Who the FOX are you?

Congratulations, you found us! Now who the fox are we and why should you buy from us?

Currently we are a one-man operation; I do this in my spare time while I juggle a full time job. Standard office 9-5, soul sucking, boredom inducing job, but it pays the bills, so it’s not all complaints. In whatever spare time I have I’m here, doing this. Design decisions, ordering materials, delivery driver, marketing, invoices, order processing, tea making and anything else you can think of, I probably do that too.

So why Big Fox?

I, like so many others these days, am a larger fella due to my love of alcohol and shovelling food into my face. I don’t make excuses for my size and neither should you. I’m fat and I’m ok with that and if other people have a problem with it, it’s just that, their problem.

One of the perks of being a big man is the endless joy of scouring shops and the internet for some material that covers those lumps and bumps and still looks good. My problem has always been that I find something I love but surprise, surprise they don’t do anything larger than a 2XL, if you’re lucky. I don’t mind a slim fitting shirt, but I wish the fashion industry would stop expecting men who are 2XL to look like The Rock when we look more like James Corden. If you’re going to offer a slim fitting 2XL, then do some bigger sizes for us to slide our bellies into, so we can look good as well.

In the end I thought f*ck it, if no one else is going to do it, then why don’t I? That’s where we come in! The first thought was for a plus size men’s range but that quickly changed to an all-inclusive range. If I wasn’t going to offer small sizes, then I’m no better than any other fashion brand not offering larger sizes.

Then came the name, Big Fox. I wanted something to reflect what we do but still be somewhat marketable. So, we are Big Fox, for big f*cks. Embrace your size and don’t give a fox what anyone else says. Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength, then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it and it will never be used to hurt you.

Why should I buy from you?

Great question and one that can only by answered by you. I can give you the information as to why you should but what you do with that information is your choice.

1. We’re based in the UK, Newcastle specifically and we try and source all our materials from the UK, local to the north east if possible. I can’t guarantee everything is from the UK but I sure as hell will try. Fabric is sourced from a UK company and always will be but at times it may be small things like a label or button where it’s just not viable but we will try to be as transparent as we can.
2. The manufacturing is done in the UK. We use a small independent manufacturer close to home who try and use staff that have been out of work for some time. Mainly older women who have usable skills but because of the skillsets they have and their age they find it more difficult to find work.
3. We use models who look like real people. If you’ve had a look round, you’ll see that our model is not what you’d typically see. That’s me! Research shows that most people want to see real people modelling clothes. No one ever looks like the models in the adverts so how can you judge what something will look like on someone who’s not ripped to shreds with washboard abs? I’ve got a great set of man boobs and a gut to match, that’s what real people look like whether you like it or not. 61% of adults in the UK are overweight so why do we try and hide it?
4. We promote body positivity and mental health. There are some great things happening around body positivity at the moment but if you look the majority of this is for women. That’s great and so it should be happening, but men suffer too and because we are not as vocal about it, then it’s not seen as a big as a problem that it actually is. There lies the issue, silence. Men need to open up more. Suicide is still the biggest killer in men under 50s and that’s just ridiculous. I can guarantee that someone you know is suffering and more than likely you don’t even know. The stigma around mental health is slowly breaking down but so much more can be done. We want to shout it from the rooftops. Help is out there but the first step is to admit to yourself that you need help.

I could ramble on for days and I’m sure there’ll be more posts but for now I think that’s quite a lengthy introduction and congratulations if you made it this far. The last thing I’ve got to say is, go buy some stuff! You owe it to yourself to look and feel good.