Menswear Style Podcast
The Menswear Style Podcast is a leading men’s fashion and menswear podcast exploring men’s style, clothing, grooming, lifestyle and the business behind some of the world’s most exciting fashion brands. Hosted by Peter Brooker, each episode features conversations with menswear designers, fashion entrepreneurs, innovative brand founders and industry experts from across the global fashion and apparel industry. Discover the stories behind established and emerging clothing brands, from the first idea and challenges of launching a fashion start-up to building a successful international business. Guests share their experiences and insights across fashion design, sustainability, manufacturing, marketing, branding, eCommerce, retail, social media and business growth. Whether you’re interested in men’s fashion and style, discovering new menswear brands, starting your own clothing label, or learning how successful fashion businesses are built, the Menswear Style Podcast takes you behind the scenes of the modern menswear industry. New conversations with the people shaping the future of menswear, men’s style and fashion.
Menswear Style Podcast
Nick Reed, Founder of Neem London / Climate Conscious Clothing
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Named after the beautiful Neem tree in India, famed for producing leaves with healing properties, Neem London is designed as an antidote to the modern ways of consumption – an antiseptic for fast fashion. The brand produces low emitting menswear, designed to achieve a cleaner way of living. Founded by Nick Reed, a menswear specialist with over 20 years’ experience, Neem London has a very distinct handwriting; always smart, but with understated quiet luxury underpinning each piece. Soft, comfortable and exceptionally easy-on-the-eye, its warm colour palette has almost restorative qualities; wear this to the office and you’re in for a good day, wear it off-duty and the results will be equally as favourable. Healing by name, healing by nature. Nick refers to it as Power Casual, something which is easily seen in the collections, built predominantly around shirting, it also includes, t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets and long sleeve polos. The shirts come in an array of styles; Oxfords, pop-over shirts and short sleeves.
Following the success of the Piccadilly Arcade store in St James’s, which began as a pop-up but which is now permanent, the low emitting menswear brand is taking its successful Neem+ Ecological Emporium to a space in Spitalfields from 20th September. As with the existing store, the new one at 10 Market Square on the edge of the historic Spitalfields Market, will provide a space for other ecological brands. It will also house installations of circular furniture, and everything in the store is being upcycled – there will be nothing wasted or thrown away. The Neem+ Ecological Emporium will be housed in the 1,500 square ft space for at least four months, with the view of going permanent.
Hello, welcome back to another episode of Nick First Direct Podcast. I'm your host, Pete Picture, and today on the show I'm talking to the founder of Neem London, Nick Reid, returning guest. Nick was on a couple of years ago to talk shop about literally to talk about the brand launching. And here we are a couple of years in. We've got some bricks and mortar down in Piccadilly Arcade. We've just opened up a little boutique there. And and Neeme is named after the tree in India, famed for producing leaves with healing properties. The eponymous brand is designed as an antidote to the modern ways of consumption, an antiseptic for fast fashion, and we get into all of that and more. This was a really great conversation. Great to catch up with Nick, and hopefully you'll appreciate this one. Neem London is the place to go, neem London.com. And uh yeah, here is Nick to talk about Neem in his own words.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, I'm Nick Reid. Um I am the founder of Neem London. So I I've worked in Menswear for a few years. Uh I still do. Still have to sort of do some some side hustle uh work to um uh to to help uh finance neem. So uh I joined Charles Turrett as a startup uh and then grew with them uh to 200 million. Uh I was buying a brand director there, then I left there and went to Mosbros. Uh they were a uh a PLC uh uh and um they wanted to go private, so I went there for four or five years as buying and merchandising and then buying a brand director. Um, and they were taken private, then I left uh them and then started Neeme London. And Neeme London is a brand that's focused on low-emitting menswear, really. Uh so we want to create product with the lowest carbon emissions possible whilst ensuring it's stylish and suits uh modern-day living, which is you know versatile, seasonless, um, and uh extremely comfortable.
