BTS APRIL EDITION
Another month has passed and just like that we are heading into the second quarter of the year! As usual, April was another busy month here at Oi HQ. From new products to entirely new collections and one of our biggest social impact endeavours to date, April was filled with exciting things that as a team, we’re SO proud of! But more importantly I hope that YOU feel proud too because without you, none of these accomplishments would have been possible. Your continued support is what keeps us going, motivated and most importantly, makes so much of our social impact possible. So here’s to us, the Oi Fam and here’s to a new, exciting and inevitably jam-packed month!
But before May kicks off to a good start, let’s dive into my top highlights from April in my monthly BTS ✌️
WE LAUNCHED ANOTHER NEW COLLECTION 🎉
I don’t know about you but for me my childhood was filled with so many opportunities where I could let my imagination run wild! Whether it was playing pretend outside (and believe me I was there winning the World Cup against France alongside Zidane), spending hours building a gigantic Lego structure, and simply having the freedom and space to imagine all played a massive role in making my childhood a good one.
As we started preparing for our latest collection, The Colour Collection, we were really inspired by the importance of our childhoods and the important foundation that imagination contributes towards our adult life and our ability to dream, have vision for the future, and achieve the goals we set out to achieve. The designs you now see were intentionally created to remind each person that wears an item that they’re never too old to be young. We wanted the importance of holding on to our inner child to really hit home and to encourage people to never let go of the imagination and curiosity that kept us running around as kids.
However, above and beyond that, this collection was inspired by those who may not have access to the care-free childhoods they deserve. Let’s start with a stat: did you know that over 4.3 million children in the UK face some degree of poverty? This crazy statistic really challenged us and broke our hearts to know that these foundational years that should be filled with joy, imagination and positive memories are instead filled with worry, concern and severe lack. As we learned more about this issue, we remembered how important it is to remember that homelessness doesn’t always look like what we expect, and that sometimes it’s experienced by those we’d never imagine to be affected by it such as kids and young adults.
With this in mind, we knew we wanted this collection to not only remind us of the importance of childhood, but to restore the importance of it in the lives of those in which it is missing. To do this, we teamed up with Feeding Birkenhead’s Number Seven charity - an amazing organisation that works incredibly hard to provide relief to vulnerable individuals experiencing food insecurity - in order to help the 72 children they provide support to.
By using a portion of the proceeds from the pieces you purchase from this collection as well as teaming up with brands who kindly donated their products, we created 72 unique hampers so that each one of these kids will receive one to enjoy! This is by far one of our biggest giving projects yet and what’s been even more incredible is that we have been able to bring other companies along on the journey of giving back too. We don’t have all the answers to solving homelessness but what we do know is that the more companies and people that are up to help out, the greater an impact we can all make!
For me, one of the most important things about OutsideIn is that we make giving back a team thing. Through this collection we have been able to not only bring you, our customers, on board with us in our mission to make an impact, but we’ve been able to provide 10 incredible brands with an opportunity to give back to. We’re so excited for this collaborative effort to come together so stay tuned for more updates coming your way soon!
MAJOR PRODUCT INNOVATION IS IN THE WORKS! 👀
We have grown really quickly over the last four years and to be honest with you, the growth spurt we’ve experienced since our first few years has meant that sometimes it’s been difficult to balance creativity and innovation with production. However, this month we sat down as a team and looked at things that not only inspire us visually but things we want to produce as a brand too. Innovation is so important to us and I’m so excited to share that over the next few months you’ll get to see the fruit of some of this creativity!
As you may already know, hope is our theme for the year and you’ll get to see this a lot more clearly in the products we produce - above and beyond our classic Hope Sweet Hope items! From bold statements to one-of-a-kind illustrations and better fitting items, we have so much we cannot wait to share with you!
SUMMER PLANNING AND PLOTTING 💭
Since we started all the way back in 2016, we’ve been known as the hat company. But as we step into our 5th year (I still can’t believe we’re almost 5!), we really wanted to expand our clothing range and offer more of the products you want to see and we’re itching to create. After spending hours drawing, dreaming and designing, as well as getting feedback from you, I’m so excited to share that this summer will bring brand new products we’ve never had before!
In addition to our usual favourites like Hope Sweet Hope Sweaters and our classic Oi Fleeces and outdoor Hoodies and Sweatshirts, we’ll be adding our first-ever Oi Joggers, Oi Shorts, a custom-fit T-Shirt that has been developed by our Fashion Team, and brand new giving products that have been developed based on key input from our partner charities! It’s safe to say we have A LOT in the works and you heard it here first, folks!
This summer we’ll also be looking at the importance of community and what it means to be a part of our own special community: the Oi Fam.
So, stay tuned for all that’s to come! Trust me, you won’t want to miss it (and no, that’s not because I’m biased!)
NEW MEMBER TO OUR HOPE SWEET HOPE RANGE 👏
Hope Sweet Hope is a very special part of our range and since it first made it to our shelves a few years ago, it has continued to expand and spread a unique message of hope to all those who have worn it across the globe.
Last year we added our very first Hope Sweet Hope Hoodie and it was a major success! And this month we were so excited to add a second hoodie to the range in a bright and colourful lemon colour!
We’re excited to expand our Hope Sweet Hope Hoodie collection even further so, if there’s a colour you’re dying to see us drop, let us know in the comments below! Who knows, you could have a new one in the next few months... 👀
BRING ON MAY ✌️
As we get ready for this new month, I have to admit, I am so excited to see things starting to open up again! It’s been a tough year being separated from our team and stuck to a screen 99% of the time... BUT as restrictions start to ease and we’re able to start meeting in person, I’m really looking forward to bringing our team together again. Family is definitely better together. Plus, I think we’re all sick of Zoom calls at this point 🙃 Somebody’s gotta be with me?
I’m also keen to see the dreaming and innovation from April begin to take form as we produce new products and concepts that we can’t wait to share with you. Within these new concepts, we’ve been working hard on new ways to give back and get more people, both individuals and companies, involved in the process of doing so. We’ll share more details with you in the next few weeks but keep an eye out for some exciting announcements coming your way soon for how you’ll be able to work with OutsideIn to create clothing!
If you’re interested in starting up your own clothing brand or creating clothing for an existing brand, we may just be able to help... 👀
But more on that later!
As always, thanks so much for your support and thanks for looking back over the last month with me! So, goodbye April! And May, here we come ✌️
David
