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
Ali Gordon, Men's Style Influencer
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This week we talk to self-made vlogger, blogger and influencer; Ali Gordon. He went form working as an electrician to become one of the biggest players in the male influencer field and in this interview he unveils the journey on how he amassed a social media following of over 330k on Instagram. We also talk about the process on how to build a following and what goes on behind-the-scenes at the Ali Gordon empire. We finish with a round-up of topical news with Editor-at-large, Bec Loades. They discuss the British brands that are championing sustainable fashion, who owned the red carpet at the Olivier Awards and the brand called BRIIT that has come out of nowhere.
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Hello and welcome to another episode of the Menswear Style Podcast with me, your host Pete Brooker. This week we're gonna continue on with our influencer series, and I am talking to none other than lifestyle blogger Ali Gordon. Ali is a true original. After months of taking photos of his partner now wife Lydia, they decided that no one that good looking should be behind a camera. At least that's how the conversation played out in my head. We talk about Ali's journey from electrician to self-taught lifestyle blogger. How did he amass a following of over 330,000 followers on Instagram? How big is the Ali Gordon Empire? What does he plan to do beyond blogging? All these questions, questions, questions, and more questions. The interview would sound something like this. They don't make them like that anymore. Timely reference. So we'll get to those questions and answers in a moment. And we'll also speak to Beck Lodes, editor at large at Menswear Style. She's gonna give us the lowdown, what's happening out there on the high street. But before all of that, first I want to make sure you're checking us out on the social at menswear style. The website you should go to for all the latest editorials and competitions is menswearstyle.co.uk. We have an app, you punch menswear style, into the app store, and whilst you're there, make sure you're downloading the menswear style podcast from iTunes. Leave us a review if you like what you hear, and if you want to get in touch or be a part of the show, it's info at menswearstyle.co.uk. Okay, on with the show, introducing lifestyle blogger Ali Gordon. On the podcast now, I'd like to introduce Ali Gordon, lifestyle blogger and influencer. How are you doing today, Ali?
SPEAKER_01I'm very well, thank you.
SPEAKER_02Ali, I'm really chuffed to be talking to you today uh from your new home or newish home. How long have you been in there?
SPEAKER_01Oh I think this is um we're we're coming into the third week, but I've actually only been in here myself for two weeks. Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_02Because you got the way from uh Italy, was it?
SPEAKER_01Yes, I went to uh Puglia um with Ferrari uh for the week, which was amazing, but we moved house on the Friday and um I set off on the Saturday. So my poor wife was left at home to uh deal with the uh Manic house move. You couldn't have timed that better, really. I know. Maybe you want to take tip from me book a holiday after you move.
SPEAKER_02So I saw uh on your blog you did a little mini tour of the house. How does it feel to have a walk-in wardrobe now?
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's um see, I'm still getting used to this. It kind of feels at the moment like we're staying at a hotel or in somebody else's house, uh, which of course sometimes have these luxuries, and uh so it doesn't really feel like mine yet, but hopefully soon it will. And uh yeah, I'm looking forward to it because it's uh it definitely is a luxury of life to have a walk-in wardrobe. I'm not used to it, uh to say the least.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, my girlfriend uh tells me you've arrived in life if you have a walk-in wardrobe. So she's originally from Russia but moved to the States, and obviously they've got a lot more square footage over there. And so they she said, look, there's there's not much to it, really. If you have a walk-in wardrobe in the US, you could be anybody, but if you're in London and you have a walk-in wardrobe, you've arrived.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, it's um yeah, spaces. I mean, I actually live outside of London, um, not by much, but about half an hour train away uh for that very reason. Because I think to have a walk-in wardrobe in London is a very expensive um closet, but in in the area we live, it's a little bit more attainable.
SPEAKER_02So, how much design work have you done on the house? Because uh maybe we should just backpedal a little bit. Ali, if you could just give me a little two, three-minute spiel about your backdrop, because I know that you're a traditionally blue-collar, I believe, an electrician before you got into the blogging and the video blogging trade. So um if you can just colour it in and brag a little bit, if you will.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so um, yes, I mean, I um my electrical career started when I was 16 years old. I left school, I went straight into work. Um, I actually set out to become a plumber. Yeah, I did. And um I basically couldn't get a plumbing apprenticeship, so I ended up getting a l I ended up getting an electrical one, which was um very fortunate. I fell on my feet with it because I uh worked for 11 years, got my qualifications, and I had an incredible boss. We worked really well together. And uh then I was introduced to the world of blogging and uh online creating through my now wife, who was doing it as a hobby when I first met her. And that really just developed over probably 12 months into uh a career opportunity that I literally just grabbed with both hands and uh fortunately made it my full-time job, which is where I am today. So it's been quite a fast-paced um career change in some sense. Um, it was a slow sort of crossover because I had was given the opportunity to make it a slow crossover of by having a very uh generous boss that let me have time off um to to sort of pursue this career. And uh yeah, and now I do it full-time. I've done it full-time now for about 12 months to 14 months. Um things are going really well. We've we've moved house as we've just been speaking about, and uh yeah, it's a very exciting chapter and time of our lives.