SPEAKER_01Interesting. Nick, were you seeing that seasonless wardrobes were becoming a thing when you were part of like Charles Turrett and Moss Plus? Like it wasn't so much that you had to bring things out spring, autumn, winter. Was that something that was already marinating in your mind coming into Neem London?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's a good question. I mean, I think in menswear things were being forced into seasons, uh, and because of the habitual nature of well, we buy this in autumn and this in spring, uh, and that's what we did last year, so that's what the numbers say, so we'll repeat it and then we'll discount, and then uh we'll buy more stuff. Um I I think in menswear, men, especially in this country, uh, so other than specific events, you know, weddings, holidays, um uh, and um things like proms and uh and so on, I think men are tending to wear product for for nine, the same product for nine, ten months of the year, and then there's an extreme of of that, you know, there's heavy knitwear and heavy coats, and then there's lightweight, um, very hot, hot weather clothing, but in between it's it's a it's a fairly staple wardrobe. Uh, and uh this this forcing stock into the market, trying to get a very high rate of sale, uh uh and uh a too high rate of say of sale, I'd say, um, you know, the the number of units you sell per week um meant that things were being discounted too early, being pushed out too early. So it was leading to this sort of drug of we need new stock, it hasn't sold, we must run a discount, it hasn't sold, we'll run Black Friday. So and it and it and and actually the the balance is much more stable than that. If you take the rate of sale down, ensure that your cover is a bit longer and you're prepared to sit on the stock for for a bit longer, you can um present it in different ways throughout the selling period. Um, but but I really believe in yeah, versatility and and and uh and as much um uh seasonless products as possible within menswear.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, interesting. I mean, I've again we were speaking offline about me running a shop back in the day, and I completely agree with that point 100%. You had so much stock that would come into the shop that I was running that you'd you'd be wishing that it would sell. But then if you had a really crap summer, like like we've we've had a pretty average summer this this time around here in the UK as well, very wet, and not many people have had the chance to get you know their summer weapons out, you know, their their go-to summer choices that they want to wear to those really special events. And if you've only got them out once or twice a year, you you feel like they're getting, I don't know, they're there's no value in buying these pieces anymore. But you would but if you were selling them, you'd then have to go, right, okay, we'll have to put half of whatever we have on sale here, or just kind of smuggle it into the other seasons, you know, surreptitiously, or maybe put it out next season and hope no one notices. You know, that that was the kind of tricks that we had to pull in retail way back when.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and that that's sort of operating in that old way, isn't it? I it's new, it it's it's going to do well. Oh, it's so last year product, we're we're almost um slightly ashamed of it, which we we do a couple of sort of different things where we we run a pr a pre-order model uh or advanced order as we call it, uh, and then um once that product has sold through, of which quite a number have, um if it sells well, we then batch up again and repeat order. So that there's there's no seasonality to it, it's just a blue overshirt or uh a white t-shirt. Um and uh if there's a demand for the product, so we're taking advanced order on it, uh, we then place a repeat order. If there's no demand for the advanced order, then we remove it from the site. Um so so we continue to sell things when they're out of stock, even though we may not have a purchase order against it. Um uh and then uh I think uh that then means that you're you're always um supplying to demand, uh, and uh also you're not repeat ordering on things until you know that there is a demand. Um uh and then the other thing we do, which is uh less demand driven but but but but more price um uh sensitive driven to because we don't offer discounts really. We don't we don't run sort of mid-season or end-of-season sales, but what we do do is offer a discount if you order a product and have it delivered four, six, eight weeks later. Um uh so uh again that that is proving that seasonality isn't as important in menswear. So men are prepared to sort of order an overshirt in July and get it delivered in September, but get a 15%, 20% discount on that. Um so um yeah, we offer discounts for advanced order and we offer discounts uh for product that you order but have delivered later, even though it's in stock in our warehouse. That's interesting.
SPEAKER_01There must be a community with your consumer, like within the brand, in order to do this, so that you'd reach out and go, look, guys, if you're willing to fulfil the purchase order, then we'll bring this back in stock and and happily supply you with it. Again, like you were just saying, if you want to order it in advance, we'll happily give you a discount. There must be like a groundswell of people, your customers basically, that are quite loyal to you that know about these perks. I'm just wondering how did that hive start? How did you find your village to begin with to get those policies for your brand off the ground?
