October is a t shirt printing, screen printing, garment sourcing and embroidery supplier established in 1990. We source a wide range of clothing and accessories to fit the most demanding of specifications. Although we print and embroider for a variety of sectors, our speciality is fashion.
With this in mind we offer a full service including garment sourcing, graphic design input, range development, technical screen print and embroidery advice, label supply, re-labelling, bagging, swing ticketing and bulk distribution.
This isn't everything. That would just be too massive, but it is a cross section of all our favourite T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoods, polos, hats etc. It's what a pretentious bell end might call a curated edit. Feel free to call us with any questions, and let us know if we left anything out.
It all started 25 years ago. Paul finished a degree in obscure eastern religions, and was surprised to find he couldn't get a job. Not a problem, a friend had a sewing machine,
Pocket T Shirts – Fashion label Joe & John’s believe that every child in the world should be entitled to an education as a basic human-right, so it was a great pleasure to welcome them to October Textiles in Nottingham to discuss pocket T shirts for their clothing brand.
A brand new product
Their revolutionary idea is a brand new product, called a Pocketbag, – a detachable pocket that attaches onto a range of different garments and bags. With regard to October’s involvement, this would be a digitally or screen printed pocket with press studs, produced in Nottingham in conjunction with a special T-shirt with corresponding press studs on the pocket area. This allows customers to wear a different pocket detail every day of the week, or throughout the day according to their mood!
Creating jobs in India
Although October Textiles will help with initial production, the long term plan is to be creating jobs in India by employing local Delhi tailors to produce the Pocketbags, providing a much needed, sustainable, fair income for local people. Joe and John will be working closely with their bag providers (and non-profit care organisations) who will help them distribute the bags, making sure they are going to the children who need them the most.
Pocket T shirts and bags – How do the children benefit?
For each Pocketbag that is purchased, a less fortunate child in India will receive a school-bag filled with the essential tools they need for the classroom, but put simply and with inspiring ambition in the words of founder Joe Vine,
‘We are not just providing school-bags, we are providing life-changing futures for those who need it most….and if for every pocket I sold I could help a child into education, that would be a start’
Each schoolbag received will be waterproof for the rainy season, made from recycled materials, and contain 3 pencils, 3 pens, a pencil sharpener, eraser, pencil case, colouring crayons, a poster, an inspiring story, and the most important school lesson of all, that it can all be fun, so they will also include a tennis ball for break time.
October Textiles will of course be lending their full support to the pocket T shirt production, and wish Joe and John all the luck in the world, starting with India!
What do we think of when we are looking for T shirt printers?
Price
Price is perhaps the first thing we consider when we’re looking for T shirt printers. How cheap will it be? The better the price, the more money we’re going to make when we sell our T shirts, and in search of the best price should we order larger quantities, or is that too big a commitment for designs which are as yet un tested, which may or may not sell. And then sometimes another little voice whispers in our ear…’If the price is too good, is it too good to be true, what about the…’
Quality?
We want the best quality, but what does that mean? One T shirt printers idea of quality is another T shirt printers idea of disaster. Do we want a T shirt to be light weight and semi fitted, heavy and fitted, light weight and oversized, heavy and square cut, is it soft, will it wear well, can it be vintage, can it be more clean and minimal, is the neck too tight, is the neck too loose, in fact…what is the best quality, and if we find it, if it exists, how will we embellish it, do we want….
Screen print?
With all its craft and its story and its multitude of textures, in the hands of the right T shirt printers, is screen print the answer with its initial set up costs and yet cheaper unit costs, will screen print give us all the water based and solvent based and discharge inks that bring our collection to life, will screen print be best if we have many colours in our image, can we screen print full colour photographs, well yes we can but do we need…
Digital print?
