The Garbeau Story
Mike McCarthy Jessica McLean
When Mike met Jessica in Newcastle in 2006 during his rugby career playing for Newcastle Falcons, he had three shirts sitting lonely and pushed to one side of his wardrobe and not one of them fitted him. Being 6ft 5ins and a hefty 18 stone he found it impossible to buy a shirt that fitted properly.
Mike’s three shirts were far too short in the arms, meaning the sleeves had to be rolled up when he wore them and two of the shirts had collars that were too small, meaning the top button could not be fastened. Off the peg shirts for Mike were clearly not an option.
At the time Jessica needed a final year concept for her dissertation towards her Fashion Marketing degree and had been quizzing Mike for a while now about the whole shirt situation. On further inspection it came to light that it was not only Mike who had a problem with the fit of a shirt that he could feel happy and confident in - but the whole rugby squad at Newcastle Falcons had a problem finding a good fitting shirt…problems that ranged from the length of the sleeve to the fit of the collar with many in between size issues!
Jessica listened to Mike talk at length about the shirt dilemma and soon realised that most sports people from jockeys to rugby players had similar ‘shirt’ problems…all these guys wanted was a good quality shirt that fit!! Jessica also realised that it was not just sportsmen – but many men from dentists to bricklayers who have problems finding a good fitting shirt…as we all know guys come in all shapes and sizes.
The shirt dilemma gave Jessica the concept for her university degree dissertation and although she did not realise it yet, the future business Garbeau made to measure was born.
Running her own business was something Jessica had wanted to do from an early age. You could say it was in her blood as her mother Angela had a very successful children’s clothing business called Baggers.
When Baggers was launched Jessica was five years old and although she did not realise it at the time she was gaining a lot of valuable business knowledge. Baggers in the early days was run from home and Jessica and her younger sister Stephanie were brought in, to model the rainwear at trade fairs and for the company’s marketing material. Stephanie has since become a professional model and can be seen as the female face of Garbeau.
The hard work developing the business has paid off and Garbeau has developed into a successful company selling made to measure shirts to customers in the UK, France and Southern Ireland where Mike now plays for Connacht Rugby Club. In addition to made to measure shirts Garbeau offers accessories such as ties and cuff links…and new accessories for men are being sourced as we speak. Garbeau recently won a major award in Newcastle Upon Tyne - Jessica’s home town...and she was delighted.
So what of Mike and the shirt dilemma…Thankfully his wardrobe is looking a lot better and his three sad and lonely off the peg shirts have been removed and replaced with a significant number of Garbeau made to measure shirts…his only problem now is choosing which shirt to wear!