SPEAKER_00Well, I mean, it's still building, we're still quite a small uh hive. Um, but really, I mean, it raises a sharp focus on who we were targeting. I mean, we we were targeting you know two customers really of Gen X. Yeah, we we sell a bit to Gen Y, you know, we sell a bit to 30 somethings, but we're predominantly selling to 40, 50, 60 somethings who fit into two types. There's a type that that really knows about the climate crisis uh and is well educated, uh, probably spends too much time on YouTube documentaries or or reading, or might even work in it. You know, they work in environmentalism uh uh and or uh ecology of some form. And they they just love us because it's a style that suits them, uh, and uh they have now found something that is genuinely um low low carbon. And then the second customer, and that customer's small, so they're the advocates who who love us, and you know, they'll come to events and uh and they'll also refer uh us to their friends. Um and then the second type is uh a guy who might be starting to make some changes to their life. So they they might be eating a little less red meat, they might be flying a little less, they might be looking on labels a bit more, but they're also lying to themselves. So so they they say that they're sort of sustainable because they're putting the recycling out, or they they say that they that that they care about the climate crisis because they didn't order a steak last night. Um, and then when you go deep into conversation quite often, oh well I'm flying away this weekend for somewhere, yeah. So um so that they like us just because they like the style first, and then secondly, it reduces a bit of their guilt, it makes them feel better about the purchase. Um, but the education around the impact of fashion is still very, very um low i i in the general public. Um so in in the industry we're quite aware there's a lot of uh press and air and uh and coverage given to it, but actually within the general public, people don't really still understand what impact fashion has and what they can do in order to instead of buying second is as well as just buying second hand, people everyone understands that. Um but but many people don't really understand what what they can do in order to reduce their impact when it comes to fashion or indeed where they should go and what they should uh look out for. You know, and I still think there's a bunch of customers who don't care, right? You know, there's that that they they they they they they either you know are aren't concerned about the climate crisis or um they um certainly aren't concerned with it when it comes to fashion. They just want to you know look good at good at a wedding.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. It's interesting that you say that. I haven't actually thought about it, but the the information around clothes and the impact that it has on the environment, I think, is red hot within the industry sector. So like you have I think every kind of blogger and and and fashion journey would have heard of Dana Thomas, for example. But if you ask the general person on the street what the impact or where they made their clothes, or if you want to go right, have a look inside your shirt label now, where do you think your shirt was made? You know, I'd like to see the numbers on how many people would get that right, for example. And I don't know outside of the brands doing something for themselves, where that education begins, whether it has to be like on the curriculum at school or something that uh you know gets taught very early on that you have to be quite tuned in and turned on because it's it's having a big effect later down the road.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean I I mean that's and we we you we use recycled materials and we use a regenerative cotton uh traceable back to farm, and then we we we study you know, cradle to now grave, that the the life cycle of the product and the estimated carbon emissions and and water usage. It's quite detailed, it's quite deep. So for for us, what we found was opening a store allowed us to have those conversations because the the type of conversation you have with with somebody who walks in the door will be different depending on their interests. Some people quite often the first thing they think about is logistics. What about the transports? Like as a percentage of the total carbon emissions of a product from you know in in in in conception or inception to to to to death, um logistics is tiny. It's like it's sort of less than one percent, but it's the one thing people understand. Yeah. Um and it's the one thing people sort of want to talk about. So some people talk about logistics, some people are more interested in water and the impact of water because they've read something uh around that. Some people are interested in dye and the impact of dyes and how that. Some people are more interested in uh farming uh and and how a crop is farmed, uh, and uh what what what what you know insecticides or pesticides are uh are used. And and some people are more interested at end of life, what what happens to the product. But there's so much within that life cycle that that um in order to try and succinctly talk about that online or in a paid ad, it's quite challenging because you you might be really interested in second hand, but the next person's much more interested in um uh how long does it last, or how versatile is the product. So I I know I'm gonna wear it in lots of different places in lots of different ways because you've shown me how to style it, and I can wear it as a jacket, I can wear it as a shirt, I can wear it as a um as a as a as a jumper, even. Um, so yeah, having a store was vital to to uh not only learning about what what the customers care about, but also um ensuring that the conversation you're having is about something they're that they're interested in rather than forcing a topic on them. Because some people just aren't interested in certain things, but they are in others.
