Level 3 Fashion student, Leigh Purcell aged 18 has started up his own street wear clothing company called Phame.

Previously studying A-levels, Leigh decided to join Harlow College to gain first-hand experience about fashion. ‘Without the courses help I never would have pushed myself to learn who these people were, how they came about or the ideas they pursued. I don’t own a sewing machine so I wouldn’t have been able to make labels, nothing without the college. The course, the teachers and the equipment they have provided has been key, almost quintessential in my brand existing.’

Released in March 2017, Leigh partnered with his friend, Antoine to find the best way to promote their clothing. They currently sell jumpers, t-shirts, wristbands and key rings.

He put in a lot of time to provide the best products for customers witch his recent product being fleece lined jumpers featuring pocket headphone holders. He commented: ‘It seems that not a lot is designed to last. We hand quality check everything and I hand stitch every label that goes on to each garment.’

The brand name started from the slang word ‘fam’ but it was changed to Phame (pronounced fame). He added: It’s me and my friend Antoine; it’s been just us. I came up with the ideas, what we were going to do and the methods and my friend gave support in the finances.’

The two created a motto for the brand: ‘beware the nobodies’ which will be used on their social media and website: phameclothing.bigcartel.com. He said: ‘It’s usually the people that sit in the back of the room or the people you don’t talk to. If they’re not talking, they are thinking and that’s a very important thing to keep in mind. Sometimes the people you don’t talk to are the underdogs in the game and I’ve always like that idea.’

The business produces its clothing in Sheffield and their website has worldwide shipping for one pound. He added: ‘Everything is handmade in England, nothing is exported.

‘It was made with my intentions and my colour schemes. Right now everything is black, pink or white.’

The brand is linked on Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook. He said: The more baby steps I take with this, the easier it is for me to go up. We had to become professional even though it’s been less than a year; you’ve got to move up the ladder quick.

In the upcoming years Leigh hopes to visit fashion exhibitions in Liverpool and Manchester as well as collaborate with other brands. He hopes to invest in new equipment where everything will be made in house and work on a new project linking different accessories into what he calls ‘capsules’.