SPEAKER_02I because I had this image in my head that as an electrician you were just one day working away, and your reflection came back off a breaker panel and thought, hold on a minute, this this picture needs to be in a magazine. I can't be under I can't be underneath the stairs fixing fuse boxes for the rest of my days.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean I probably was uh the vainest electrician on the site. I think the only one that wore more aftershave to work.
SPEAKER_02So what's um what's the relationship like now of your boss? Because uh you had a really good one whilst working with him, are you still in touch with?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, um he actually uh visited about a week ago uh in the new place. Of course, I've got some stuff here that needs doing. Um when I was working with him, I wasn't the best at um sort of security and uh like TV stuff. I normally just sort of stuck to all the electrical stuff. So I had him come around to sort of set up my TV system and uh make sure that was all running properly and uh have a look at some security stuff because it's not really my area. So yeah, we've got a great relationship. He's busy um doing what he's doing, and I'm busy doing what I'm doing, and we just cross paths as and when we can. So yeah, we've we've got a very nice relationship relationship. Sorry, you can have to cut all that out. Yeah, yeah, that's it.
SPEAKER_02Um actually quite rare, they don't appreciate you having a career or a hobby almost outside of the work. You know, they don't really want you to be distracted.
SPEAKER_01You know, somebody um yeah, somebody once said to me that it's actually a boss's job to make you feel bad uh to want to do anything other than something for them.
SPEAKER_02Right, right. And it it just it's insane, really, because you know, b I mean they want you to have a good time whilst you're working there, but they must appreciate that the work is not something that you set out to do when you're you know a five-year-old, and especially in today's climate, I'm wondering how many people want to get into that line of work versus how many people want to go traveling to Hong Kong to Amsterdam to go to the BAFTAs, for example. It's it's it's I think that element is getting few and far between.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, personally for me, um I actually I actually did want to become a tradesman because uh my granddad was uh a tradesman and it was something that I thought it it sort of fulfilled what I was looking for from a job. I wanted to do something with my hands, and um I didn't want to dress up in a suit every day to go to work. So it it kind of did fall into that category of work that I was looking for. So I wouldn't say that it's the most exciting of jobs, but I mean it can pay well. Um, there is definitely movement for growth if you become self-employed, set up your own business. Um, there's some extremely successful people that own their own uh building firms and electrical firms and so forth. So I I wouldn't say that it's um the most desirable of jobs, however, it certainly um can serve a good purpose and and and offer you a great life.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, um sounds like I'm denigrating the uh the work of an electrician as a blue-collar. It's that was not my intention at all. But um I'm sure the lads on site can handle it. I'm sure they can handle it. But what I was really like trying to get at was that I don't feel like people want to be doing that line of work or hard work, because it is hard work. Uh I mean it's up at the crack, it's you know, a lot of it's very manual, it's very hands-on, it's rolling up the sleeves and actually doing stuff that isn't as exotic as you'd perhaps see people that of like you and other lifestyle bloggers do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, I feel exactly I totally agree with you, and I think that the way that I view what I do now in comparison to when I was working on the site was the job that I'm currently doing wasn't a career choice, it was a career opportunity. It wasn't something that I could apply to do and get the role, it was something that I had to create from from nothing. Uh I didn't go to sit down with somebody and say, look, I want to I want to start um traveling the world and and get paid for it, taking photos and and everything else that comes with our job. It was something that was sort of a progression and um like I said, it was just an opportunity. Um, so I feel like the the way in which this industry is developed has changed in that now people have seen the industry evolve. It's something that you could aspire to become. But when I first initially got into doing what I do now, it there wasn't really anything like it, if that makes sense. So it was all very blind going into it for me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And so, as you've not really started out doing it since a Nipper, how did you find your style? I mean, what were you like at school? Did you look up to people and think, I want to be in that gang, or I want to be hanging out with them people? You know, what was your outlook basically before you left school?
