Boxfresh was a British fashion label founded in 1989 by Roger Wade. The name originated from early

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

slang A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...

for a pair of

trainers Sneakers ( US) or trainers ( UK), also known by a wide variety of other names, are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but are also widely used for everyday casual wear. They were popularized by compani ...

being "fresh out of the box".

History

The first clothes produced were customised prints on vintage stock

T-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt, or tee for short) is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a '' crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shir ...

s and were sold on stalls at

Greenwich Market Greenwich ( , , ) is an area in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian ( ...

and

Camden Market The Camden markets are a number of adjoining large retail markets, often collectively referred to as Camden Market or Camden Lock, located in the historic former Pickfords stables, in Camden Town, London. It is situated north of the Hampstead R ...

, London.Newman, Cheryl (2014)
Competition: fancy shooting the next Boxfresh campaign?
, ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', 8 February 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2015 In 1991, Boxfresh clothing started to be sold in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and were licensed to the USA in 1995. In 1992, the first flagship shop was opened on Seven Dials in

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

. Its shop at Shorts Gardens was spread over three floors.Fairchild, Jill & Gallagher, Gerri (2005) ''Where to Wear 2006: London Shopping Guide'', Where to Wear, , p. 30 Between 1999 and 2004, the company's turnover increased from £2.5million to over £10million, with its products sold by over 300 retailers in the UK.Case study: Boxfresh is a fast-growing clothing company whose invoice financer has helped its exports
, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 8 June 2004. Retrieved 19 December 2015 As of 2004, 20 per cent of the company's output was exported outside the UK. Known as a 'street fashion' brand, its 2004 'Here and Now' collection was themed around "juveniles, rebels, smoking, kissing, hi rise 'sic''flats, hanging out on the street, runaway girls, untamed youth". The company used

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

-style advertising, including 'graffiti stickers' based on those used by London tagger Solo One, which were freely distributed and widely used by taggers.Ferrell, Jeff; Hayward, Keith; Morrison, Wayne; Presdee, Mike (eds.) (2004) ''Cultural Criminology Unleashed'', Routledge-Cavendish, , pp. 187-188 They subsequently did a deal with Solo One to distribute his stickers with their products. In 2001, Boxfresh used a Zapatista guerilla stencil which was sent to distributors to spread the design. The company has also sponsored dance music events. In 2005, Boxfresh was acquired by the Pentland Group.Reudenbach, Elena (2015)
Boxfresh with new showroom in Düsseldorf
, ''Sportswear International'', 25 November 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2015 In 2014, to celebrate the company's 25th anniversary, it held a series of events, raves, parties, and exhibitions, and launched the limited edition '25' capsule collection. In early 2015, the company announced that it would cease to produce clothing and would be concentrating on its core footwear products.Geoghegan, Jill (2015)
Boxfresh to drop clothing and focus on footwear
, '' Drapers'', 22 April 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2015 In December 2015, Boxfresh opened a showroom in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, Germany, which was its most successful territory outside the UK. The company's London shop appeared in several guides to London's best shops. In December 2020, the label was discontinued after a "challenging year", with a statement on its website leaving room for a possible restart at a non-specified point in the future.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.boxfresh.com Clothing brands of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1989 Clothing companies established in 1989 Retail companies established in 1989 Clothing retailers of England Clothing companies of England Clothing companies based in London