Through my love of Instagram and one of my local hat retailers in Derby England I came across this local brand who are situated just down the road from me and they very kindly agreed to doing this interview so I give to you 'Prideback'
So tell me a little bit about yourselves and your journey where did it all begin ?
My co-founder, Mike and I, started from a shipping container workshop in Mike's back garden in 2013. We had decided a while back that we'd start a business together but we were waiting for the right time. The summer of 2013 just happened to be when our paths crossed following my return from London as a real estate investment graduate and part of the New Entrepreneurs Foundation and Mike having completed Uni as a sports coach. We had a long chat about what we wanted to achieve and it just so happened that I was wearing a New Era fitted at the time. I'd taken off whilst we were brainstorming and scratching our heads... I think it both hit us. We liked the current offering but felt that it wasn't personal to us and more importantly, the UK market in particular. Americanised and franchised as we liked to call it. We started brainstorming how to make a personalised offering whilst also satisfying both our needs to make something that we are proud of, something unique and quality filled.
We searched high and low for ideas of how to personalise until we stumbled across the idea of embossing. We knew right then that it was the 'killer idea'. We got to combine one of the oldest, most natural and characterful materials... Leather! With old school artisan techniques that produce intricate detailing and that wow moment when you touch and feel the finished article.
From then on we set about making it happen. We restored a 100 year old, 6 ton swinging arm press and fixed it to a metal table we'd picked up from metal yard down the road. That was all welded in to our shipping container and off we went really!
Your name ‘prideback’ what does this mean ? im guessing theres a little bit of derby county (UK soccer/football team) in there rite ?
The brand name is simply Prideback. It actually isn't anything to do with Pride park however this does crop up from time to time as you can imagine. The name derives from an initial concept where we would emboss the first part of a persons postcode in to the hat and give a percentage of the sale price to a regeneration project in the area. Giving pride back to your area. After feedback and some general business model concerns however, we decided it could aid gangs etc and we parked the concept. We moved forward with initials and the numbering because our ranges will always be limited and never repeated. People like to take ownership of things that they are proud of so why not put your name on it!
Who is your market ?
Our market is less about age and type as it is for people who are aspirational and have a keen eye for detail. A lot goes in to the sourcing and making of our hats and we want the people who support our brand to be proud of what they own. There needs to be a synergy involved. The price of the hat puts us in what we call 'premium streetwear'. We call it aspirational. If you want something badly enough, you will save for it. I have always been a man of quality over quantity.
What makes you different from other headwear brands ?
Our journey... We know that we have built our brand on authentic foundations with a real story and passionate people behind the business. We are here to make a fantastic product, to push the boundaries of what can be done with leather and craftsmanship and we are only at the very beginning. We want people to pick up the hat and instantly know why we are different. If we have to explain then we still have a little while to go until we have reached our goal as a company.
The leather design on the peak is a very unique idea where did this come from ?
The design on the peak is called the 'Whale Tail'. If you take a look at the main 'PB' logo you will see the whale tail hidden vertically in its makeup. We took that from our logo and made it a stand alone part of our design. We like everything in our design to have a place and purpose.
Is there a story behind the embossed stamp ?
I think I explained most of this at the start. The basic story is one of endless sourcing. We wanted something special, hand crafted and unique to the market. Embossing is what we found, developed and then had to learn ourselves as we emboss each one personally in the workshop.
Your hats are limited to how many ?
Each colour is 145 at present. We are looking to decrease our collections in numbers pretty soon. We have big plans :)
You offer your customers personalisation on caps , what can they have personalised ?
For now it is two initials. We didn't want to confuse people early on. We have much more in the pipeline.
What can we expect from your next collection?
We won't give too much away but we are looking at taking the embossing process a step further. You can expect something very visually striking in design rather than colour, a real talking point with your friends.
And that box design its very unique and stylish
We are very proud of our packaging. It is something that we decided upon very early on. We both appreciate other brands that have noteworthy packaging. For us it is about the entire experience with a brand. Every little thing along that journey matters. When that Prideback is delivered to your door, you get to unwrap something special. Opening up a luxury box only adds to that excitement.
Where can we purchase your headwear ?
You can currently purchase the hats online at http://www.prideback.com/
They are also stocked in Route 26 and Canopy in Derby.
You can only get your initials embossed on the hat if you order online as the initials are embossed to order.
Also, find us on Facebook (Prideback), Instagram (prideback_project) and Twitter (@prideback).
Thank you kindly guys for doing this interview and I wish you great success