SPEAKER_01I was quite we were quite fortunate at our school actually, because we had um a really social school that didn't really segregate too much. There wasn't any gangs or or sort of groups as such. Um, you know, you got the lads that that were really into their sport that spent most of their lunches playing, you know, football or whatever, and then you had guys that were um, you know, you'd have like every school, you'd have the smoking crew and go out lunch and have a fag, and then you had the guys that used to play sport, and then the guys that were sort of hanging around with the girls and just sort of giving each other's dead legs, but they all kind of integrated and mingled with each other. There wasn't that segregation such of groups of people. So growing up, I was actually uh fortunate enough to be around a diverse group of people constantly throughout the my school life. Um, there definitely wasn't any fashion influence at my school. I mean, even myself, but I think there was one guy that came over from Scotland that had um an actual sense of fashion. Um, he actually was a good friend of mine for a while. His name was Harry, and uh he had really great style and great hair. But I think apart from him, and he came from Scotland, like I said, nobody really cared about what they look like at school from from what I remember. I think times have changed a lot now. Yeah, uh I see I see young guys and I'm looking at them and thinking, you're like you're like a groomed man, but they're still at school, but they they're dressed like really cool, their hair's on point, and I don't remember it being like that when I was at school. Um, I'd say when I was about 16, I became a little bit more self-conscious. I started making a little bit more effort in my appearance. Uh, when I was around 19, I found the gym, started to sort of um try to improve my physique and the way my body looked. And uh it was again just a slower progress thing in comparison to today, where just kids are so involved. And I think it's probably got partly to blame with platforms such as social media. I don't know whether it's a bad thing or a good thing, I think that's a completely uh different conversation that you could have, whether you know kids are too um conscious of the way in which they look at a young age. Uh, I think that's a whole nother topic to go into.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean I I'm just so thankful that I'm really old at the age of 39 that the likes of Instagram and Facebook weren't around when I was a kid. So I mean I couldn't imagine the pressure. Oh well, we had well we didn't even have mobile phones until I got out of school. So if you fancied a girl in your class, you'd have to go down to the telephone box at the end of your street because you didn't want your dad to listen in on the phone call in the house. You'd have a little bit of a script prepared of about five questions, and then you'd run through that as quickly as possible, and then you'd be all out of answers. And uh changed. But yeah, I mean, for me though, that was like the Everest of pressures was talking to girls, and to talk to girls over the phone was like that times 20. Yeah. Um, so if you add on the likes of Instagram, Twitter, and how you're gonna be perceived in a virtual world as well as in real world, I mean, crikey, my head would have just imploded.
SPEAKER_01No, there's a lot more pressure, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, no, it's it's it's intense, and uh it's like you say, it's an entirely different conversation, but it's people are now looking at themselves more. Um I think they're getting into their own little bubble, everyone wants to have their own flag in the ground that they can call their own. This is my part of the world. Look what I'm wearing in my part of the world, look how I dress in my part of the world. So it kind of gives them their own identity, but whether that compounds uh any other issues that they might have going on is um I digress. We can go for a yeah. Um but well actually talking about confidence, I was looking at one of your videos, um and uh I was actually looking at the wedding video that you and Lydia put together. So on your YouTube, you did like a build-up and then an afterday event of everything that happened. And what was interesting was in the letter that Lydia your wife said about how you had apprehensions about speaking and doing a wedding speech. Yeah, yeah. Um, so like how has that affected you? I mean, confidence-wise, you're obviously very good in front of camera if you're doing vlogs and presentations, etc. But then outside of that, uh is there a bigger mountain to climb for you?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, God, I remember the first time that I sat down in front of a camera. Um, it was actually for Lydia's channel, and uh, she was filming a video for a brand, and they wanted me to be in the video. And I literally had like three words that I needed to say. It was not that she I mean, we don't ever do scripted stuff, but they were just like, you just need to sit here and just say like like it was thanks for watching. It was something simple, and I just couldn't get my words out, and I was sweating and I was so nervous. Um, and I didn't have to do anything, I literally just had to sit there and smile the whole time. Um, and then I remember the first time I sat in front of a camera of my own, and I just got a hot flush, and I felt really uncomfortable, it wasn't natural. And then over time, you sort of get used to sort of talking to this camera um when you're on your own and when you're out and about, and even talking in public to your camera is another challenge that people face where they're like, This feels a bit awkward, people are looking at me talking to my camera, and you you just build up a confidence, and you've just really got not you've just really not got to care, you've just got to get your camera out and and just speak to it, and that has evolved, and as time's gone on, I've become more confident in talking to my camera and opening up to the way in which I talk to the camera, and then of course, that then progresses to doing things like the podcasts, public speaking, and I would still say that public speaking is a hurdle that I need to get over. I do find I get extremely nervous, apparently it's quite normal to um, but that wedding speech gave me so much confidence um moving forward. Um, you know, as a recent event that's helped my with my confidence because it made me realise that people that are listening to you don't want you to make mistakes, they don't want you to stumble on your words and stutter, and