Editors' Top Reads: News from Castore, Acid Running, The Couture Club and more...
Here are some of this week’s news and features highlights handpicked by TheIndustry.fashion team.
New ‘Voices of Retail Report’ highlights what’s needed to drive growth on UK high streets
Independent retailers are the beating heart of the UK high street and some 650 UK of them, along with 2,000 consumers, contributed insights into this report from our friends at trade shows Spring and Autumn Fair. (Have you ever been to these shows? Do go, it will blow your mind).
The report attempts to lay out a blueprint for success in today's most challenging of business environments. Much of it you may feel your know, but it's good to have your thinking validated or challenged every once in a while. Brand storytelling and community wins out over price, for instance. I guess we all know that but maybe we don't adhere to it.
There are some encouraging stats in here though, with the most uplifting being that more than 70% of independent retailers are experiencing growth or static business. I really didn't expect it to be that much, and I'm glad it is. Around 80% of consumers say they prefer independent retailers, so I guess it makes sense.
The downside is though, that while many retailers are experiencing growth, only 28% are in a position to actively invest to drive that growth. When we get a clearer idea of who our Government is in the coming weeks, I hope someone on the business side takes a look at this. A less hostile environment for businesses would be most welcome. Our economy could seriously benefit if our retailers could invest in pursuing opportunities they know are there for the taking.
Lauretta Roberts, Co-founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief.
Castore secures £90 million funding to drive UK expansion
It’s been an interesting week for premium sportswear brand Castore, its parent company J Carter Sporting Club and Belstaff, which joined the Group's portfolio in the summer of last year.
Founded in 2015 by brothers Tom and Phil Beahon, Castore works with a range of the world’s most popular sports, from football to Formula One, as well as cricket and rugby. Just last year, it signed a multi-year deal with Lancashire Cricket Club to become its official kit supplier and exclusive retail partner, for example.
Earlier this week, its parent company J Carter Sporting Club reported a 30% increase in revenue to £334.6 million in the 18 months to 3 August 2025, although losses after taxation and exceptional items also widened to £40.3 million.
The company commented that the short-term dent in profitability was due to both a "challenging macro environment" and its “long-term view of value creation and desire to continue investing in value-accretive opportunities.”
Yet it also emphasised how it had “strategically strengthened its position in a highly competitive market.”
Shortly after publishing these financial results, Belstaff, which had been acquired by Castore in August last year, announced the departure of its CEO, Kerry Byrne.
She had been in the position for a year, after spending a total of five years with the brand. In a LinkedIn post, Byrne commented on the industry’s rapid evolution, noting that margin pressures were “increasingly shaping decisions.”
Two days ago, Castore then announced that it had secured a £90 million credit facility to fund its UK expansion, with plans to also grow Middle Eastern and Asian markets.
The funding would also support Castore's target of more than £300 million in sales over the next financial year, the brand shared. It currently operates 17 stores in the UK, four in Scotland, three in Ireland, and one in Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
After a whirlwind week for Castore, clearly a lot is happening for the brand behind the scenes, and I, for one, am very curious to see how it will continue to expand, and whether this investment boost will be just what the brand needs to continue its growth trajectory and start taking on big sportswear giants like Nike and Adidas.
Camilla Rydzek, Senior News & Features Writer.
How I started in fashion: Ross Worswick, co-founder & Creative Director of The Couture Club
Ross Worswick launched The Couture Club alongside Scott Shashua in 2015, initially driven by a straightforward challenge - finding clothing that matched their personal style.
Over the past decade, the business has moved from an emerging streetwear label to established fashion brand, with distribution through retailers such as Selfridges and Flannels, alongside a continued focus on direct-to-consumer channels.
In this interview with TheIndustry.fashion, Worswick discusses the early stages of building the brand, key lessons learnt along the way, his perspective on its next phase of growth, and the figure who has influenced his approach to the industry.
Sophie Smith, News Editor & Senior Writer.
The Interview: Acid Running founder Oliver Powe on growing a cult brand, opening a new London pop-up and launching womenswear
Those forced cross-country runs at school were something to be deeply dreaded by me and the majority of my contemporaries. Of course, there were one or two who excelled - built with different lungs and stamina than most of us, I’d say. And they actually seemed to enjoy it. I never quite got that! So it was interesting to hear the thoughts of lifelong running fan and founder of cult brand Acid Running, Oliver Powe, in my interview with him this week.
Powe puts it in a clear perspective, recognising that most of us had been taught at a young age to understand running as a competitive sport, in the context of the athletics track or cross-country, so naturally only a handful of individuals will experience a positive association.
However, he says that once you reframe running as a ‘lifestyle’, where competition can sit comfortably within that, it opens up a whole world of possibilities and inclusion. That cultural shift has simply grown exponentially as people with an active or latent interest in running see an increasing number of lifestyle runners ‘out there’.
On top of that, Powe says that running has always had something of a counterculture essence, but that has been amplified in recent years. He points out that “in an attention economy that values docility and consumption over activity and participation, running has become an act of dissent”. Therefore, he says, those people with countercultural or subversive instincts have been drawn to running, knowingly or not, and that’s what they are building the Acid Running community around. Interesting stuff.
Also, good to hear that Powe originally got into running in his late teens and early 20s as a way to get fit and healthy again after being “someone who pushed it a little hard on the partying front”. He also admits he’s had quite a few injuries in the last few years, so he’s had to cut back on his own runs a bit. There’s a human in there too!
The current Acid Running pop-up, with all its latest menswear apparel - as well as womenswear launching soon - is open for business at 33 Dirty Lane in South East London’s Borough Yards. Worth checking out for those into pounding the pavements, or those thinking about joining the growing cult!
Tom Bottomley, Contributing Editor.
Janie and Jack and HATCH store marks first step in UK expansion for Go Global
Here's an interesting developing story for you all to watch. US group Go Global, which operates the Matri Group (which in turn owns the Janie and Jack and Hatch kidswear and maternity brands) has its sights set on the UK for further growth.
An experiential store containing both brands has just opened on the King's Road and the group has more openings in its sights. On the face of it with dampened consumer sentiment and spending, high rents and rates, and all manner of other challenges, the UK shouldn't be an attractive market right now. But it's precisely because it is challenging that Go Global wants to be here. It sees London as the perfect international springboard, because if it can make a go of things here, then everywhere else should be plain sailing.
Go Global is interesting in that is provides a retail platform, combining logistics, capital and data, to allow brands to build and scale. Janie and Jack and Hatch are both great and should find an enthusiastic audience here, particularly in the affluent family neighbourhood of Chelsea. I'm excited to see where it opens next and to find out if the theory about London as a global springboard hold true. I hope so.
Lauretta Roberts, Co-founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief.