Without set up costs will digital print be cheaper in the long run, will digital print (direct to garment printing or digital t-shirt printing) give us every colour under the sun from our friendly neighbourhood T shirt printers, but equally will digital print set us apart, is it too easy, can anyone buy a digital print online and will we all look the same and then again, we hear of a technique to rival digital print, someone has told us about…
Sublimation
Sublimation, what does that even mean? Sounds almost like subjugation and yet it’s not, though some say we can have infinite colours again, and a soft texture sounds nice, and large format images, and yet to use a sublimation print we must have polyester based garments and do we want that from our T shirt printers, do we not prefer 100% cotton, we’re not sure, especially if our printer offers us…
Litho transfers
Or even screen printed transfers….litho transfers, screen printed transfers, amazing brochure quality detail, but did our T shirt printers tell us that that we may get a more papery feel and do we want that? We’re not sure that we do perhaps, and what if any of the above might work well as…
Embroidery
Our T shirt printers offer embroidery, but does that mean they’re as good at embroidery, or is it an afterthought they’ve bolted on…at heart, are they really T shirt printers or embroiderers, in fact will they even do it in house, or take our cash and give the embroidery to a bloke…
Down the road
Are my T shirt printers down the road, and does that matter? Well no, but if they’re not down the road will they invite us into their secret space to see all their screen printing equipment, will we be able to be there and watch them when they are printing so we’re sure we’re getting what we want, so we don’t just wait for a box to arrive and it’s a whole big box of disappointment… will they give us tea, and coffee, and help, and what happens if we feel a bit emotional?
What do we think of when we are looking for T shirt printers?
T shirt printers – Is it people who in another time and place, and under different circumstances, we think we might just call friends?
T shirt printing London. Where did it all begin? In terms of graphic style, slogan and message based T shirt printing was an early starter, with some of the first ideas appearing in Mr Freedom in the 60’s, a shop on the King’s Road, not so far from our Lotts Road office in Chelsea, London.
T shirt printing London, three words that have long been closely associated
Mr Freedom was the brainchild of visionaries Tommy Roberts and Trevor Myles, and early work was based on Disney designs featuring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
Then came the 70’s, and we all know what happened next, when T shirt printing London meant one thing, the shock tactics of a certain Vivien Westwood and Malcom McLaren, with T-shirts acquiring a political undercurrent, and flying out the door of their famous London shop. How far can we push T shirt printing? How about a swastika and an upside down crucifix next to the word DESTROY. If there was ever a T-shirt synonymous with Punk Rock, this was it.
As kids without a bus ticket to Chelsea, yes we’re that old, we would make paper stencils and try and re create these classics on the kitchen table…more T shirt printing Nottingham than T shirt printing London, but it was our best effort, and the fact that they were pretty ropey, with the odd unintentional splat of ink here and there, merely fuelled the Punk DIY ethos. It also guaranteed you a good smack round the head when your Mum got home to find you’d washed your screen out in the bath.
Katherine Hamnett hammered the T shirt printing London association together completely in the 80’s, with like the ‘58% don’t want Pershing’ that she wore when meeting Margaret Thatcher during London fashion week in 1984. It wasn’t long before Wham jumped on the slogan bandwagon with ‘Number One’ and ‘Choose Life’, with Frankie Goes To Hollywood right behind them if you’ll pardon the expression, and that oh so famous ‘RELAX’ T shirt.
To round off this fascinating history lesson, let’s remember Henry Holland and bring us up to 2006, with his pop at the fashion industry, with “Do Me Daily Christopher Bailey”, “Cause Me Pain Hedi Slimane” and “Get Your Freak On Giles Deacon”. Agyness Deyn his model friend was kind enough to sport these for him, and they were worn by the designers Gareth Pugh and Deacon when they waltzed down the catwalk. Allegedly, his designs were copied by Top Shop and New Look; no not copied, more inspired by, to go on and produce something of that genre.
T shirt printing London….goes together like Mick, Joe, and Paul….and Topper…
Your worries are over, thesecret of happiness, it’s all sorted, they’ve figured it out, and you can go back to bed.
After extensive research and countless bags of tax payers’ money, the scientists somewhere up a Norwegian fjord have done something useful for once, and rather than inventing a new wax that helps us to ski backwards, they have gone balls out and discovered the secret of happiness.
