"It all started rather jokingly but in reality, it was a term of inclusion, a bolstering compliment - and it really worked," said a group of friends who have since launched a popular clothing line in the heart of southwest London.
Arthur Leventhorpe, along with his four mates – Jack Haire, Aaron Farr, Al Harlington and Vincent Onuegbu, launched a website for their unisex clothing brand 'Young Goat' which is situated in Raynes Park, during lockdown.
The friends, aged between 23 to 26, from Merton, Wandsworth, Kingston and Hackney; have been inspiring a "global community" to be the best version of themselves through their brand.
"We all met and became friends at Bristol uni while playing for the university football club (UBAFC)," said Arthur.
"During our time there, we would extensively use the acronym ‘GOAT’ as a compliment to recognise each other’s achievements.
"This eventually morphed into the Young Goat of today, with UBAFC reflecting a microcosm of the society we aim to create at Young Goat.”
He added: "We began by making t-shirts on Vistaprint, which we wore around uni, and there was a very positive reaction to how they looked.
"However, as we began to explain the reasoning behind the brand, we quickly realised that our message resonated with people far beyond our friendship group.
For us, being the GOAT is all about committing to personal development and being the best version of yourself.”
The friends first came up with the idea of a streetwear brand two-years ago but said it really started to grow during the pandemic despite a number of hurdles.
"It’s easy to talk about the negatives related to the pandemic but from a branding perspective, lockdown was actually a great opportunity to grow on social media, said Arthur.
"There was inevitably a huge spike in social media consumption as people found themselves stuck at home and we were able to share our brand message of positivity, alongside the various lockdown challenges that popped up - we all attempted the loo roll kick ups and encouraged others to get involved.
"It’s always been a goal of ours to make the brand feel like a community (the Herd) and with everyone going through such crazy period together, from all four corners of the globe, it helped us establish our brand values and ethos."
Speaking about the struggles caused by Covid-19, he said: "The biggest issue without doubt was the closure of our manufacturer in the UK at the time. It just meant there was no way of us getting anything produced.
"We were still such a young company in the first lockdown, with an unreleased website due to Covid and we hadn’t yet built up a vast content bank.
"We weren’t able to do any photoshoots, release any new products and back then, we only had one hoodie colour, two t-shirts designs in black and white and then a hat, which meant that our posts probably became a bit dull after a while.
"In terms of overcoming it, all we could do was plan and strategise for when we would eventually come out of strict lockdown, which I think we did fairly well, as we had our website live, with a few new products and everything fully stocked by September.
"We (also) asked people over insta DMs who had bought stuff to send in their most creative photos, with the best winning a free hoodie.”
The friends have also used their brand to fundraise for mental health charities.
"A lot of what we talk about when we talk about being the GOAT ties in with good mental health - it’s very self-esteem related," said Arthur.
While we are not a mental health clothing brand, we feel that good mental health is inherently linked to Young Goat’s identity."
He added: "We don’t have the facilities to give certain services to people who need them, but we can shine a light on charities who do.
"We’ve done auctions, partnership initiatives and we have them on our site, so when you can donate when you checkout.
"We also recently did a community run where in a week we ran 2000km, encouraging people all the while to get active and help us reach our target, which is a hefty target on reflection!
"We’ve managed to raise over £6500 since the start of September, if you include our participation in Movember where we raised £1000 as a company."
Speaking about how far their clothing brand has come, he added: "The reaction has honestly been incredible - we’ve been blown away.
We have sold to 50 different countries, amassed a great following on Instagram and are hugely proud of what we have built."
He added: "There was some scepticism when we started out and understandably so.
"We were a group of mates with no fashion or business experience, and we have thrown ourselves in and learned on the job.
"There’s a lot more to come but we feel very grateful for the support and love everyone has shown us."
To see more of Young Goat visit here.
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