they they want to listen and enjoy what you have to say. And even if what you have to say doesn't have much substance, it's not it's about listening to somebody that can come across and talk to you rather than sitting there thinking, oh, this is so awkward for you. It's not nice for the listener. And I think when you overcome that sort of mental state that you're gonna mess up and and everyone's gonna judge you, I think that you'll that you'll find that they're more likely going to judge you if you you you're a mess on the stage rather than if you just say words and and don't stress out. It's uh yeah, it's been a hurdle that I'm still sort of trying to overcome. But I definitely feel like I'm making good steps and I'm becoming a lot more confident in in uh public speaking and in speaking to my camera and speaking to guys like yourself on podcasts. So it's it's nice, it's it's something that obviously I've I'm I'm learning as time goes on, and I think it's most people feel awkward when they're doing public speaking. I think that's quite a normal thing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I I think it's definitely something that you've eventually, if you do enough of, you become immune to, right? It's like uh it's like street fighting. Uh you know, once you've had a couple, you know, you can mix it up with anyone and you don't care. Have you done this? No, that's a terrible analogy. But I I have well a couple of street fights in my youth, but cracking out I'm uh I like to say I'm a a runner, not a fighter. Yeah, yeah. The first sign of trouble, I I I literally sprint. Yeah, I like to try and talk them out, talk them out. Yeah. Um I mean it's but it it was quite almost um I wouldn't say a relief, but to know that somebody else had like speech or a fear of public speaking, and that was one of the reasons that they didn't want to get married, which is what I think uh Lydia said in the video. I've got a my best friend wishes that he that I never get married. He constantly reminds me, he goes, I hope you fuck up with your next girlfriend, because I don't want to do a best man speech. He's terrified. He's never done one lined up.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I'm going um to one of my uh well, my best friend's wedding um this year, and I've got to do a speech. Which I'm I feel because I've done my own, I feel so much more confident. This is what I'm saying. It's like you say you know, once you've once you've got your feet wet and you you you just do it, you become more confident. And I'm sure that you know, moments before I get up, I'm gonna be quite nervous, but um I feel a lot more confident from the outset. Now I've done one already.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um I my my other friend actually is taking speech classes like public speaking classes. There's an organization that you can go to every Saturday, they do them in London, actually, and you can just go along and you get like a three-minute window to talk about anything you want. You might be given a theme, and then you can get to work on that. Um, and he says it's all about the pauses, being comfortable in long pauses can like having some brevity.
SPEAKER_01And I mean, this is something that it in general in talking it you find that you speed up, you start talking really fast, that you don't breathe, and then you become out of breath, and then you you can panic, and that's when it becomes harder. So those pauses are actually essential to coming across well, right?
SPEAKER_02No, exactly. And I wish I'd actually learned some brevity on this podcast because when I listen back to it, because I have to edit these damn things, I hate the sound of my own voice, and I'm thinking, Crikey, can you just stop talking? Because you're asking the same question in a roundabout way, five different times.
SPEAKER_01This is the beauty of editing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the the the fudge that gets packed behind the show, I tell you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I always say I spend half about half a day editing editing out the ums and the ahs and the all all of like the repetitive words I say out of my videos.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, it's a joy. Uh how so how did you get into knowing like the technology side, like coming from where you were in your background, and now you have to figure out drones, you have to figure out video editing, photography. So, how much of a move or a shift was that?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so um I spent a hell of a lot of my time just researching and watching YouTube tutorials. Um, I found them extremely helpful. I also speak to people um that are around me, so my videographer AR, he was great help um on video content. I just phone him up and say, like, you know, I'm trying to work out the settings on the this new camera I've brought, and I'm just looking for this function, and he'll say, you know, I I've got that camera, you have to go here and there. Um, it was a little bit tricky with the editing because he uses a software called Premiere Pro, which is Adobe, and I use Final Cut Pro X, so it it meant that he couldn't help me out on that because it wasn't his software, but you YouTube gave me enough sort of guidance on Final Cut to sort of help progress. And I think I find that my progression comes through boredom. So I'll start editing and I'll think, you know what? I need to step this up a bit and I'll start editing it. And I'll then a few videos down the line I'll be like, you know, I'm kind of bored of that. I need to sort of find something different. And then you just pick up little tricks and little ways of progressing in that sort of technical field over time. Uh so that's kind of how it's gone with me.
SPEAKER_02Okay, cool. I mean, because when I do anything technical, it sounds like I I have a couple of friends that know all this stuff, so I kind of lean on them. But then I'm wary of, oh, actually, I'm just talking to these guys every time I I hit a snag that Google can't solve. Or Google solved it, I just don't know how to look for it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, this is the thing. I spend most of my time looking for um the answer for something, and I I might have to watch four hours of tutorials to get the answer that I'm looking for, and it'd be so nice just to have somebody that just went, No, you just gotta do that, and then you'd be like, Oh, perfect, but instead you have to browse through all this. But then at the same time, you do pick up a lot of other information during that process, so it's not wasted.
SPEAKER_03That's right.