The secret of happiness is not as some of the poor and deluded suspected, oh no: it’s not a 1954 Mercedes 300 SL Gull Wing, in silver, with a gently worn and unrestored deep red leather interior – stuff that, we don’t want one of those; the secret of happiness is not that fisherman’s cottage on the outskirts of St Tropez, the one with fading but still cobalt blue shutters, orange tree littered gardens and a sun baked pan tiled roof, vines aplenty, rustic breads, and a slow cigarette on the jetty…you know, the one that can only be reached by your Italian Riva boat, all dark wood, understated power and the promise of ambassadorial arrival – sod the Cote d’Azur. Nor is it not a Russian ballet dancer called Nikita, who can do an unusual trick with the banana she keeps stuffed up her tights , or a Californian easy rider called Brad, all tanned, dripping with poetry, and happiest when hoovering naked.
Far from it, and none of the above – the secret of happiness is in fact – managing expectations. Not hoping for too much, and keeping one’s powder dry…etc.
And in a funny sort of way, isn’t managing our expectations at the heart of running a successful clothing brand?
It would be quite normal for hopeful new brand owners to assume, that because they have a mate, who knows a bloke, who once sold Jonny Depp a stick of eye liner, that they should be on a rocket ship to fashion superstardom. Or that because they have a social media following of well over 100, that every time they post a picture of what they’re having for dinner they’d better wolf down those fish fingers sharpish, and stand by the lap top waiting for it to catch fire with orders.
The secret of happiness is not hoping too hard for the above to happen overnight…and perhaps in the top five reasons for the failure of any clothing brand, we might be expecting too much too soon.
The secret of happiness is, perhaps, not worrying too much if you don’t sell any T-shirts week one?
The classic American t-shirt. Already early in the 20th century they were popularised across America as cheap mass produced underwear through mail order catalogues like Sears & Roebuck and Montgomery Ward. As such they became part of the standard dress of the US army and navy. Through numerous World War II movies the classic American T-shirt acquired a distinct image. It became associated with being at ease, of being unconcerned about class conventions, of being workmanlike and democratic. Most of all it stood for youth, toughness and masculinity. These war movies also initiated a shift in the potential of the classic T-shirt as clothing. Originally meant as an undergarment, apparently it could also be used as a casual outer garment.
T-shirts are classic American artefacts.
In the 1950’s this image of the T-shirt was transported to Europe by movie icons such as Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift and James Dean. In crossing the ocean, however, the meaning of the classic American T-shirt was transformed, or to be more precise, another strong ‘European’ message was added to the T-shirt; that of American-ness. It shared this post war association with America with other iconic consumer items like Coca-Cola, streamlined cars, and bubble gum. As such it became part of a fierce controversy over the feared demise of European culture in the onslaught of American superficiality and materialism. Probably because of this, the classic American T-shirt became an ideal trademark for angry young authors like the Dutch writers Jan Cremer and Jan Wolkers. European rebels with or without a cause adopted it together with blue jeans, signifying youth culture as a protest against the established morality of their parents’ bourgeois society. Paradoxically, left wing anti-American protestors who demonstrated in the capitols of Europe against the Vietnam War therefore could be dressed in the very T-shirts and blue jeans that were iconic for the American way of life!
The 1980’s, Classic American T-shirt and it’s transformation.
Then in the 1980’s the use and meaning of the classic American T-shirt went through another transformation. Its potential as a messenger – carrying texts and logos of all kinds – enabled it to be used as a means of corporate and individual expression which was exploited by small printing industries. As before the T-shirt could be used in an iconoclastic way, but its American associations had faded, as had its symbolisation of youthful protest. We could say that the classic T-shirt was being localised, becoming part of numerous local subcultures of expression that could not easily be transferred to other places. The famous T-shirt print shop in the Damstraat in Amsterdam featured artist-designed, subversive, often scabrous prints that amazed tourists as ‘typically Amsterdam’ and that probably wouldn’t be tolerated in public elsewhere.
The Classic American T-shirt – ubiquitous casual wear.
