20 years of Weekend Offender: ‘It’s been a crazy ride!’

Sam Jones and Rhydian Powell founded the British casualwear and lifestyle brand Weekend Offender in 2004. What began with a few T-shirts evolved into an internationally recognised brand, popular not only with football fans but also within other subcultures through a shared passion for music and film. It's no surprise, then, that the AW24 collection, marking the brand's 20th anniversary, "reflects the long-standing influence of iconic screen moments" – from legendary film scenes to shared experiences watching football matches or concerts on television.

As the year draws to a close, Jones reflects on 20 years of Weekend Offender, sharing key moments and offering a glimpse into the brand's future.

20 years of Weekend Offender, how do you look back on this time?

It’s been a crazy ride! We started off with a few graphic tees, selling out of boxes with the hope of creating something but not knowing what that would be. Now we offer seasonal collections of more than 300 products with accounts all over the world. There were some tough moments, but it all led to the success we have today.

Which pieces are you celebrating the anniversary with?

Since mid-December our anniversary collections have now all been released. We saved the main one until the end of the year which was a re-release of our iconic ‘Naz’ jacket. It was famously worn by Liam Gallagher (Lead singer of the band Oasis, Ed.) in its origin. He came into our Soho store and purchased it himself. This release alongside the re-release of five original graphic tees have had incredible reactions amongst our customer base, who have been with us since the start and always have an appetite for the nostalgic pieces. There’s more collaborations and specials in the pipeline so 2026 is looking good, watch this space.

Outerwear is an important part of your range. Which jackets are currently doing particularly well?

‘Jackets’ is one of the most important categories for us. We’ve built a reputation on great quality jackets making use of colour and good fabrication, which people love. We have had a down filled programme going for three winters now and have just transferred this to Primaloft (synthetic insulation material made of polyester, Ed.) for AW25.

There is a jacket in the collection called ‘Amsterdam’ that has been a great seller for us since introducing this more premium collection and is continuing to sell extremely well. Our two biggest volume jackets are the Technician windbreaker and Stipe softshell. Very classic fits, easy to wear and good price points, we struggle to keep them in stock! The numbers vary of course from Summer to Winter seasons, but I’d say jackets are marking up around 20 percent of the overall business.

Over time, you have developed into an international company. What markets are performing particularly well?

We saw early on that there was a fan base into Europe so it was always the natural way to go for growth. We have had good agencies representing the brand in France and Italy for a number of years and they have seen steady growth which has been great and credit to the teams working over there. Last year was big for us as we introduced distributors in Germany and The Netherlands, and the plan is to continue to grow that wholesale arm of the business globally. The UK market continues to be our strongest market and we’re working hard to evolve what we do to keep the momentum going at home and abroad.

Where would you like to grow in particular?

Asia and North America are the key targets for us. We are launching with a big online platform in Southeast Asia for SS25 so it will hopefully give us a door into the wider market and open discussions with the right partners.

You currently have two stores in British ‘Designer Outlet’ shopping centres. Are you planning new openings?

There is nothing on the table firmly at the moment, but the discussion is always ongoing for more stores. We’re having a great time online and feel that we could transfer that into more bricks and mortar offerings but it’s tough out there currently so it would have to be the right place for us to open.

Would you also consider openings outside your home market?

We had a franchise store in Italy for a number of years, but it closed a couple of years ago. We’d love to open stores in some of our other strong markets so hopefully that could be closer than we think.

Football culture, which has followers in all social classes, plays a central role in your brand. Who are your customers?

It’s not just football, we were born out of the key subcultures of music, football, fashion and film. We have been adopted by terrace culture, no doubt, but our passions lie further than just the stadiums. You see within our graphic tees and styling the inspiration from music and film.

Men of all different ages and classes can find that they relate to our product in some way or another, so then it just comes down to whether or not they want to wear it! Our core consumer though is very much the guys that work hard all week and want to enjoy themselves at the weekend, whether that’s down the pub with mates, watching the footy or going to a gig. They may not be the wealthiest, but they want to look good.

The difficult overall economic situation is also having an impact on consumption in higher price segments. How is this affecting your business?

On the whole, actually quite positively. The decline in spend on real premium brands has increased what people are doing on the lower tier which we are part of. Consumers are finding that they can get products of equal quality and design at a much better price, and so can increase how many units they buy for the same value.

Don’t get me wrong, the last few years have been tough to navigate, especially after Brexit as well. But we have found our way through it, supporting our wholesalers and end consumers as best as we can along the way. It has been tough though to see a lot of independent stores struggle and, for some, end up closing the business altogether.

Apart from the market situation, casualwear is currently popular. Is this also boosting your business?

We are doing what we always do, staying true to DNA with small injections of current on trend styling. But our consumer is always there, wanting staple pieces year on year whether the product is high on trend or not, I think that is why there is constant steady growth.

How will you close the anniversary year in financial terms?

Double digit growth and ahead of target in all areas, with no signs of slowing down into 2026 and beyond.

The interview was conducted in written form.