Boxfresh: Wikis

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Boxfresh was founded in 1989 by Roger Wade at the home of alternative fashion on stalls at Greenwich and Camden Markets, London when the UK streetwear movement was in full swing, under a backdrop of dance, trance, hip hop music and club culture.

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Boxfresh is a British streetwear brand created in 1989 that produces a wide range of clothing, apparel and footwear.

Story of british streetwear

Founded at Greenwich Market, Boxfresh is a quintessentially British street brand. The ‘Original British Streetwear’ aesthetic that the brand has made its own draws on sportswear and the recent history of British youth culture. When Roger Wade founded the brand back in 1989, there was plenty of sartorial fun and games to be had if you were a member of a youth tribe – punks, mods, goths, skinheads– they all had a uniform. But as for the everyone else, casualwear hadn’t evolved to anywhere near the level it’s at now. The burgeoning of British streetwear in the late 80s echoed the explosion of ready-to-wear fashion in the 60s – prior to the opening of shops like Biba and Granny Takes A Trip, British youth had had to make their own clothes if they wanted something quirky and fashionable looking – choice was incredibly limited.

Whereas now every high street has streetwear outlets and even the poshest department stores have numerous ‘street’ concessions, back in the early 90s there were just a handful of UK stores that Boxfresh could distribute to. Duffer of St.George’s first Soho shop on D’Arblay Street was one of them, yet just months before Duffer had merely been a stall at Camden market. Outlets such as London’s American Classics, Kensington Market, Hip in Leeds, Oi Polloi and Affleck’s Palace in Manchester were the signifiers of British streetwear.

‘Streetwear is essentially dressing from the trainers up; and it developed out of music – both hip hop and the rave scene,’ says founder Roger. Indeed, it was New York’s early hip-hop scene that for the first time saw trainers being donned not as sportswear, but as fashion. It’s no coincidence that the name Boxfresh (as in brand new trainers) was borrowed from NYC hip-hop lingo – 70s New York was the birthing pool of what we now call streetwear. Hip-hop pioneers such as Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaata ushered in not just a new sound but also a new mode of dress. Trainers, tracksuits, and singlets – it was the first time sports gear had been more about posing in than playing sports in.

But initially the look was about the re-appropriation of old school labels such as Adidas and Kangol rather than buying up new ones – the Supremes and Zoo Yorks weren’t even in foetal position at that point. Hip-hop style filtered across the Atlantic from the early 80s onwards, but when the UK rave scene exploded in the mid / late 80s, a new youth uniform was required. Although the rave scene – or rather, ecstasy – democratised British youth, the sloppy looking clothing sold them short. The baggy trousers, tie-dyed T-shirts and day-glo trimmings associated with the genre just don’t have the slick sartorial hallmarks of say, mod or b-boy style.

It’s difficult to visualise a time when British streetwear brands were thin on the ground, but back in the early 90s, the streetwear market was a wilderness compared to the densely vegetated landmass it is now. However, the UK fashion market changed forever when brands such as Duffer of St George, Mau Mau, Gio Goi and Boxfresh started setting up. They were in the vanguard of British streetwear and suddenly not just the ravers who’d been languishing in their dodgy day-glo, but crucially every facet of British youth had something to wear. Just like Stussy, Boxfresh came out of the street scene – and the brand maintains that heritage today. Indeed, in terms of streetwear, the American west coast had a head start on the Brits. In 1980, almost ten years before Roger Wade set up Boxfresh, Shawn Stussy first started selling screen printed T-shirts alongside surfboards in Laguna Beach, California. The infamous scrawled signature in place, he dressed a network of musicians, skaters, DJs and artists, building a brand in the process. So just as Stussy pioneered streetwear in America, Boxfresh followed suit in Britain.

1989

Founded by Roger Wade

Started sourcing classic sports, collegiate and work wear from the USA

Customised prints on vintage stock t-shirts and sweats, sold on stalls at London's Greenwich and Camden markets with Ben Joseph, Olaf Parker and Sue Denny

Boxfresh brand name created, inspired by the early hip-hop terminology for a pair of trainers being "fresh out the box"

1990

First batch of t-shirts sold to Bond in Soho, London.

Rave scene and ecstasy democratised British youth and music culture

The birth of British streetwear. Boxfresh distributes in London to Duffer of St.George's first D'Arblay Street store, American Classics and Kensington market. Also, Hip in Leeds and Oi Polloi in Manchester.

1991

Olaf and Sue leave Boxfresh to set up Burro.

Roger and Ben continue the essence of DIY fashion, long before the notion of customisation became mainstream

Boxfresh shows at the Sehm trade show in Paris alongside John Richmond's Destroy and Daniel Poole

Started selling to key Japanese streetwear accounts

Boxfresh starts wholesaling Carhartt in the UK

1992

Workwear craze and demand erupts in Europe

Boxfresh signs deal as European distributor for Carhartt

First Boxfresh London flagship store opens on Seven Dials in Covent Garden. The store becomes a destination for streetwear stocking Boxfresh, Carhartt, Penfield and Woolrich

1994

Boxfresh store becomes the first ever UK stockist of G-Star

1995

Boxfresh licensed in the USA

Ben leaves Boxfresh to head up European distribution of Carhartt

Roger moved Boxfresh to the USA and set up the brands base in Laguna Beach alongside California's first streetwear brands Stussy, Freshjive and Mossimo