The lesson of the American Classics Apparel history is that mass consumer goods – even though they might be introduced from elsewhere and initially be alien to a particular cultural world – often will be transformed in unexpected ways to new local cultural meanings. The basic uniformity of the Classic American T-shirt as dress all over the world really is a mirage. In the modern world the Classic American T-shirt has become ubiquitous casual wear. But wearing it does not necessarily associate us anymore with classic American T-shirts, youth culture, rebellion, or hard work. In anthropological parlance, it has been appropriated as a versatile vehicle for local identity construction. Or in other words, we have ‘captured’ the T-shirt from its former ‘alien’ classicAmerican t-shirt symbolism, and transformed it into a pluriform garment that we experience as truly our own.
October screen printOlivia Rubin collection who launches her first womenswear line after graduating from the world-renowned Central Saint Martins College in London.
Her screen printed final collection was chosen for the prestigious press show and won immediate attention from the press who cited her printed designs as one of the ‘standout collections’.
Rubin carried out placements with couturier Jacques Azagury, Tristan Webber and Jade Jagger. Her persistence and enthusiasm scored her work with Alexander McQueen, Dior and John Galliano in Paris, where she assisted with Galliano’s main line collections, designing prints that were chosen for his womenswear lines.
When Olivia decided to branch out alone her SS07 and SS08 collections were short listed for the Fashion Fringe Award Scheme and gave her the platform to exhibit her designs at London Fashion Week. AW09 saw Rubin’s first highly anticipated catwalk show in association with On/Off at the Science Museum.
The label has become known for Olivia’s signature graphic screen print, (including the renowned brick screen print) on a variety of simple yet feminine silhouettes. It is her outstanding prints that have lead to numerous collaborations including ASOS, Very.co.uk, my-wardrobe.com, The Dune Group and most recently her range with Dorothy Perkins that was successfully sold worldwide.
Olivia has also started collaborating outside of the fashion world. She has worked with Proctor and Gamble on a range of printed scarves for Bold 2 in 1, Gigaset on a new marketing campaign and is currently the brand ambassador of the beauty brand Dove. Olivia Rubin’s focus on colour and print has made her the perfect partner to headline these campaigns.
Olivia has built a strong industry presence featuring regularly in leading British fashion titles including Grazia, Instyle, the Times and Vogue and continues to dress a list of celebrity fans including Cheryl Cole, Lily Allen, and Fearne Cotton, for whom October screen print the below brick sweat for Fashion Targets Breast Cancer.
A responsibility for brand history…is the phrase that comes to mind when screen printing for one of England’s longest surviving clothing brands.
Sunspel was founded in 1860 by Thomas Arthur Hill, who was born at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in 1822, the 11th of 12 children. His father John was a hosiery maker, and Thomas followed him into the hosiery and lace trade.
Steam Power – Apart from the occasional emission from the works bathroom, steam is not widely found at the October Textiles factory these days, (outside of tea manufacturing), but back in those days it was about to make massive change, with the textile industry being one of the first to embrace this new technology. Thomas was at the heart of this, and his vision was clear, ‘to create simple, everyday clothing from beautiful fabrics’ and this continues to be the Sunspel philosophy today.
T-shirts – considered more in those days perhaps as a luxury undergarment, but prior to Marlon Brando re-styling them as an outerwear piece in the film a Streetcar Named Desire, it was Sunspel who made some of the first ever T-shirts.
Sunspel Fabric Printing sample
No pressure then – Well yes actually, it is, but a nice one…screen printing for the company that in 1947 introduced the boxer short to Britain, that launched its success by supplying Nick Kamen with the pair worn in 1985 for the Levi’s 501 advert…
“Before the boy in the launderette, nobody wore boxers. Almost overnight, men who would once have seen boxer shorts as stuffily old-fashioned were buying boxers in their droves. And ever since, a pair of white cotton Sunspel’s has been the boxer of choice of those in the know.” Robert Elms, Style Journalist and Author
And screen printing for a company like Sunspel who in 2006 developed the Riviera polo shirt for Daniel Craig in Casino Royale…
“I have dressed so many different characters in film and theatre in Sunspel because they are classic, timeless and beautifully made. With Daniel Craig as the new Bond, I thought it would be a perfect collaboration of quality and Britishness to ask Sunspel to create all his t-shirts, polo shirts and underwear. He looks very sexy and happy in their clothing.”Lindy Hemming, Award Winning costumier
And hence, the pre-production fabric testing, often onto specialist double twist Egyptian yarns that we need to get right.
