October 22, 2025 |
Music has always pulsed through the heart of Nicholas Daley’s eponymous brand. The child of Maureen and Jeffrey Daley, whose grassroots club night, The Reggae Klub, travelled across Scotland in the ‘70s and ‘80s, Daley’s workwear-inspired silhouettes regularly feature details that nod to his family’s musical history. In turn, the brand has become a regular feature on the backs of DJs and artists across the UK and beyond. During the summer, for example, Daley collaborated with house legend Theo Parrish and Peckham’s Gala Festival to create a capsule merch drop, whilst Leon Bridges walked his first Met Gala carpet dripped out head-to-toe in custom Daley.
This continuous dialogue between fashion and music is something also embraced by Carhartt WIP, the latest brand to collab with Daley on a 13-piece capsule. A brand beloved by musicians across the globe, with everyone from Eazy-E to Moodymann pledging their allegiance, Carhartt WIP’s dedication to endorsing local music scenes mirrors Daley’s with striking similarity. Dalston’s NTS Radio, for instance, has enjoyed support from the streetwear label since the beginning, with Daley himself appearing on various radio shows across the years. Aligned in their approach, the pieces on offer balance Daley’s utilitarian sensibilities and Carhartt WIP’s subcultural heritage with deft flair. Drawing from a colour palette featuring rich blues, muted greens and mustard yellows (a reference to Daley’s dual Scottish-Jamaican heritage), the offering roots itself in classic Carhartt WIP silhouettes like the chore coat and double knee pant. The details are distinctly Daley though, with custom pin badges and Reggae Klub-inspired graphics spattered throughout, whilst the designer’s signature oversized baker boy hat is reimagined with double-denim panelling.
Tying it all together is a campaign shot and directed by Bolade Banjo, whose soft, tangerine-tinged lens has been turned to musicians Wu-Lu, Mia Koden and Pink Siifu, who don the pieces against the backdrop of community member’s venue Peckham Liberal Club.
Here, we chat to Daley about the making of the collection, his experience working with Carhartt WIP and how the collaboration speaks to his role as a designer.
1. Your parents’ Reggae Klub nights from the 1970s and ’80s clearly play a central role in this collection. How did revisiting that history shape your design process for Carhartt WIP?
For my Carhartt WIP collaboration, the key inspiration was the story and ancestry of my parents and the cultures which have inspired my work.
I looked at my ancestral history and background and into the story of my parents meeting and starting one of the earliest reggae clubs in Scotland from 1978-1982 which was a big part of my family history. A big part of that is what my parents did, supporting grass roots music, supporting different artists, promoting and djing in sound system culture; where my dad djed and built his own sound-system.
I am very excited that this has translated into this collection through colour, textiles, prints and in a sense badges. As we roll out the collection for the launch, it really taps into different communities globally – supporting music and grass roots projects globally and different DJs and artists who appear in the campaign. The whole thing has a very 360 feel and I’m very excited that I’m able to tell this story
2. This project is deeply rooted in community, from the record bag made with your mother’s knitting circle to the campaign shot at Peckham Liberal Club. Why was it important for you to spotlight these community ties in a global fashion collaboration?
I have always wanted to talk more about my mother’s craft in hand-knitting and crocheting. In this collection we applied techniques where we created a knitted swatch which got printed onto the Carhartt WIP cotton canvas. It became a key textile for the collaboration in strong colours of mustard, navy and green.
The collection talks about the idea of craft and even when we apply this to a workwear product, which will be worn by different ages, different people, it has the story of the ancestry of my family. This is especially true for my mum’s side, who all knitted and crocheted, which is also a big part of Scottish culture. Some of the first things my mum made for my dad, and I or for the wider family were hand-knitted jumpers, hats and scarves. It felt really cool to bring that into this collaboration.
Everything was thought-through and considered to make sure it felt really authentic. My parents played a lot of their music nights in community centres and working men’s clubs, we shot in a space which was similar to where they would have chosen. I think it is a big part of the fabrique of British identity and DNA about grass roots music and community centres. So that was one of the reasons why we chose this location for shooting.