SPEAKER_01And you might think, Oh, like you'll go to try to learn something else, and you think, Oh, I remember actually when I was looking for that thing, I stumbled across this thing, and that's helped me you know progress in in and make you aware of other possibilities with editing, for example, or with the um the way in which you can use your camera equipment and so forth.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I mean, that's good, but you you're also on the internet, right? So you can f fall down them wormholes quite readily. I mean, you might be looking on how to truncate some audio in garage band, and then you'll end up seeing a man get a cannonball fired into his stomach, and then you're like three hours later, you're like, Well, I know how to do that now, but I still haven't solved the original question.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's it. Yeah, just end up getting lost in the in the big wide worldwide web.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, just get out in the EFA. Um, so how many people have we got working under the name of Ally Gordon now? So, what does the team look like? What's the mechanics of the business?
SPEAKER_01So it's quite tight. It's um, I mean, I'd say that I'm obviously just being me, uh creating content and and publishing the content, and then I have a manager who looks after all of the sort of um the admin side and the negotiation and contracts and so forth. So those guys look after all of that, and then um I have an accountant and a bookkeeper to make sure that's all straight and narrow. Um, and then that's really it. And I I've I've said before, you know, I liaise a lot with Lydia, my wife, um, and then my manager as well, just to get their opinions on uh progression and moving forward uh with the business. So it's it's kind of it's quite a tight-knit group. It's not something that I'm looking to expand into this sort of huge uh production company or anything where I have loads of people working, creating content for uh the sort of brand Ali Gordon. I just want to keep it me and keep it sort of authentic and organic as possible.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I mean that's that's that's cool. But do you have like a five-year plan that where you think, well, I can augment that side of the business or I can look a little bit further afield where I'm doing this and make it easier on myself?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think I mean I've said this again many times. I think the the industry moves so quickly that it's hard to sort of envision and predict where this is going to be in five years' time. Um I definitely have ideas in which I can expand um but not down the same vertical. So I'd like to look at other business ventures and uh sort of get involved in other aspects of business that which could be linked in with what I'm doing, but wouldn't be a direct sort of expansion of what I'm doing right now. Um so in five years, I'd like to think that you know, as they're saying as I've got my fingers in a few pies, um, that's the sort of goal and vision for in five years that I d I have basically more than one sort of stream of revenue um coming in. In terms of this vertical, you know, online creating, blogging, YouTube. I want to keep on doing what I'm doing, I really enjoy it. Um I get up every morning exciting and excited to see what opportunities come forward. So yeah, I mean I'd like to think that if the if the industry stays staying similar to how it is now, that I'd be doing what I'm doing now. But of course, you you have to keep up with the times, you have to progress with the times. In five years time, you know, who knows where we're gonna be online. We could be we could be anywhere. So it's it's for me, I'm just happy where I am at the moment doing this, and if I can do that in five years, then I would continue to do so.
SPEAKER_02I bet your email box looks fantastic. Like, for example, are you front of house when it comes to Ali Gordon? So if someone was to email the contact on your website, it comes to you first, or does it go to your manager?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I mean, I so it everything comes through um info at aligordon.net, which is my my email account, and then it's managed by my management. So I see everything that comes through. Um and so if I want to jump in on anything, um, then I can do, but the all of the inquiries and everything that comes forward, I I see, I see what's going on.
SPEAKER_02Sure. I mean, so like going out to Italy when you get Ferrari dropping an email into you, you're like, oh hey, what a way to start on Monday.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's cool, it's it's super cool. It's also painful as well because you see things that aren't possible because of logistics, and you just think, oh my god, like I I'm going away to Australia um at the start of April, and I was supposed to be going to Monaco to try Aston Martin's with another brand um the day that I'm flying back, which means I technically can't uh I physically can't logistically make that trip to Monaco because I'm gonna be on a plane coming back from Australia. So sometimes it's like, oh my god, I wish I never saw that.
SPEAKER_02That's like the worst of uh bullseye, isn't it? The bully prize board and seeing the uh the holiday you could have won. It's the same.
SPEAKER_01I've got this this again, Coachella. We were invited to go to Coachella this year, and it's the same. Uh logistically, it's too tight because I go to Australia and then it would be then LA to Coachella and then I go to New York, but I can't because of time frame. So it you it can be amazing because you're like, oh my god, these are amazing opportunities, but it can also be like, Oh no, I'm missing out on this.
SPEAKER_02That's when you need to either clone yourself or figure out some kind of hologram or Ali Gordon stunt double, you know.
SPEAKER_01Well, this is where the expansion could be good, although it wouldn't be me enjoying all of these amazing opportunities, it would be somebody else might have to. But I mean, of course, there's there's there's lots of accounts online that are run on a larger scale that have more creators, and and uh I'm sure that they get to enjoy those incredible experiences a lot more than I do.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, I'm sure they do. But I mean, then again, it wouldn't be it'd be hard for you because if you're farming out some of your work and saying sending one of your Padawans to Aston Martin, your audience would want to see you driving that car and how you find it exactly. So you'd be like, hmm, yeah, I can see why this video only got like 5,000 views instead of X amount of views, it's because I'm not behind the wheel, you know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, I mean yeah, I I think that there is an element of that for sure. And that's why I think that I don't want to expand this vertical and make it like a huge thing, because I want to just try and keep it as authentic and organic as I can.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. And um Ali, I've got a question from my editor. Oh, and then I was just gonna finish off with some quick fire questions if that's okay. Yeah, sure. Cool. So um he says traditionally an A-list celebrity uh has their own security. So influencers that uh set out to be the new celebrity, do you think that you and your wife would ever endeavour in getting your own security, like your own team of people looking after you?