SPEAKER_01So let's talk about the store. Um I'm assuming this is the ecological emporium that we've we've just launched.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. So we we opened up in Piccadilly Arcade last November as a pop-up, uh, and we're now uh making it permanent. Awesome. Um and then um we're gonna open up another pop-up in Spittlefields. Um uh, but but at the moment we're trading out of Piccadilly. Um so uh that's been and we've in fact this week we're doing a John Lewis pop-up, um uh which uh is going quite well. Uh but again that that that's more of a conversation exercise. And at this point, you know, it is about conversations and and an awareness, um uh, and then that the sales normally um but not always uh follow.
SPEAKER_01So Piccadilly Arcade, right opposite Burlington Arcade, if I if I'm that's I know Burlington Arcade's one of the oldest arcades in all of London. I mean, that's not just any old pop-up. If you're right opposite there in Piccadilly Arcade, I'm pretty sure that's of the same vintage, right? What what was it like getting a pop-up there to begin with? And how did that how did that even begin for you?
SPEAKER_00So we just targeted certain locations uh uh uh where there was um where there was space, and I would urge any small uh or or growing brand to to to run a pop-up uh and try and um and we did this try and build a relationship with the landlord uh and we put a pitch you know together to show them what we were doing, um why we were different uh and what we do to the store. You know, so we upcycled everything in the store. When we move into the store, we don't throw anything away, we take what's there uh and make make the nick, sorry to cut you off.
SPEAKER_01What was it before?
SPEAKER_00So it was um it was an umbrella uh company called Swain Edney Briggs.
SPEAKER_01So I just I mean I'm glad you're up and running, but I'm I'm sorry to see those guys go.
SPEAKER_00Well, they were they they they they disappeared in the pandemic, then were then bought out by French private equity, and then they've relaunched under the name Swain. So they've now got a bright new store, I think two, one in Burlington and then one um uh near Bond Street.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00Um uh so they've had a load of money pumped into them, but they're focusing more on uh well, both hats and and umbrellas. So it was a very old, fusty St. Jane store. Um and it still is, you know, r really um cornicing, ceiling rosettes uh downstairs. But so we um we we uh painted everything, didn't didn't rip anything up, didn't throw anything away. Um we painted it to give it a fresh life. We we both both upstairs and ground floor propped it, um, and we tend to prop with secondhand product as well, so it's a lot of eBay and um market hunting, and then a few sort of trips to Covent Garden Flower Market. But the point is, um uh going back to the question is that you know there are deals out there, you know, landlords want new retailers that are offering something new in the market, that they give an energy, and we have a lot of events at our store, you know, every every month or every two to three weeks, we'll we'll have a party or an event or a discussion or a talk. So if you can say to a landlord, you know, we can cover the rates and the service charge, can we agree a deal that um means that we're bringing a new energy, a youthful um or a new modern spirit to the to the arcade, um and we're offering something that is um uh suitable for the time that we're living in. You know, people are caring more about the climate crisis each each day. It's it's becoming a uh a general, if not already, um uh topic. Um and then it's about striking a deal. But there are deals out there in any city, anyone listening in any city across the country, you can you can see the the space that's available. So target an area that you like the look of, um work out who the landlord is and contact them directly. Um and um you can start with a pop-up, you know, a four to six week pop-up. I would advise anyone not to do a not that we've done this and we're doing it in John Lewis this week, a week-long pop-up, but I I I have doubts about um two, three-day pop-ups unless you've got you know half a million social media following. Um so um, you know, try and run a an a more extended pop-up that allows you to become part of the um the area and and people work out what you're about, and then first conversation might just be that, and then second time might be a purchase. Um but there are deals out there to be done.
