F E AT U R E
Psyche
-otherapy!
Teesside fashionista Steve Cochrane takes to the couch to reveal
his innermost thoughts about his thriving business…
WOR D S: A DA M ST E E L
PI C T U R E S: C HR I S B OOT H
S
people going out of the shop buzzing like mad because they
teve Cochrane is in triumphant mood as we sit down
have just bought a load of things they really like.
in the boardroom of his flagship Middlesbrough
“And I love going to the new fashion shows and seeing all
premium fashion store Psyche. He’s just recovered from
the new things for the next season.
a hangover, although he’s doing a fine job of disguising it.
“I go to the Pitto Uomo fashion show in Florence all the
The genial Psyche supremo turns 60 next April – not that
time and you hear other retailers complaining about having
you can tell that either, as he looks much younger and has
to attend another one.
the room-filling presence of a motivational speaker.
“I find that weird. What’s not to like about being at a
Steve is not-so-fresh back at his Linthorpe Road
fashion show in Florence?”
headquarters from a midweek trip to
It’s difficult to see where Steve
London, where the champagne flowed
starts and Psyche stops, the two are
as Psyche won yet another award in
so entwined.
the UK fashion Oscars.
Yet whatever he does, the father-
You name it, Psyche have won it –
of-three does it with vigour and
GQ magazine’s Best Menswear Shop
energy.
and FHM’s Retailer of the Year. They’ve
That extends to keeping fit during
even finished runner-up to Harrods
his rare free time to ensure his spirit
in the Department Store of the Year
- if not so much his body these days
stakes.
- remains as healthy as his multi-
And such is their envied reputation
million pound business.
that the 2018 Drapers Award for
- STEVE COCHRANE
“I’m not a big TV watcher. You
Menswear Independent of the Year
are watching other people do things,
is the latest addition to the trophy
instead of doing them yourself,” he says.
cabinet.
“I’ve always been into sport, and if it was a choice between
For proud Teessider Steve, what he does is a labour of love
mountain biking at Dalby Forest or going to watch the Boro,
in a part of the world he loves.
even though I love the Boro and we do their suits, I would
It has all quite literally been more by design than accident
rather go mountain biking.
that he and Psyche continue to be trendsetters – 36 years
“I’ve done the Great North Run 20 times, the London
after he started out in Redcar with Sliced Tomatoes, a small
Marathon, and used to do the Middlesbrough 10k every
punk and new wave clothes shop which his own parents
year, but I’m starting to get arthritis in my spine and knees
advised against opening.
now so can’t run.
“Passion is a word I like to use for us, and I absolutely,
“But, if you don’t look after yourself, you fall off a cliff,
totally and utterly love what I do,” Steve tells Tees Life with
don’t you?”
his trademark enthusiasm.
Steve’s love of clothes and lust for life means Psyche – fast
“I don’t want to say if you love what you do you never
approaching the 40-year mark – still sits at the top of the
work a day in your life.
fashion mountain, although he bristles at the mere mention
“There are a lot of hours and late nights involved, but I
of the ‘F-word’.
love everything about my job and it varies infinitely.
“I hate the word fashion, to be quite honest,” he >>
“I still love to see a well-made garment, and love to see
“I hate the word
fashion, to be quite
honest,” he explains.
“I prefer to call it
clothing."
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