SPEAKER_01A hundred percent. Yeah, a hundred percent, yeah. Um so I think that it's uh extremely important that when you're doing public appearances, that um there's security in place. Um in terms of full-time security that follow you around, that that would be something you would have to be at extremely high level and high profile to have that. That's not something that I can envision Lydia and I ever needing, um, but it's not something that I would rule out should things explode to a level where it got so intense that you needed that, and I think that you would just judge that as time went on. Um, at the moment, I would certainly hire security if I was doing a PA set time and location. Uh Lydia definitely has that already when she does PA, she has security that arrive and make sure that everything's run smoothly and she's uh kept in safe hands. So I think it's important. I think there has been occasions um where there's been incidents and uh fatalities where people have done uh event attendances and they've been attacked and so forth. So I think it's important to stay on the safe side and invest in that rather than sort of take the risk. But full-time security isn't something that I think we need right now, but you know, part-time security at certain times and occasions for sure.
SPEAKER_02That might be a time when you just look to your manager, right, and go, What are you doing this afternoon? And he'll be like, Well, not a lot. And go, Well, start doing some press ups because I need you in shape. That's it, yeah. Give them a bat and yeah, just say, All right, follow me, I'm off to selfridges. Um cool. Well, listen, Ali, listen, thanks for coming on. Uh it's been a real treat, and again for taking time out of your day. I'm just gonna rattle off a quick couple of questions and you can just shoot back one or two answers as how you feel fit. So Vans or Converse. Uh your favourite Bond and your favourite Bond film.
SPEAKER_01Ooh. Um That's a tough one. I can't remember. So I do really like Daniel Craig, but I know that a lot of people will be like, no, come on.
SPEAKER_02No, Daniel Craig's a brilliant bot.
SPEAKER_01Yeah? Okay, I'm gonna say Daniel Craig.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_01Um Casino Royale.
SPEAKER_02Oh, good shout as well. Good Craig one. Um who gets your hand-me downs?
SPEAKER_01Oh, so I actually um like to divide and conquer with hand-me-downs. So um I've got a friend that does a lot of charity work and he takes a lot or the majority of my clothes um and deals with them himself. I also do a couple of bags to a charity called the Willen Hospice. Uh, it's a local charity to where I live, uh, and they just take care of patients that are in sort of like the the last um weeks or months of their life. Uh, so I donate to those guys as well. So they're sort of like where the majority of my hand-me downs go. Um, I did try selling uh at one stage a couple of months ago on an app that a lot of people use to sell their clothes, and I listed about 10 items, and I decided that it was just easier to just give them to charity. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Oh, really? That's really because I've I do some of that myself where I feel like I've got a few nice freebies here, I'm very lucky, but they're also taking up a bit of floor space, so maybe I can you know make a little bit of side profit on these, and then just the crap you get on eBay about you know parceling it up, packaging, and clothes. I'm finding it actually quite hard to shift on eBay. I don't think people are really uh wanting to pay good money for clothes on eBay.
SPEAKER_01No, I mean I used to use this uh site called Deepop.
SPEAKER_02Depop.
SPEAKER_01Um but I used it once. Um I said I just listed once and went, but it's quite a popular website for people to sell clothing. Um but yeah, packaging, sending becomes quite time consuming and I'm sure, isn't it? Yeah, and I think that for for me I it's also it feels very nice to give to charity and and to help other people out. So I do a lot of that, and unfortunately, um my two best friends and the majority of my friends are taller than I am, so that it would be no good for those guys either.
SPEAKER_02Well, you're a sweetheart. Thanks, Ali. Um, thanks for coming on. And if people want to check you out, it's at AliGordon89 on Instagram, I believe, and Allegordon.net to check you out on on your website, see what else you're up to on the blog, and follow your journeys on YouTube, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, you get an and Australia next month by the sound of things.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, stay tuned.
SPEAKER_02Okay, great. Uh, thanks again, Ali.
SPEAKER_01No, thanks for having me. It's been a pleasure, and uh have a great rest of the evening.
SPEAKER_02You too. Take care, mate.
SPEAKER_01Cheers, mate. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
SPEAKER_02Thank you, Ali Gordon, and now we are gonna switch gears and speak to the editor at large here at Minswest Star. We're gonna have a word with Beck Lodes, who's gonna give us a down low on what's happening out there in the world of British fashion. Back on the podcast now is Beck Lodes. How are you doing today, Bex?
