ADRIAN CLIFFORD
Hey i'm Adrian and i'm one of the co-founders of Breeze... Myself and Matt, my business partner have been best friends since we met in Scotland back in 2006 and we are quite often out on the water together, in 2017 on one of our summer paddles in St.Andrews Matt raised the idea of starting a SUP clothing company.
The more we spoke about the idea the plus the fact that I have always been entrepreneurial minded and had dabbled in clothing and website design in the past the more I realised that this was the kind of opportunity I had been waiting for.
My role at Breeze focuses on being responsible for all aspects of the clothing, from designing them, sourcing suppliers and fabrics, product testing and making sure that they are made out of the best quality materials possible, and of course that they are eco friendly!
I'm also responsible for the website, social media content and organizing photo shoots for the clothing, for me there is nothing better than doing all my work behind the scenes and then getting to launch our products and communicate directly with our customers.
What being eco-friendly means to me and why it is important...
To me it means living with intent, which is the intent to be Earth friendly. We all have a responsibility to make sure that the only footprints we leave on this earth can be washed away by the sea or melt away with the snow. We need to protect our oceans by keeping them clear of plastic, using recycled products and up-cycling old things to prevent waste. We need to conserve energy and make sure that we use as many sustainable sources as we can instead of robbing the Earth of its precious materials at such a pace.
Being eco-friendly goes far beyond turning off the lights when you leave the room, or making sure your cans are separated from your plastic, it's about changing how you live. If everyone just changes one thing about their life to make it more eco-friendly then we are moving forward. When you go to Starbucks or Costa take in your own cup or how about you stop pretending to be in such a rush and choose to sit in and and take 5 mins for yourself with a proper mug!
Anything we can do to conserve energy and prevent air and water pollution is fantastic!
How important is style as a factor when making clothes? Any fashion trends that I follow?
I think style is important but to me its not about keeping up with current trends it's about designing things that will match their use. I don't look at what else is already out there, I look at what i'm designing the clothes for, for inspiration, and I try to keep the designs simple ( having said that I do have some wacky designs for leggings ). The only way I seem to be able to get my head in to creative mode is to go and walk by the sea, headphones on, terrible cup of coffee in hand and just keep walking - the sea air is so good for the soul.
Our colour palette of blues, greys, whites and turquoise are all colours that reflect the water, rocks and beaches and they have kind of become our brand identity now - those that know me will laugh as I only ever wear black t-shirts! Black breeze t-shirts do exist, but only for me :)
I have always wanted the designs to be unisex, I'm not a big fan of saying this is a female only design or men should wear this one, it's so outdated to have those thoughts and it's not for me to decide what people choose to wear. Be yourself and express yourself!
