When I introduced you and your profile to the CULTED staff, I said that you guys were “the cool guys in Nottingham”. While the fashion industry is hung up on the likes of CSM and UAL, NTU has a flourishing fashion chapter with a host of talent, you guys being a great exhibit of this. How has the University, and more broadly the city itself as well as its residents, influenced your styles and outlooks on fashion?

First of all, that’s a fire question. Secondly, NTU has been at the pinnacle for allowing us to work on our creative crafts and refining our abilities to visually and verbally communicate through fashion. A lot of people sleep on Nottingham, especially when it comes to the fashion scene (maybe it’s because we aren’t north enough to be north and neither south enough to be south if that makes any sense – somewhere in the middle) but ye, Trent has been great to us and again, the city in itself we owe a lot too; from the likes of shops like HIP Store, 18montrose and Urban Outfitters we have an outlet of shops here that display a wide range of different clothes and brands that on a daily inspire us to create our virtual fits. Growing up/studying here and both coming from similar backgrounds, it was reinforced to us to take pride in our image/how We dress and for it to be okay to push boundaries in regard to style and overall expressing ourselves…as we both have similar perspectives in regard to being quite open-minded, we have always been inspired by like-minded people and want to showcase that although Nottingham isn’t the central hub for fashion, we damn right have a lot of talented, style-driven individuals situated here. 

Real quick, before we leave the last question – who do you think are the best-dressed people in Nottingham, and who else is repping NTU like you guys? In short, who are the best dressed boys in Notts saying they are the real best dressed people in Notts? Link me some profiles if need be x 

Like we said, there’s a lot of talented cool individuals repping 0115 but, if we had to select a few we can’t go without mentioning Window Kid, aka Greg… he’s been one of the best dressed out the city for the longest. For a more sophisticated style Samuel Graham is a cool cat representing the city. And here’s a few mandem representing Notts in Manny and LDN; Aaron Walker , Lew Bloyce and Cameron Jukes – Also checkout LostBoys they’re showcasing a more street aesthetic and are a collective that are repping the city and due to blow anytime soon shout out to Les Gens – a cool brand that we have had the pleasure of working with previously, and again due to take off.

Lastly, aside from fashion, big up Misrepresented by Elijah Botsie, an outlet that gives the people of Nottingham a voice on important topics, both locally & globally. In terms of NTU I have to shout out Annabelle Knott, one of their certiest creatives when it comes to art direction and photography…definitely one to watch out for. 

Let’s talk fits.jpeg. How did you come across the idea? Was it a throwaway lockdown activity you started out of boredom, or a more thought-out experiment on digital styling?

fits.jpeg started as an outlet for us during lockdown to build up our styling portfolio as we couldn’t do many studio shoots, so we thought what best to test the waters, have a bit of fun and try to put together a few virtual fits, exploring different looks, colours and brands. In an ideal world, doing physical shoots would be more desirable but with society and the younger generations being fully immersed in technology, it’s makes to us to keep on flirting with the idea of virtual styling and see where it can take us.

And the Tracksuit Preference project of yours – killer visuals by the way – could you tell me about this? How did the project come about, is it for uni, is there more to expect from the series? 

So the Tracksuit Preference lookbook came about from our research project based on exploring style/identity in tracksuit preference of male Gen Z consumers, as we see tracksuits as a rising trend. Each fit is inspired from 7 interview respondents, from all over the UK, with the quotes being illustrated throughout our lookbook.  This is an on going project so expect more from the jpeg mandem.

And looking forward, you’re both obviously at the beginnings of careers in the fashion industry, building fundamental skills through university and looking to achieve big things. What are those big things for you two? Are you looking to design, to style, to tell stories? How do you think fits.jpeg fits into that storyline? 

The biggest thing for us would be to work as a duo and become prolific stylists/art directors within the industry, putting together some certified fits, shoots and concepts not just for the mandem but for the gyaldem too. We just gotta stay productive, creative and keep bringing heat for the peoples head tops. But we think this could go beyond styling and possibly putting together our own branded agency that works alongside local creatives, designers, photographers, stylists and art directors and put forth a creative hub for the midlands area. fits.jpeg is at the start of its journey and for sure we wanna continue growing and begin to build our online presence with impactful and inspiring content.

More on CULTED

See also: MEET GARDNA, THE BRISTOL DUB ARTIST EXPLODING THE SOUND SYSTEM

See also: CULTED SOUNDS: FIXUPBOY AND THE FRESH SOUNDS OF EMO TRAP