SPEAKER_01I think the key is what I picked up on with that is the the talks that you're doing. I mean, you're saying you do it about two or three times a month. That is a hell of a lot of events, even just to like plan, even if you're just doing talks, even if it's just Unique, I'm not sure. I'm sure you have other people coming in and uh doing talks, but you still have something to prepare. You've got to have, I don't know, maybe uh a glass of vino for people to come in on reception, who knows? It's still like for example, I've got a Taylor friend I won't name, but he has like events uh like every fortnight pretty much, and they're quite shallow in terms of the people that turn up, but it's high in quality of the people that turn up, and I think it's starting to spread now. But the idea of you of people just selling clothes on rails and rails of concertinas, I think is just so dead in the water now. There has to be an experience in the shop to get people in, even if it's just like a coffee stand on the side or someone else selling ice cream in the back. Having people come in for the reason that it's not just to buy clothes, but it's to talk about the philosophy around clothes and share experiences and have a community as well, develop around a brand, I think is is key to any retail space now. So I'm excited. Where where can uh people pick up on the I guess there's newsletters that let people know about these events for Londoners?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. If you got an email newsletter, I mean I often posts about them and linked it. I think the next one we're doing, we had August off, um, thankfully, but we've got uh two in September. We've got one, a wine tasting evening, where we're we're um you know tasting um biodynamic and uh organic wines, um uh and then um and then we've got more of an autumn uh collection evening uh at the end of September. Um so we I mean and just in store generally, I mean you you talk about the experience, yeah, and what what we talk about internally a lot is just conversations, just about the conversation might be about you know ideally about cli the climate crisis and and and the product and uh and how it's made and where it's made and and and and and the the impact, but it might just be about you know where they're going to the theatre and why they're in London and what they're doing. But but the important thing is the the you know the the atmosphere, the music, uh the drinks. You we often serve beer or um uh soft drinks or uh Avalen um Calvados, which We're real fans of, we often serve that um as well later on in the day. So it's just a it's a place, and you know, we sometimes serve coffee as well. Um, but it's a place that you you know you want to spend some time in. You might not buy anything um or always buy something, but you go away thinking, oh, that was a nice way to spend 20 minutes, uh, and it was I I met someone nice in there, and it might be a conversation about you know the summer exhibition at the Royal Academy. Um, but as long as they remember the time that they spend in the store, uh, because we've all been in stores and people have barely acknowledged you, um uh and then you've walked out and you you can't even remember going in there afterwards. 100%.
SPEAKER_01Well, listen, also I mean, I know it sounds a bit cliche, but it I mean it is London, right? So I often get asked by people that when they come to London if I can show them round, and which I'm happy to do if I have time, and I always take them to my shirt maker, and it's a it's a great experience because this shirt maker is just so unique, it's it's very James Bond connected, it's kind of underground, so you have to make an appointment. It's not something so it feels like a well-kept best secret, and all I'm doing is basically being the conduit and showing people like the secret nuggets of London or or one or two, but then it like we'll be in there, and some people might order six shirts and some people might not. It's not really any skin off my back if they do or don't, but I do get a little buzz out of showing them something new that they wouldn't ordinarily see or hear about, and I think that's something that will develop or probably has developed when you have a community and an experience in a retail space. Because if someone comes and they might spend 20 minutes with their mate, they might not buy anything. But again, when they come back to London or they have relatives or people come to town, they go, Oh great, I know exactly the place to go. Let's see if they've got anything on tonight, or let's just go in and have a look at the shop. You'll get something very unique and different when you walk into your space as opposed to anywhere else. So uh I think it's always key to get a great buzz and a great word of mouth around a brand.