An Idea

We have all been there, chatting with friends and putting the world to rights - coming up with what feels like genius ideas that are the next best thing since air fryers (don’t pretend you haven’t got one).

Well, my idea - that of garments that had their name on it, was one of them. I used to tell people, “imagine a t-shirt that has the word t-shirt on it” and used to wait for their reaction. Some would fully grasp my concept and we’d high five and rejoice in my idea, usually clinking our pint glasses. While others looked at me as if I had just described in detail a horrific way of destroying their life. Lucky for them, it was just an idea.

A Reality

The name ‘simple. panda’ is self-explanatory really - ‘simple’, because that is exactly what we do. We make plain-ish clothes with a playful twist. And the panda because of my deep love and obsession with the planet’s best animal, duh. Also, they are lots of fun and so are we so it just made sense.

Fast forward to June 2025 and my co-founder Luke and I began making this idea of mine into a reality. We acquired domains, legitimatised ourselves on Companies House, received samples and had a website. We created our socials, finalised designs and concepts and in August 2025 - we finally went live.

We started off receiving orders mostly from family and friends, who were kind enough to support our new venture and join our fittingly named ‘embarrassment’ (google it and you’ll understand why). However, we also started getting orders from strangers and now fans who are fully behind what we are doing and what we stand for.

We are proud to donate a percentage to the WWF-UK from every order to support their incredible conservation work for animals.

The Dream

Well, to continue seeing our very small clothing brand grow and one day see people walk past me wearing something I have created. We have exciting things planned, from new garments (joggers, shorts, ¼ zip, polo), to who we can get wearing our stuff. And not just because we paid them a load of cash, but because they genuinely like and care about who we are.

I am currently working alongside this to ensure I can pay my mortgage, but my end goal is to be able to do this full time. Speaking with people, making connections and just living my idea would be surreal, and a great way to spend my time in the thing we call life.

We have secured ourselves a physical location at Black Barn Farm in Salhouse, which I’d urge you to go and see to browse some fantastic independent vendors and businesses selling some quality stuff. And while you are there you can see us and place an order as you get free delivery.

The Langley Link

You’re probably wondering where the link back to Langley is in all this - and in reality it’s like one of those LinkedIn posts where someone mentions how the winners of Love Island reminds them of how to make a perfect cold call.

But in all seriousness Langley gave me the foundations when I moved onto college, the working world and my personal life. I like to think I had an intrinsic desire to work hard, but I think school amplified it.

School gave me an opportunity to meet a wide variety of people from a wide range of backgrounds, so being able to connect, share ideas and find common ground allowed me to make the network I have today with finding suppliers, assistance and support with technical things I’ve still not got a scooby on.

Langley challenged me to be bold, brave and not afraid to make mistakes. I was supported and given the chance to better myself - with that being my sole focus. I am determined to make what was an idea, which is now a reality, and what I am dreaming of - come true.

For more information on the brand be sure to follow our socials @simple.pandaUK and check out our website www.simpleclothing.co.uk.