118 | Tees Business
LUCKY
13
Follower of fashion – Jonathon Bull
launched 13 Apparel a year ago.
Successful Hartlepool urban clothing firm
13 Apparel is approaching its first birthday
A
Tees Valley teacher is hoping that
extra homework will pay off as he
looks to make a name for a fledgling
fashion business.
Jonathon Bull has always had a keen eye
for fashion – a collection of 500 pairs of
trainers is testament to that – and despite
going down the teacher training route he
always harboured dreams of having a crack
at the clothing sector.
After carving out a successful career in
education as deputy headteacher at Holy
Trinity Church of England Primary School in
Seaton Carew, Jonathon decided to set up
13 Apparel earlier this year.
Style – sales of 13 Apparel’s urban collection,
ranging from caps and bobble hats to
t-shirts, hoodies and oversized sweaters,
have been going through the roof.
“I always wanted to get involved in
fashion before I was 30,” he said.
“I was watching The Apprentice one
night and there was a lad on who had an
idea with trainers. Something just clicked.
I thought ‘I can do that’ and I decided to
go for it. That was in January, and my 30th
birthday was in February, so I hit my first
target!”
Jonathon put his artistic flair to good use
by creating a company name and drawing
up a logo, then trawled the internet to
research fashion trends before contacting a
supplier.
“People ask me why it’s called 13 when
that’s supposed to be unlucky, but I’ve
never really bought into that. It’s proving to
be lucky for me so far.
“I had to do plenty of research before
placing my first order, the colours change
season by season and I didn’t want to just
gamble and hope it worked. The colours for
spring 2019 were white, grey and pink, so
everything I did was based around those
colours.”
His first order was for 30 baseball-style
caps and 30 t-shirts, costing him £800,
and he set about trying to spread the
word among friends and family as well as
mounting a one-man social media campaign
to divert traffic to his website.
“I wanted to start it off locally, so I tapped
into my contacts in and around Hartlepool
and people helped me out by wearing the
stuff and posting pictures on Instagram.
It wasn’t just mates doing me a favour
though, even though they might be good
friends they would have been the first to tell
me if they thought the quality wasn’t right
or if the items looked substandard.
“A couple of the Middlesbrough players,
Lewis Wing and Marcus Tavernier, got
wind of it and I also made a contact
with Savannah Marshall, the boxer from
Hartlepool. These people not only wear
clothes like the ones I’m creating, they also
have a strong influence on social media. It
all helps spread the word.”
That exposure helped Jonathon shift the
full order inside the first month, doubling his
initial outlay, and all the funds were pumped
straight back into the next order, which
included hoodies as well as a wider range
of headwear.
“The first month went far better than I
expected, but it was tough doing the job
at school from 7.30am until 6pm on an
evening, so I’ve had a lot of help. My mam
has spent hours packaging items up and
running back and forwards to the post office
to get the orders out!”
Two of Jonathon’s pals – Liam Richardson
and Lee Crowe – bought into the business
in May and they have some exciting plans.
“Things are going really well now
and we’re starting to make a name for
ourselves. We have said we won’t take
a penny out of the business in the first
three years, and everything we make goes
straight back into it so we can place bigger
orders and keep ahead of the competition
with colours and the items we offer.
“We want to be known as an exclusive
but affordable brand. They are two words
which may not sit comfortably alongside
each other, but the volume of sales we’ve
made in the first few months suggests
people are buying into it.”
For more information about 13 Apparel, visit th13teenapparel.com
or search for 13apparel on social media.