Do you miss having a night out at Pryzm or Oceania? Or maybe you are older and have fond memories of Baileys or Top Rank?
Watford’s biggest nightclub, which went through seven guises during its history, may have closed at the end of last year, but there is a chance to show your affection for it thanks to two friends and their clothing brand.
Former Watford Grammar School for Boys students Sean Tidy and Graeme Collette launched Made in Watford in October 2020.
They sell a range of t-shirts and hoodies, the designs of which are inspired by the town’s sights and nostalgic memories – and the former nightclubs are the theme for ‘Dancehall Discotheque’.
“Since we launched we’d always wanted to do one for the nightclub and we’d been passing ideas back and forth every few months and it never quite worked,” Sean explained.
“The club, from the 60s through to 2023, catered for a lot of different styles of music and it had its good and its bad points. Then we thought let’s make it fun, give it a vintage vibe with people dancing and we went with a completely out of the era with a 1950’s couple dancing and it just worked.
“We shared it with some people, put it live and the response has been good. We might need to look at some different colour options though. I’m not sure people are crazy about the bright pink.”
The pressures of work and family life meant Sean and Graeme had less time to commit to Made in Watford last year and it “slowed naturally”. They had intended to put the brand into hiatus in 2024 – but their plans changed after making the decision public.
“As soon as we announced it we got so many people saying ‘no, don’t do that’ and then sales went up quite significantly,” Sean, who runs a web and graphic design studio in Berkhamsted, said.
“People that thought it was their last chance to buy were buying and over Christmas Graeme and I chatted and said ‘we can keep it running, we’ve got enough designs in the bank, we could release one a month for the next 12 months and keep it going that way’.
“It’s been great, there’s been a different response to what there was in 2023. People are more eager, I think because they thought it was going to go.
“People are coming up with ideas, sales are good and we’ve been looking at different opportunities at where we can showcase stuff which we have and haven’t done depending on what it is.
“Last year I think we lost the drive behind it because of work and life but then the people that buy it, the people of Watford, got behind it and said ‘don’t shut it down, we really like this’.
“Loads of people we didn’t know were messaging us saying what can we do to help? It was really inspiring.”
Another of the new designs that should appeal to Watford fans in particular is inspired by Elton John, Harry the Hornet and a popular chant at Vicarage Road.
Sean said: “We pitched a load of designs to Elton John for when he played Vicarage Road before the tour started and it went silent. They had their tour merch, they sell in a certain style, but we thought it might be interesting to do something different with the Watford stuff, we had these designs left over and one of them was Elton as Harry.
“It’s maybe stepping on some toes but not intentionally. It’s a homage. Graeme’s a season-ticket holder so we’re not trying to take money away from the club, it’s just a fun design.”
Turning to what the future may hold for Made in Watford, Sean said: “We do get offered quite a lot of opportunities to collaborate with businesses that have a bit of heritage, so we’d like to do more collaborations.
“We’ve been offered pop-ups at school fairs and bits like that which I think would be really good if that’s something we can get the time to get behind and pull it all together.
“And just releasing fun stuff that we want to wear. That’s the whole point. We’re both from Watford, love all the good and bad points about it, enjoying wearing it and having people do a double take.”
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