Disaster Incorporated

At the start of 2023, I was made redundant from a role I had envisioned as a long-term career. This decision was entirely beyond my control or tied to my work performance. Having closed my businesses the previous year and relocated across the country to Margate for this new chapter, I had essentially hit the "reset" button on my life—shutting down social media accounts, leaving behind my old networks, and starting fresh. The redundancy left me in a challenging position, but it also gave me the opportunity to refocus.

I turned my attention to freelance work, leveraging my years of experience in brand strategy, creative direction, design, and murals. While building this new path, I found myself with extra time and decided to channel it into launching an eCommerce brand as a creative outlet and hobby.

This new brand had two key goals: transparency and joy. I wanted to try something different by documenting every step of the brand’s growth, sharing monthly updates on metrics like turnover and key performance indicators via Instagram. I also wanted to focus on creating products and content that I genuinely loved, unrestrained by conventional expectations.

Starting with £500, a single T-shirt design, and a basic Big Cartel webstore, I debuted the brand at the Brighton Tattoo Convention. The shirts sold out immediately upon being uploaded online, and I reinvested the proceeds into new designs. As the brand grew, I upgraded to Shopify, a platform I was familiar with and had even spoken about at their events, providing the scalability I needed.

Initially run from my home, the business soon outgrew its makeshift stockroom. I moved into a small studio in Margate, decorating it with my signature artwork to double as a vibrant setting for photoshoots. The brand expanded into a diverse product range, from football shirts created in collaboration with a renowned London jeweller to cut-and-sew tracksuits, coffee blends, blankets, Zippo lighters, and more.

As demand increased, I relocated to a larger space dubbed the "Disaster Dungeon," located in the basement of a barbershop in Margate’s Old Town. The studio became a hybrid space—a blend of a bar’s atmosphere with a retail twist. This move allowed me to harness the local community’s energy, throwing unique events like pop-ups, parties, and collaborations. Highlights included a basement gig (which was shut down), a motorcycle convention launch party, and a skate jam in partnership with a local skate shop, complete with custom-built obstacles.

I partnered with brands like Uppercut Deluxe, Wild Turkey, and Liquid Death to sponsor events and released Margate-inspired designs that resonated with locals, helping me build connections in my new town.

Within eight months, the brand achieved over £11,000 in monthly turnover, transitioned into a limited company, and amassed a loyal social media following of 6,500 and a mailing list of over 2500 —all while remaining a part-time endeavour alongside my freelance work. By the end of 2023, I scaled back operations to focus on other projects but continued to release products and host parties when inspiration struck.

One recent project was a preloved T-shirt resale initiative, giving odd and quirky shirts a second life. It was my way of addressing the fast fashion issue while showcasing the charm of reimagining old items.

This journey demonstrated my ability to build and manage all aspects of an apparel brand with limited resources and time. From design and production to community building, logistics, eCommerce management, and physical customer experiences, I was able to create a thriving brand with heart and authenticity.