3. Music has always been central to your work. How does sound – from reggae to contemporary club culture – influence the Carhartt WIP has its own strong heritage in workwear and subcultural style. How did you approach merging their DNA with your own narrative of craft, culture and music
In the campaign, the music was produced and created by myself and Koden, who’s an amazing producer and DJ, we have worked on a lot of things together in the past. Wu-Lu, one of my favourite bands, who blends a lot of hip-hop, rock, indie, dub, electronic and alternative sounds – which I think is really interesting. And finally, Pink-Siifu, based in America, we have worked on many different things together like styling him and the band. All of the names together create this bespoke music and lyrics for the campaign.
For our launch events, we have Mighty Crown, in Tokyo, a legendary Reggae/Dub-promotion djs, in New-York, we’ve got the Pink Siifu. In Paris, we have A-One Records, a record store in Paris who we have collaborated with before and in London, we are also working on a music launch for that. There is going to be lots of music, lots of bass and lots of bringing people together. I think that’s the most powerful thing with music, clothes and collaborations.
4. From tartans referencing Scotland to colour palettes inspired by Jamaican and Scottish flags, subtle nods to heritage run throughout. Can you share how you selected these symbolic details without letting them feel forced or nostalgic?
The tartan seen in the collection was a very distinctive textile which I wanted to create. I wanted to do something different, hence why we did the knitted swatch and then printed it to give that feel of a knit but actually it is a classic workwear fabric. That was one of the reasons why I wanted to play with those traditional techniques.
5. Every item features a custom woven label with your hand-drawn typography inspired by ‘70s vinyl. What role does this kind of personal touch play in making a collection feel authentic?
I spent hours and hours trying to come up with the best dual logo lockup. I was looking at lots of different music posters and artwork from sleeves to covers. A lot of Grateful Dead and Psychedelic Jazz, Miles Davis. That is what led me to the hand drawn dual logo, which you see across the capsule. Whether it is seen as a print, embroidered, on a jean button or a bag.
It was a really cool thing to be able to bring the iconography and symbolism into this. Obviously the Carhartt WIP logo is so identifiable so it is cool that I was able to really get involved and create something bespoke for the collaboration.
6. The collection is launching across Tokyo, Brooklyn and beyond. How do you see the spirit of your parents’ Edinburgh Reggae Klub resonating with today’s global creative communities?
Ah! It’s incredible! I mean, to be able to travel to different cities, which I have got a strong connection with, through the collaboration and bringing people together through the club nights we are putting on and the store events. It is going to be such a great moment for me and definitely feels like a carrying-the-torch moment, of what my parents did. They travelled, not quite internationally, but across Scotland, from Aberdeen to Dundee through Glasgow. They would be hitting different venues, spaces and different communities and try to play music and bring people together through culture, food and music. There is definitely some synergy with what I’m doing with this collaboration with Carhartt WIP.
It is nice that I’m able to reach far and wide and really give this a global feel and sound. I hope the ripple effect travels in different communities which I’m connecting with, in Brooklyn, Tokyo, Paris and London. I am mad excited!
7. Looking beyond autumn/winter 2025, what do you hope this collaboration says about your role as a designer – both in preserving cultural histories and pushing forward new dialogues in fashion?
Through my brand the idea is very much about celebrating and championing many different things I want to express through my work. Whether it is through craftsmanship, for example, the story of my mum and the hand-knitted tartan or how I am taking the archetypes of Carhartt WIP and bringing my own designs into it. Everything I have learnt through my career and the culture; being able to ask my parents and looking through archive imagery of the reggae club. The community element within the artists which are involved and who have contributed through the music, the imagery and who are all friends of mine. It’s good to be able to support their work and have them involved, whether they’re in the campaign or DJing at one of our launches. It’s got a really nice deep feeling about it.
I first learnt about Carhartt WIP over 20 years ago, when I worked in the Wellgosh Store in Leicester when I was 16. For me personally, it’s a very interesting journey through my work, my design, my brand and where I started with Carhartt WIP to now being able to create this 13-piece capsule collection and being able to go on a global launch.
I am forever grateful for the support and opportunity Carhartt WIP has given me to create this collection. I hope people connect with it and celebrate not only what I believe in but also what Carhartt WIP values across design, culture and music. I’m excited to see it roll out.
Photography by Bolade Banjo.
