You can’t get out of bed for a 9am and he’s already got a fashion label

For many, the choice of what cereal to have in the morning is tough enough.

But at Trent, one student is studying for his degree as well as managing his own successful fashion line which has even been worn by a premier league footballer.

Fashion design student, Dan Smith started his label ‘Unconnected’ in January 2013 when he began university. He used black and white photographs he had taken to create T-shirt designs which were then printed on tops.

The 21-year-old’s work caught the eye of Sunderland footballer Connor Wickham who began to wear his clobber. We wouldn’t mind catching his eye either.

Dan, who is a keen footballer, said: “I’m into my football and sent Connor Wickham a message on Twitter asking him to check out my clothing and the next thing I knew I had an order in from him and then he tweeted a picture of himself wearing one of my New York designs.”

The savvy second year started selling his products through Asos Marketplace but when interest grew he enlisted the help of his girlfriend, who studied graphic design at Trent, to help design a website.

The Wakefield born star has Trent to thank as he developed his skills here.

He said: “I learned more about the process of design which allowed me to develop and move away from printing onto existing t-shirts and onto focusing on the cut of the tops themselves.

“Now I design the tops from scratch and supply those patterns and the fabric to a company in Nottingham which makes the t-shirts for me.”

Senior lecturer Susan Walton, who mentored Dan. she said: “As a student Dan always presents a strong determination to succeed in all he undertakes …He is an inspiration to his cohort and the launch of his own brand evidences a genuine achievement in what is a fiercely competitive environment.”

Now in his second year Dan, who received advice and a grant from the Hive – the University’s purpose-built centre for entrepreneurship and enterprise – is in talks with several stores across the country and in the Broadmarsh Centre in Nottingham about stocking his clothing.