SPEAKER_00Hi, I'm good. Thanks, P. And you?
SPEAKER_02I'm very well, thank you. Bex, what's been happening lately out in the world of fashion? If you could just crystallise the last month into a sexy 20-second soundbite, how would it sound?
SPEAKER_00Oh wow, that's quite a lot of pressure putting in 20 seconds. Um, well, there's lots of happening, lots of releases and things like that. We've had some introduction to some new brands on the uh website on Men's Wear Style, and um there's been quite a lot of chat about sustainability and fashion, so that's been coming out. Um yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, oh ever since those whales were on the documentary, right? And that mother was dragging that calf around. Oh my god, everyone's binned their plastics, everyone's like, what am I doing with all this, you know, two-pound t-shirts, etc. etc.
SPEAKER_00So Yeah. Well, I guess the thing is what brands are trying to do, I I think it's a huge challenge, is that everyone's becoming more aware of it, I think, through brands, but it's just getting customers to take action, like rather it's great creating awareness, but it's getting people to take action, and obviously designers need to do that from in-house as well with the with the fabrics they choose and things like that. So recently um we had a chat with the owner of Surplus, um, Henry Hales, who kind of they're not they they're not a like a an eco-brand, but they do definitely strive to be a sustainable fashion brand in the fact that they use surplus materials and um also organic cottons and things like that. Um, and even now, actually, they've just started um using these buttons that are made out of nuts, which I've never even heard of. But they're a great brand, they're a great brand, and there should be more like that, I think. And and bigger brands as well um definitely doing, trying to do a lot. I think actually G-Star, um, I remember when I first started um writing and things, they they had a huge campaign with um Parlay, um, who were trying to obviously clean up the oceans and create plastic shoes and things like that and create new materials that are being used. So um, but Surplus are very interesting actually where they started as well, kind of starting the Spittlefields market and then went on to Portobello, and now they've got their own store, and they're creating really nice menswear, really nice jackets, um just quite understated but very sort of British, um, and nice shirts. Um, they started actually creating boxer shorts, that was where it all started, and it's gone off.
SPEAKER_02I actually liked in the interview that you asked him, look, how would you get anything like this off the ground if you were to give advice to anyone else? And he just said, just pick one product and nail that, and basically he didn't have the not trying too much. Yeah, he didn't want to throw too huge a net over the menswear collection. He just said, Well, let me just concentrate on one thing, and then once I've cornered that, then then we'll expand. And I think too many people make the mistake of going, well, I'll introduce a t-shirt range, a jacket range, a jeans range, and a shoes range. Yeah, I I actually really like this stuff. I like the name as well, because it it it took a second for the penny to drop. When when you read it, it reads sir, like dear sir, um plus. But when you hear it, it's just surplus, like too much of something.
SPEAKER_00Well, it's a good fair word, definitely. No, I was gonna say I they went stateside as well recently, so I imagine um yeah, the Americans might pick it up quite quickly as well.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, which is great for such a a new brand. I mean, he's kind of fresh out of the blocks, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, pretty much, yeah. I mean, it's been a little while since they first started their boxes, but um they've they've come a long way in quite a short period of time. So yeah.
SPEAKER_02Awesome, good. Well, good luck, Henry. Championing the Yeah, so like I mean, I heard about G-Star in their jeans a while back, and I don't really think maybe they just didn't get the column inches they deserved. And maybe it's like just a lazy PR, or maybe they're just too modest, or maybe it's because it's not a British brand. Uh who knows? But it's it's not I don't think people know of G-Star, but I don't think they know of the narrative they're trying to create for their brand now.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think I don't know whether it was about timing or whether I mean obviously we have things like Blue Planet and things like that that definitely expose the whole topic, um you know, us killing the oceans and things like that. But it is such a massive topic, and it is quite a scary one too. I think I get frustrated when I see people just throwing I mean you Marks and Spencer have got about 50 layers of plastic on you know a piece of sushi and things like that, and it does get frustrating, but um I think a lot can be done within fashion, and I think um I I think you might have been wrong. I think it could have been done, it could have been to do with their PR, and it just wasn't pushed hard enough. Um but Adidas are trying to push it as well with Parlay, the same company that G-Star started out with, um, and they've got their sort of plastic trainers, and um, but there are other companies like Arquette as well, um, who are really trying to push the kind of minimalist and not throwaway fashion sort of thing. So um there's definitely a lot more coming out.
SPEAKER_02What else is in the news? Chester Barry, did you see uh did you get the invite to the Olivia Awards?
SPEAKER_00Um I didn't get a personal invite. Um I don't I don't feature on the stage very regularly. Um but um I did check it out. There's some very smart outfits going on, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, um so I think they were Well, if if you were privy to all of the PR invites and events and um well, even I think people are just showing off now. That's when they show me these little things to go, look what you missed. I'm like, well, where was my invite?