Testing, testing, testing – once printed with water based inks to ensure a really soft handle (there’s no point in having a lovely soft fabric with a chunky print) the knitted fabric samples are then tested at a variety of temperatures to ensure that the ink has all cured properly, without the heat from the textile dryers having altered any of the garment colours or textures…pushes flat cap back on head, removes pencil from behind ear, and makes useful production notes.
History – nestled here in the October factory at the foot of Malin Hill, and still in the heart of the Lace Market he would have known and loved so well, we hope that Thomas Hill looks down from the great production floor on high, and 155 years later, still sees his garments being made and printed here in Nottingham.
In spite of an allergy to truffle oil, coffee shop anxiety over what will happen if we order a ‘skinny ginger’, and a tendency to slap anyone uncertain on the correct use of ‘please’, ‘thank you’ and ‘excuse me’, October Textiles have opened a London Office, on Lots Road in Chelsea.
London customers visit the October factory most days, and there is no substitute for a good look at the full production facility when working on a new collection, but we understand, that getting trapped in the road network may mean you never see your family again; a train may require a re-mortgage to get you three stops down the line; and in the absence of a helipad at our Nottingham HQ, we sometimes need to come to you.
This will enable us to cover all the important considerations at the outset.
What will be the consistent graphic delivery values of that story, that enable us to create a recognizable, signature look?
Will we be heritage, or contemporary, street or couture?
How will we make our collection ‘look like a proper brand’?
Where will we market our range, and to whom? Internet, wholesale, or retail?
In a hugely competitive market place, do online sales generate good return for SEO investment?
How long do those sales take to realize?
Is wholesale a viable option, are independents supporting new brands?
Should we work towards opening our own store?
And how do we fund all of the above?
These and many more questions can be quietly considered at the edge of Chelsea harbour, before we then move onto the production detail…165 or 185 gram jersey fabric, loop fold, end fold or hot cut labels…a high definition badge, screen print or digital, water based, solvent based or discharge ink…and what about swing tickets, and packaging?
If that sounds of any interest, then we look forward to seeing you smoke side…you’ll know it’s us, we’ll be drinking English Breakfast Tea.
Screen print is important (We would say that wouldn’t we, after 25 years bang at it), as is the correct choice of T-shirt, the right garment labels, lovely swing tickets and interesting ink techniques.
But for us it’s always been about the story that we tell through the designs, where possible taking us on a journey of ideas to a special place, probably Narnia…the notion that good graphic design, is intellect made visible, without which we are merely a bunch of pictures. After many discussions in the back rooms of Clerkenwell, with the much bearded, drop crotch chino’d, and ballet shoe’d genius that is Dr Gregory White, we feel we have concocted a brand beverage packed with story, the Roux story….this takes time, and the commitment to not rush into worrying about garment cuts and print techniques at the outset…we will wait until we’re ready to take the right design direction – in this case to go on a trip where we are…
DONE (with the old designs)
This is the first collection of three designs, which refer to the story we are leaving behind. Expect to see screen print here which make reference to T-shirts we have seen many times before…a graphic representation then that metaphorically, we are ready to leave our old self behind, whatever that means to the individual and their own interpretation. There is no desire to criticise what was here, we love a little heritage print on a vintage T shirt, it is merely the idea that we are ready to…
CHANGE (we may lose a few of those old t shirts)
This is our next movement through screen print to a new story, where T-shirt designs will begin carry the idea that a Leopard can change its spots….we have not made this movement yet, but we are saying it can be done, there is encouragement to go in whatever direction you choose, perhaps good or bad…there is no preaching in this part of the story…we are trying to find the confidence to make…
MOVEMENT (through the magic of screen print)
A collection of T-shirt designs appear here that tell us we are on the move, we have not just embraced the idea that we are done, that we can change, but are doing something about it, we are on the road with Roux to a new story, and if we’re lucky we may arrive at a place where we say…
WE ARE ROUX (this is our new story)
Four screen print T-shirt designs in this section, to illustrate an arrival at a new story, whatever you choose that to be…we have decided that we are DONE with the old ways, we have taken on board the idea of CHANGE, we have made the MOVEMENT and…..WE ARE ROUX
American Apparel Athletic football jersey, now available from October Textiles…
Whether you’re interested in them to wear for actually being athletic or as a football jersey, October Textiles are pleased to welcome the American Apparelathletic football mesh T-shirt.