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, what you're doing is that sort of that um that you're you're like an early adopter that's w wanting to pass on. Yeah, I try to look cool very early on. Yeah. Well, but yeah, that crowd really matters in when you're trying to scale from zero. That you there are people that are are genuinely early adopters, they they like buying from new places, they like to be the ones in the in their friends and and peers that uh have found the new band or the new um uh the new restaurant and uh or the new clothes store. So those people are vital, and then um and then scaling that via um a referral scheme, um, but a referral scheme that isn't sort of incentivized in that standard, oh, of you if if your friend buys you get 20 pounds off, trying to engage them in a way that is a little more uh enticing. So we run game we run games where um instead of we're a bit sort of anti-competition for for competitions, uh we do the odd one. Um uh because it sort of attracts um a fairly um competition-led crowd. Whereas we run a game where if you do various things for the brand, it might be you know, buy something, it might be a trust fight review, it might be uh come to an event, it might be a referral, and then you earn a get a point or a coin as we call them, and then the first person to 12 coins uh wins an experience, uh a two-night stay at a hotel, uh, a case of free beer, 250 pounds worth of nean kit. So therefore you're in you're you're you're creating a bit of energy whilst the game is happening, and we we post the leaderboard out and who's winning. Oh, that's great. And all it is really is an old style competition, but we do it in a way that um creates um and we're still improving at it, you know, we've still got a lot of improvements. Um, but um, but but those, yeah, you you as an early adopter and uh referrals are vital within a uh within this within a startup brand. You you need to get people talking about you and then talking about you uh as you as you are uh with with your Savor Rocher um and Jacob to mates and then getting generating business that way.
SPEAKER_01So who are you ne who are your neighbours? Would it be is Benson and Clegg still there? Because I saw the butcher paper up next to them last time I was down. That must have been about a year ago.
SPEAKER_00No, no, they're not. The uh Simon Carter's next door, then there's uh a really lovely guy who's called the valet that do uh a lot of the um alterations and repairs for um the the tailors um and and and shoeshine. Love those guys. Uh then there's a watchstrap company that's opposite. Um uh ASOP is on the corner, New and Lingwood, Lou and Lingwood's at the other end. So it's so it's good, good, good bunch of retail. I mean, it's eye watering, I'm sure, some of the um the jewelry stores, what they take in a year compared to compared to us.
SPEAKER_01No, but I mean, I just bet they're glad that you guys are there bringing some footful in for a start and creating a new energy in the place. I mean, I'd like I was saying, when I had my shop way out in the sticks, we had pretty pretty much the only shop in town, certainly the only clothes shop in town, but when anyone opened up a shop and just brought some new interest, something new to talk about, even if it's an old furniture shop, it was great just to see life in the town or just like new new energy and new people and new new customers, basically. So I'm sure they're thrilled to have you there. Yeah, yeah, you're in good company. So I know the new and lingwood guy is. That's right by the Bromel statue. And then you have, yeah, you say you have ASOP at the end. That used to be a mustard shop. That used to be Mill, I think, before it was that. Anyway, uh going off the grass here. But yeah, that's uh that's that's basically and Green Park, I think, is probably the nearest tube to you where people can come.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's sort of halfway sort of near that Fortnite's area, so halfway between um uh uh Green Park and Pigdilly Circus. Yeah, I mean anyone who should pop in and say hello, and we're we we've always got good music, good drinks, um, and hopefully some some some good menswear. Um yeah, uh it's improving all the time. You sort of uh when you grow a brand, you sort of work out what what people want and like from you and what you're sort of uh good at and known for. Uh so we're focusing a bit more on on the products that that um uh we're better at. Um so and the products um improving all the time, really, as we sort of introduce more colour and pattern um uh and improve the um the styling of it.
SPEAKER_01And just going through your social channels, I saw with Ben We's sure on there, so he he's a he's a customer of yours and Colin Firth. Is that right? Did they get some pieces?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so some of them um I mean the customers in the the what the interesting ones we've had in the store are Marcus Mumford uh has been in a couple of times. Uh Michael Gove has been in. Um uh and then um uh Ralph Little is a is is um a friend of the brand. Um yeah, he he he he um uh is is certainly very well read and educated on the climate crisis. And then yeah, we we we've um had pieces um on uh yeah Colin Firth and Ben Mushaw as well. I mean for us uh the the right people to wear the product are are people that are sort of actively uh using their fame or their um their position to to generate some awareness of the crisis and what we can do as individuals um to uh to to try and um or attempt to make an impact or lower our lower impact and make an impact on um on the way businesses perform.
