"Being creative is more important to us than earning loads of money"

"Being creative is more important to us than earning loads of money"

SHS Introduces... YUK FUN

YUK FUN put the fun in fashion...

Who doesn't love a doodle? At SHS we have a massive soft spot for a bit of wearable art, especially when it's this damned cute. Sussex-based design duo Lucy Cheung and Patrick Gildersleeves founded their label YUK FUN in 2014, using Patrick's distinctive illustrations and Lucy's sewing skills to make "bright, colourful clothes for marvellous people."

Their graphic totes and tees have endless stories to tell, but we caught up with their pair to find out more about the guys behind the garms... 

 

What motivated you to start YUK FUN?

We wanted to work for ourselves and make stuff! Lucy had recently learnt to sew clothes and make patterns so we wanted to combine our skills to make clothes. We started the business in order to get more control over our lives and make fun new things for people to wear.

Describe your dream customer?

Creative, colourful, they love animals and dislike injustice!

What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever worn in your life?

Patrick: I used to wear a lot of colours at university. I remember going to uni one day wearing green trainers, blue trousers, a yellow T-shirt and a red trackie top.  

Lucy: Some terrible outfits during my teens. I had a khaki green button-up shirt I used to wear with massive jeans and flip flops. Don't know why.

 

What’s been your biggest fuck-up, in business or in life?

We ran a stall at a weekend festival once that was really expensive. When we got to the event we were placed in a big leaky tent in the corner of a field that no one bothered coming in to. We were also right next to a massive speaker that was blasting out music all day. On the second day half of the other stallholders didn't show up because the Saturday had been so poor. Then when we were leaving we accidentally dinked a car in the car park so we ended up paying for that as well!

 

Where do you go for mentoring and investment?

We have met lots of people through the various fairs that we have run stalls at over the years, so we talk to our peers a lot for advice. Most people can recommend decent suppliers and advise on whether an event is worth attending or not.

What’s your style of networking? 

Hmm, not sure what our style is really, but we'd say just get out there and get chatting! You've really got nothing to lose by putting yourself out there. Social media is great for shy people. We are both pretty quiet, so sharing online is a really good way to reach people.

 

How do you define success?

For us success is about earning enough to live well, but also to enjoy work. Being creative is more important to us than earning loads of money. We currently work on YUK FUN part-time, so our target is to be able to give up our day jobs and work on our own thing full-time.

Who’s your dream collab?

We'd love to collaborate with a genius animator to make a feature-length animation featuring YUK FUN characters!

Shop YUK FUN on Student High Street