Every raver has a story about how they found their place on the dancefloor. Leeds-based Freddie Herring, who runs rave-inspired apparel brand Etha Ravewear, found his through a nostalgia-tinged lens, exploring the free parties and warehouse raves around the northern city. “I was introduced to jungle and drum & bass, and the free party scene, courtesy of my friends’ older brothers,” he says. “I started looking into it and was fascinated by rave flyers and fashion from the early ‘90s. I’ve always felt like I was born in the wrong era, and my vision for Etha was to pay homage to the beginnings of the UK rave scene.”
Herring jumped in at the deep end and founded Etha Ravewear in 2019, inspired simply by the rave scene he’d not only discovered first hand, but had spent time heavily researching. With no previous experience in the fashion industry, and informed solely by his own research, the first drops from Etha saw some production issues which, at the time, Herring says, “felt like a major setback”.
The trial and error of Etha’s first launch saw Herring make a huge change — and also an early investment — by bringing the production in-house. Taking inspiration from punk culture and a DIY approach to design, Herring started rebuilding Etha from scratch. “I invested in the screen printing and embroidery equipment and learnt how to do everything myself,” he says. “Taking that approach gave us the freedom to express ourselves with the brand, and I've found it so rewarding to be able to create a design and watch it come to life.”