SPEAKER_03How about that?
SPEAKER_02Uh but it was good to see some of uh Chester Barry doing quite well on uh they were kitting out some of the Hamilton stars, other influencers, etc. And uh it just looked really, really well turned out, some of their black tie collection. Were there any did you see any of the pictures?
SPEAKER_00Um I did actually. Yeah, there's some really, really nice. I have to say the Chester Barry like uh the dinner suits, they look extremely smart. Um and I think they kind of gone for a um 30s kind of style, a quite strong sort of cut. Um but they um the main star who got best actor, I think, um from Hamilton, um Giles Terreira, he looked very nice um in a full black dinner suit, the same as um Alfred Molina, he also had a full-on black dinner suit, which looked very smart.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, I I thought they looked great. The velvet tucks, like with the kind of exaggerated shawl collar. I think they look really good. They're from last season's, but uh they still look the still look the nails. I think they're really cool. Uh so they don't do bespoke, do they? Uh Chester Barry. I think it's one of those companies that are on Savile Row, they sit on Savile Row but only do ready to wear, but just do ready to wear really well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, really nicely. And I think they've had quite um I was reading sort of about their story and they've had quite an interesting story in the sort of industry. They had a real dip at one point and sort of nearly disappeared, and and now they actually come back and doing really well. So they've had a new investor, so they're doing really well actually now.
SPEAKER_02What is what else? There's a new brand that we introduced on the website, wasn't there? What was it called? Brit?
SPEAKER_00It's called Brit, yeah, with a double eye.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it looks quite funky and flamboyant. What do we know about them?
SPEAKER_00It's so I'd I'd hadn't not heard of them myself actually, but they don't have sort of a massive presence if you Google them, they don't have a massive presence on the internet yet, but they have made us aware that they are sort of coming, they're gonna make they are presently on Amazon Fashion, um, which is taking over, and um they will be having a websites soon. Um, but they definitely focus on a mixture of British and Italian design, they kind of merged it together. Um, the um clothes are designed in London, but they're actually made in Italy, and the designer is um Italian, um, so they
SPEAKER_02try to merge yeah two two nationalities basically um yeah it looks cool very uh so very efflegia very casual very quite pared down nothing I said flamboyant because I just saw one top that had kind of this cross colour patch like tube work um almost like a Ragland T but the rest of it is you know quite minimalist and quite muted isn't it?
SPEAKER_00Yeah it's nice it's quite relaxed um definitely I mean they've got some sort of colour blocking going on but it's not too loud with their colours um but it's a nice price point too I think the t-shirts they start at about 45 and then the sweatshirts are about ninety so not too bad.
SPEAKER_02Do you think they found some uh they hide out a nice filler in Italy and did this photo shoot or apparently so they did.
SPEAKER_00Oh really you you hit that nail on the head they definitely did that they wanted to look for kind of the white stone sort of reflecting in the clothes and things like that.
SPEAKER_02So um yeah they definitely for that you can just go down to somewhere you know down the muses of Marlebone I mean you know just head down Montague Square this that's what it looks like to me. But it looks quite cool. Go check these guys out another British brand we're trying to champion these guys and and get them off the ground so good luck to you Britt and that's probably about all we have time for oh hold on a minute no there's something else oh we missed something yes there is now hang fire let me find it here we go you can win £250 worth of modus vendi underwear it's currently trending it's number one on our site menswearstar.co.uk now I need to get your opinion on these are you in front of the internet are you yes I am in front of the internet it's like some kind of portal to another world um have you have you seen the the underwear this modus underwear yeah yeah yeah modus underwear oh yeah yeah what do you think oh wow okay right yes yes okay yeah definitely eye opening that's for sure yeah now what are you talking about yeah I mean um so they've uh they've they've probably hired out the other villa on the other side of the lake yeah I imagine they did yeah and a few paybelt or maybe a barn it looks like is involved yeah a barn and there's no Photoshop six packs these look like these dudes were in shape for a long time yeah so anyway there's still time to enter the competition go go support these guys they're supporting us they're they're supporting the website so check them out and hey why not treat yourself and and treat your missus as well I mean if you've got the kind of figure if you can cut the figure to to wear these bad boys not just for you think of think of your your poor other half right see me wearing a pair of things I might enter this are we allowed to enter I don't think we are are we maybe we're not allowed yeah thanks Bex see you later bye bye Beckloads there thank you Bex thank you Ellie Gordon thank you for listening and remember to subscribe in iTunes leave us a comment and if you want to get in touch with us it's info at menswearstyle.co.uk I'm off I'm off for another month where we'll be back and we'll be talking to another influencer stay tuned and remember it's only fashion people and you're never fully dressed without a smile
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