SPEAKER_01Sidebar on that one, Nick. What is the policy, for example, when either Michael Gove or Ralph Little come into the shop when it comes to you know you can have a chat, they might buy something. Are you do you then go, is it all right if I just put my arm around you and get a shot for the socials? Or are you kind of a little bit like I was? Because I again I won't name names. I was working with another tailor in Shoreditch and I had Ray Winstone, I'll I'll name his name, but not the tailor. Ray Winstone comes in and buys some shirt, and obviously I know who he is, and uh he goes, All right, I'm Ray. I go, I know who you are, Ray. And we start sending him some shirts and we get over here. Well, he buys a whole bunch of stuff and he walks out, it's all great. And I just tell my boss, I go, You won't believe we just had Ray, and he goes, Well, why aren't you getting pictures? And I'll like, well, I don't think it's cool to kind of just go, is it all right if I just get a picture of you and me outside the shop with a sign in the background? I don't feel like so. I mean, anyway, is there a line that you feel like you need to stay behind with this sort of stuff?
SPEAKER_00I I mean it's a very good question, I I mean I I I'm as equally as um as bad as as as you in that moment you try and play it cool and um uh uh and behave as though nothing is going on. But I think uh if you do ask them, I think most and it you do it in the most courteous and uh and uh upbeat manner. Um I think I think they're gonna say yes, it's okay because you're a startup and you're you know, you need all the help and support uh and energy you can. Whereas if it's sort of a larger business who's got a big marketing budget, then you know, which we haven't, um that then they're likely to say no because come come at me through the correct channel through your agent. But but a small startup, um I think most celebrities would probably say, Yeah, come on, let's do it. Um so yeah, I I think you've got to sort of seize that, you know. If I die tomorrow, will I regret this? So um and um yeah, I I I think normally it's better to ask and not ask, but uh sadly I I'm a bit like you in that circumstance. I sort of behave as though I'm uh don't even know who they are, and yeah, um I'm very professional about it. And then when they've walked out the door, I'm like, what the hell did I just do? I know but I I I think it's better to ask, really.
SPEAKER_01Listen, um Nick, it's been great talking to you. Uh the website, I know the Instagram is neem underscore Londoner. Give the website a plug, please, to make sure people are going to the right place.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so it's just neemlondon.com. I mean if you Google Neem London, it should pop up. Um, yeah, pop into the store at seven Piccadilly Arcade. Uh, if anyone ever says, you know, I'm a neem sayer, uh, we'll give you uh uh something free. Um it's a bit of fun. Uh and then um uh online, yeah, neem London.com.
SPEAKER_01Brilliant, excellent. Well, great catching up with you, Nick. I'm gonna are you there? What's what's your day-to-day like? Are you kind of in store?
SPEAKER_00There Thursday, Friday, sort of Saturday till uh not all every Saturday, but normally there most Thursdays, Fridays, uh, and then most Saturdays till about sort of 2-3, depending on um what I've got going on, how busy we are. Uh so yeah, that that and then Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, uh, I'm elsewhere.
SPEAKER_01Awesome. Okay, great. Well, listen, I'm I'm gonna be around, so I'm gonna drop in and say hey, but I recommend everybody else does if they're in the area, and if not, then just check them out online. And we'll put all the links over on the show notes over at menswear style. But for Nick, great catching up and uh thanks for your time. Wicked, thanks very much. Cheers. If you've been listening to the Menswear Style podcast, be sure to head over to menswearstyle.co.uk for more menswear content and email info at menswearstyle.co.uk if you'd like to be a future guest on the show. Finally, please help support the show by leaving a review on iTunes or wherever you're listening to this podcast. Until next time.