Meet the third-year with his own clothing line

While most of us struggle to balance lectures and nights out, one student has gone above and beyond to set up his own business.

Matt Pate and his clothing brand have put us all to shame.

How and when did you start the business?

I started it at the beginning of second year, but I started getting the designs over the summer at the end of first year when I received my grant.

I got it all done in time for the launch, when we had the big UEA 50th celebration. I was selling out on the street and then we had Greg James DJing and he wore my shirt on stage.

How did you come up with the idea for it?

I’ve wanted to do it since I was about 15 or 16, ever since I started graphic design, but it wasn’t really till I came to uni that I was technically good enough to do it or had the money to do it basically. I’ve always liked tattoo art so pulled influence from that.

How did you come up with the name?

We did an enterprise competition and had to come up with a name so I had to start thinking about a brand. I couldn’t come up with anything – everything sounded silly to me. So I sent my mate a text and told him to come up with ten brand names, and ‘Matte’ was one of them.

I suppose ‘Matte’ is a dead finish –  there’s no shine to it, it is what it is. I could pretend it’s philosophical but it’s not. It’s linked to art and paint and it fitted with my name – a little spin on it.

How did you get the money for it?

I competed in a Union enterprise competition called ‘Pitch Up’ at the start of first year, where around 20 teams presented ideas to a panel of judges to win £400 and a chance to sell in Castle Mall, and I won that. So I took it further, built up the business plan and made the T-shirts better.

UEA also runs a Social Enterprise Scheme, where students can submit business plans – proposals for funding.

I got a portion of funding from that and the rest I funded myself.

How have you built up the brand?

I’ve been using social media where I can and I’ve had a lot of help from one of my uncles who owns a clothing brand.

I’ve just been getting it out through word of mouth really, and trying to get celebrities and bands who come down to wear it and post it on social media and spread the word.

Celebs have to tie in with the image, but I got celebs like Greg James, Mark Grist, Chris Lorenzo, Jamie George and Rizzle Kicks to wear it.

I’ve also done a couple of stalls round campus.

How do you balance it with uni? 

I balance it with uni by not sleeping very much! Just fitting it in when I can, really – you’ve just got to take an extra hour when you’d rather be chilling in front of the TV and really push through it, if that’s just editing stuff on the website at the end of the day or taking new photos and messaging a load of people to try and get them to do free modelling for you.

We had the KAOS Fashion Show last year, which went down really well – we got a lot of good feedback from that.

Uni’s such a good place to network. I’ve met a lot of people who have helped me from uni.

Usually I fit uni work around everything else, so I leave uni work last. The brand comes first.

I’ve also been doing other stuff – I ran a Red Bull Culture Clash event last week which was a big DJ battle in the LCR, so we had four of the club nights in the city going against each other.

I also do different nights in the city and I’m working part-time as a freelance graphic designer for a company called Red Rock International which train oil companies in East Asia.

I’m also trying to start a new business as we speak – that’s to come. It’s very early stages at the moment.

I do a degree as well, somewhere in there.

What advice would you give to students looking to start a business?

Get on it straight away. Don’t think you can’t do it or that there’s not a means to. If it’s money that’s stopping you, don’t let it. There are plenty of grants, low-interest loans and jobs to help you on your way.

Don’t be put off by challenges. There’s a lot of support at UEA, especially the Union’s Enterprise Department and UEA’s Enterprise Department (which are two different things), and at Norwich Business School as well.

If anyone wants advice from me, it’ll probably be very crap advice but I’ll give it to you anyway.

Just go for it, take the risk while you’re at uni cos it’s the best place and there’s so many people around you to network with. So basically just get up off your arse and go for it.

For more info and the full range check out Love From Matte’s website, Facebook and Twitter.