Nottingham fashion brand adds extreme edge to casual wear

Head to the glorious ski slopes of either France or Italy and you'll see stylish sportswear at its best.

But now you no longer need a jet-setting excuse to wear fashionable piste clothing – an up and coming Nottingham brand is giving it a casual and urban edge.

Designed by two local friends, Ullr & Skade provides a range of printed tees, sweaters, beanie hats and jewellery for both men and women.

Co-owned by Nick Radjabi and Ashley Davidson, the brand is currently available

online but the pair hope to soon stock it in independent boutiques across the city.

Nick, who heads up the designing side of the business, says: "The brand was launched two years ago. Me and Ashley went to Trent College together when we were younger. I then went to study music technology at university in Leeds and he went to Reading.

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"We then both moved back to Nottingham and he did a ski season in France. He saw the skiers wearing these big stylish T-shirts and sweaters and it inspired him.

"We thought we would take it away from the extreme sports side of things and make it more casual."

After completing university, Nick, 24, of West Bridgford, took up a job at House of Fraser, in the Victoria Centre, and says his experience in retail gave him the kick that was needed to launch his own label.

"I was uninspired by the brands I was working with. I wanted to inject my personal style into the clothes and I've always been interested in men's fashion. It started off as a side project and then it grew," says Nick, who now works at Boots opticians, in Castle Boulevard.

"Ashley, of Keyworth, is very good at the business side of things. He's good at talking to people and negotiating. I'm more creative and I like to do the designing and imagery."

As modelled in the pictures by friend Matt Turnbull, Nick has designed a range of

T-shirts and sweaters in grey, black, blue and white as well as unisex silver jewellery.

Prices range from £30 for a logo T-shirt, £40 for a printed sweater and £45 for the long silver arrow necklace.

"We started off just doing the basics but I'd like to do a proper collection for next summer. I want it to be Los Angeles themed, so think pinks and yellows with palm tree prints.

"The idea from the start was skiing and skating stuff but now I want to see it as more casual wear rather than sport.

"The clothes could appeal to anyone but it's mostly teenagers to young adults."

The products are currently printed by October Textiles, in Canal Street, with the jewellery also hand-carved and moulded in the city.

Giving a helping hand with the brand is former Nottingham Trent University fashion design student Joanna Griggs, who aids Nick in the use of design programmes and transferring his ideas into reality.

"We would like to keep the heritage of the brand local but it can get quite expensive. We might look into going abroad to keep the costs down, but for now I'm enjoying doing it locally.

"The jewellery is quite new to the company with rings, necklaces and accessories. We've got hopes to expand it."

And the name? "It's a Scandinavian name. Ullr is the name of a Norse god meaning God of Winter Games. I wanted to have that as part of the branding because it's all about the outdoors and confidence.

He adds: "The logo is an arrow to not only represent the mountains of Scandinavia and that way of life, but also link to Nottingham's heritage with Robin Hood."

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