US AND OUR THINKING

Gill Black and Shona Kydd are 2 friends who met at a Yum Cha lunch in Sydney in 2003 and hit it off immediately. Countless wine fuelled evenings in Cargo Bar sealed our friendship but it was in the much less salubrious surroundings of our true home, Hammersmith, where we decided to set up Hello Joe.

Our inspiration came from watching our fashion conscious friend Matt, don a luminous vest, in a material resembling plastic, with what appeared to be silver masking tape across the back, ready for a cycle ride along the Thames tow path. We’re still not clear why he felt he needed to be highly visible to the ducks but we did notice that these horrid vests were everywhere and decided there had to be a better way. We wanted to create something that would get people seen on the street, without making them embarrassed down the pub. Something that people would want to wear even when they weren’t riding a bike or going for a run.

We decided to design outstanding clothing – literally, starting with a range of men’s and women’s t-shirts in time for the summer – we’re optimists! We hope you like them because we have big plans for the future, including sweatshirts, waterproofs and a great children’s range, plus some things we can't share with you yet.