Whether you’re interested in them to wear for actually being athletic, rather than complaining that you lost because it was a bit hot and your socks were too itchy, or as a fashion piece, we’ve tested them out in the October laboratories and find them to be nicely fitted, with a slick sleeve and shoulder section, twinned with a breathable poly mesh torso….they also come as a full on, all over aertex tea bag, in various T-shirt and vest styles. There is also an all in one aertex ‘jock’ undergarment — pictures available on request.
As with much of the American Apparel offering they work very nicely as a unisex item, so a warning goes out to our male friends to watch out for pilfering girlfriends…the usual rules apply; wear four times in a row to play indoor five a side football without washing, leave in a kitbag for a week, and create an impregnable force field around your favourite T-shirt.
While we’re on the subject of football, and should you be in any doubt, please see below what it looks like when an international manager actually gives a shit….
An original athletic mesh T-shirt. Lightweight, tailored to fit, with a pocket-less design. Featuring a ribbed neckline in contrast and matching colors.
Top – 100% Polyester construction
Torso – 100% Polyester Athletic Mesh construction
Size S is Approximately 23.62″ (60cm) in total length
October Textiles are pleased to screen print again for Digital Soundboy, and their major players Shy FX and B. Traits. Solvent based plastisol prints keep it sharp and clean onto American Apparel 2001 T shirts, for a nice soft feel fabric and semi fitted garment. The range features their screen printed classic logo T-shirt, Milky Bar T, and a bright floral print design now the sun has been bothered to turn up for a while.
We don’t pretend to understand every beep and whistle, but as you can see, they surely do…
Shy FX’s debut record was “Jungle Love”, released in 1992 on the Permission to Dance label. Soon after, he signed to Sound Of The Underground Records (often abbreviated as S.O.U.R.) and in 1994 released the breakthrough ragga jungle track “Original Nuttah” (featuring vocals from MC UK Apache) which helped to cement his position as a mainstay producer of the jungle/drum & bass scene.
Throughout his career, he has collaborated with T Power, both as Ebony Dubsters and Shy FX and T Power; their 2001 breakthrough track “Shake Ur Body” with vocalist Di was a number 7 hit in the UK Singles Chart. Released on EMI subsidiary Positiva, it gained widespread support from both club and commercial radio DJs and helped to further popularize drum & bass as a mainstream music genre.[1]
The success of “Shake Ur Body” was followed by the duo’s album Set It Off, released in 2002 on Pete Tong‘s label F.F.R.R.. Several EPs and single releases followed; by 2005, Shy FX had made the decision to consolidate his releases onto his own label and founded Digital Soundboy Recordings. In collaboration with T Power, they subsequently released the albumDiary of a Digital Sound Boy on 17 October 2005, featuring the songs “Feelings”, “On The Run” and “Plastic Soul”. Shy FX and T Power also released “Don’t Wanna Know” featuring Di and MC Skibadee. The song was notably used on the UK television programmeSoccer AM as part of the ‘Skills Skool’ feature.
More recently, he produced “Raver” featuring Kano, Donae’o and Roses Gabor, plus the UK artist Yasmin’s first single, “On My Own”. He announced that his album, Larger Than Life, was originally scheduled for a 2011 release but has since been renamed Cornerstone and doesn’t have a fixed release date.
DJ Fresh’s single “Gold Dust” was re-released, with the Shy FX Re-Edit as a single, on 2 December 2012. The extended play includes multiple new remixes.
