&SONS x Frank Cassidy Interview

&SONS are one of our favourite menswear brands here at The Coolector and, as you’re likely aware, we’ve got a pretty big penchant for Porsches as well. As such, you won’t be surprised to hear we sat up and took notice when the UK brand met with legendary Porsche aficionado (and massive &SONS fan), Frank Cassidy. The location for the interview was set in a 100-acre site in Oxford, converted into a Porsche enthusiast’s haven. It holds some of the most beautiful examples of the iconic 911 and other models and is known as Boxengasse.

Check out the best bits from their interview below:

Q: In your work, what values do you cherish the most?

Be early, always do as you say, pay your bills the moment you get them, never keep people waiting, never stop pushing. Everyone is busy and we all have the same 24 hours in a day. No one is too busy, they’re just disorganised… Take your time, often enough in a ‘work crisis’ we impose a deadline on ourselves to deal with it. If you haven’t got a deadline, take a step back, take your time. Often the best solutions are the ones you’ve taken your time to put together, not the instant reaction you’ve shot from the hip…

Here’s a mantra a man much cleverer than me once gave me, “You’re a slave of your words and a master of your silences.” Take your time, choose your words carefully. They seem like very simple work values and that’s because they are. But it always amazes me how few people apply them.

Q: Tell us a bit more about your creative process.

Like everyone I draw inspiration from everything around me. What’s around me is 60/70s rock, mid century design, photography, historic branding. My strongest belief is authenticity, everything I do, I believe in. So my creative process starts and ends with the things I love.

Q: What is your favourite piece from the &SONS Collection?

Probably the Club shirt. Once I find something I love I commit to it. Believe it or not, I have about 10 blue Club shirts… Just waiting for the summer to get them out.

Q: Tell us your story. How did you begin your career and what led you here?

My story? I’m essentially a failed film director. I quickly realised there was simply no money in short films and the chances of ‘making it’ were very slender. So I turned my back on that idea and ended up in wholesale homeware and electronics. It’s my love of business, making deals that kept in a business I wouldn’t otherwise have chosen.

But my passion was always cars and very quickly anything classic Porsche. Through restoring and modifying my own 911s I met great industry professionals and fellow gear heads. That’s when Boxengasse slowly started to formulate in my head. A unifying place for all Porsche enthusiasts, industry professionals and the lifestyle around them.

Q: What 3 words best describe you?

Don’t know. So I asked my Mrs, “perfectionist, passionate and relentless”.

What do you do for inspiration?

Drive. In that place, in that moment, doing that task that requires your absolute focus, I get clarity. It’s a reset button that then allows me the space to take a step back and see things from a wider perspective.

Q: Who inspires you?

Norbert Singer, Robert Johnson, Edward Sexton, Gerald Genta and Ernest Hemingway. Not who they are, but what they did in their respective industries…