now”, says UK reseller Brayan Kamaran (who goes by the name No Sauce Bry) — could be traded in for a free Syna World hat. An earlier pop-up event back in May, held at a school in south London, drew large crowds of fans.

Syna World uses brighter colourways than are typically associated with streetwear and the style sense of London’s roadmen (a roadman is a streetwise young man, typically in an urban gang). A first drop of £185 colourful tracksuits sold out online, although some quickly resurfaced on resale sites such as Ebay and Depop at twice the original price.

The brand appears to have a softer stance on resale than Corteiz, which is openly hostile. In May, Cee invited Kamaran to feature in a video campaign portraying a comical skit that depicted tensions between brands and unauthorised sellers.

That’s as far as Syna World’s endorsement goes, laughs Kamaran, whose e-commerce site No Sauce The Plug sells coveted brands including Trapstar, Broken Planet and Syna World. No Sauce The Plug is not an official distribution partner and Syna World only allows him to place one order on each style, he tells Vogue Business. “Brands don’t want to be associated with us because their fans would be annoyed.”

No Sauce The Plug, which claims to have annual sales of some £2 million, cultivates a community of resellers who help source rare or limited-edition pieces in return for a cut of sales, says Kamaran. He declines to share how much commission he takes. Thanks to the credibility the site has accumulated, shoppers can be confident the products are authentic, he says.

Exclusivity is the key, he explains. “You could put the worst design on a T-shirt, but if you market it right, it’s going to sell out,” he says. “The psychology I see behind some clothing brands is the more exclusive it is, the more people want it. When they come onto our website to purchase something, they know they can’t think about it too much. If they don’t buy it now, they know they won’t be able to buy it tomorrow. It creates an impulse buy.”

Low-key marketing

The focus is on the most engaged of fans. Cee does not post about Syna World on his social media feed, only nodding to the brand occasionally in his Instagram stories and on his broadcast channel. It’s an approach now gaining traction with non-streetwear labels too. Phoebe Philo’s new namesake brand and Kylie Jenner’s new fashion brand Khy both encourage consumers to register for first updates and access to product.

Cee encourages people in his network to promote the label. The People Gallery, a TikTok account that documents celebrity style, recently shared a video of Cee wearing a Syna World beanie and puffer jacket in a new colourway. The video has garnered over 4.2 million views and more than 763,000 likes. A video posted by Cee’s former maybe-girlfriend Madeline Argy featuring herself and Cee in the kitchen (while wearing his label) went viral, with 30 million views as fans tried to figure out whether they were dating.

“The new marketing model works in that way,” says Laura Leeb, a director at PWC's strategy consulting arm Strategy&. Word-of-mouth is effective because it is authentic, she explains. “[This approach] makes Central Cee more successful because he’s not saying ‘hey, look at my great new range’. Someone else is doing it for him.”

Cee’s relatable touch makes him and Syna World stand out, adds Kamaran. “His music is good, but as we know, the industry is also about your image. When you look at the biggest rappers in the UK — Stormzy, Fazer — when they blew up they just wore designer. Louis Vuitton, Chanel, you name it. But, that’s not relatable to the working class. Now comes Central Cee with his big chains and the best drip, but it’s stuff that everyone can afford.”

Cee is now garnering mainstream appeal — in March, British Vogue named him “UK’s new emperor of rap” and he sits front row at fashion shows by brands such as Jacquemus. However, he’s still maintaining an outsider status. The musician went viral in December for walking the red carpet at the Fashion Awards wearing fleece trousers and a Decathlon jacket.

“As I was going onto the carpet to take this picture, I see someone looking at me from a distance like ‘get him off, get him off’, pointing at the security. They didn’t know who I was; they thought I was an intruder,” Cee said, laughing as he recalled the event on TikTok. “I dress like this 365 days a year, I’m not changing it for one day. It’s not even my wedding day. You lot love going to events in fancy dress, dressed as other people. I went as me.” The video has had more than 38 million views and over 5 million likes.

There may be much more to come. “UK streetwear is just getting started,” Kamaran claims. “Brands like Trapstar have been around for years and every year people wonder when they’ll fall off, but they keep coming back harder than ever, all while new brands are joining the list.”

The strength of the market is driven, in part, by the growing popularity of musical genres such as drill, grime and trap, and the expanding communities around those artists globally, he says. “Central Cee is getting so big worldwide that his fans are not only from the UK.”

For Kamaran, it’s a big opportunity for sales. Some 40 per cent of No Sauce The Plug business is now international. That’s why he’s working hard to get his hands on more Syna World pieces. “I just wanted 200 personals, that’s it,” wrote Kamaran hopefully on the brand’s latest post. “Good luck,” responded Syna World.

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