In 2013, he released a single called “Soon Come” featuring Liam Bailey, famous for his collaboration with Chase & Status on their track “Blind Faith“. The song reached number 55 in the UK Singles Chart.[4] He also released the single “Cloud 9” in 2013, a collaboration with Ms. Dynamite.
Digital Soundboy label
Williams and T Power (Marc Royal) started the Digital Soundboy label in 2005,[5] initially releasing their own material but quickly expanding to include the artists Visionary, Benny Page and Breakage. The label subsequently grew its genre coverage to the point where its discography includes electro, drum & bass, jungle, dubstep, house and UK funky releases from dozens of artists. All releases are observable as being in Digital Soundboy’s “house style”, as is the case with most drum & bass/dubstep labels.
Noted dubstep producers Skream, Benga and Caspa have all released tracks on DSB, as have drum & bass/dubstep crossover artists Breakage, Calibre, DJ Fresh and Redlight (a.k.a. DJ Clipz).[6]
B.Traits was born in Nelson, British Columbia.[1] In 2004, at the age of 18, she moved to Vancouver, where she started to make a name for herself at clubs such as Automatic, the longest running drum & bass club night in Canada, and soon began picking up regular bookings throughout North America and Europe. In 2006, she met drum & bass pioneer and founder of Digital Soundboy, Shy FX while on the World of Drum n’ Bass tour, and in September 2007, was recruited by Shy to become the first Digital Sound Girl.[2] On 23 March 2012, she released her debut single “Fever“, which features vocals from Elisabeth Troy. She went on to host her own monthly “In New DJs We Trust” show on BBC Radio 1.[3] Her first live show of the programme was on 3 May 2012. From 10 September 2012 she started hosting another BBC Radio 1 show which aired on Mondays, 2am till 4am, also simulcast on BBC Radio 1Xtra. From May 2013 until September 2013, she covered for Annie Mac on BBC Radio 1 on Friday and Sunday evenings, while Mac was on maternity leave.[4] Subsequently, she moved to her current slot on Tuesday mornings from 2am until 4am. As of September 2014 she will move to the Friday night line up on BBC Radio 1, 1am until 4am starting September 1st 2014.
Acme Whistles are the oldest and most famous whistle manufacturers in the world.
They have been designing, innovating and producing their wares since 1870. Originally started in the back yard workshop of founder Mr. Joseph Hudson’s end-terrace home, today they are nestled in the heart of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. In the days when a whistle was the most effective way of communicating from a long distance Acme quickly developed a reputation of creating the best products on the market, In some cases completely creating the market. The Policeman’s rattle was replaced when Hudson invented his ACME Metropolitan, the first Bobbie’s whistle in the world.
The archives house more than 40 patented designs developed over the company’s illustrious history. With specific designs for the Police, train guards, scouts, shepherds, bird callers, hunters, people hailing a taxi and for us, most notably referees.
1884 saw Hudson’s Acme company launch the first whistle aimed at sporting referees, the ACME Thunderer. Before it’s release, referees would shout their instructions to the players across the pitch. With the power and precision of the new whistle, it quickly established itself as the referee’s weapon of choice. Since inception the Thunderer has been used everywhere from Sunday league to the World Cup.
In 1966 a Swiss referee, by the name of Gottfried Dienst, used the ACME Thunderer N58 model following the famous words ‘they think it’s all over’ to signal the end of the World Cup Final between England and West Germany. This sporting heritage and that specific whistle were the basis of this season’s collaboration project between Peaceful Hooligan and The ACME Whistle Company.
The limited edition collaborative series of 4 illustrated t-shirts are inspired by Acme’s extensive archives and sporting heritage, referencing vintage advertising, catalogue artwork and 1960s branding. Together with the t-shirt, which is hand screen printed in England, the pack includes a bespoke dual branded replica of the 1966 ACME Thunderer N58 whistle and a presentation drawstring bag.
This collaboration series will be available exclusively online from peacefulhooligan.co.uk on Wednesday 11th June. Sign up to the mailing list at the bottom of the page and ‘Run With Us’ below to make sure you don’t miss out.