At BadRhino we like to get to know our customers, find out what makes them tick, what they think about our product, what they use it for.. and most importantly what they want us to make next!
There’s no better place to start than in rural Lincolnshire, with Marc, from Stamford. Marc, 33, wears 5XL-tall, and leads a very busy life by most peoples’ standards.
Having worked for over 10 years as security manager and then joining the police force, Marc’s now a stay-at-home dad, match day announcer at the Stamford Town Football Club, keen golfer and darts player. Marc is also lead singer with Peterborough-based rock and pop covers band, HALO, during weekends and evenings.
I’ve spent some time recently with Marc, at a HALO rehearsal, in the run up to their gig at the London Inn in Stamford (a particular favourite is their rendition of Whitesnake classic ‘Here I Go Again’!), and working out at Rhino’s Gym, where Marc goes 3 times a week. Mark told me about his plans and ambitions…
“I’ve always been a larger guy, and have found my weight fluctuates all the time. I work hard at the gym 3 times a week and love it. Nick and the team here are very supportive and helping me with my goal of losing about a stone in weight, but then bulking back up; trying to get a physique similar to Eddie Hall and the other ‘World’s Strongest Man’ competitors.”
Marc’s been a regular BadRhino customer for a while, and prefers the extra 5cm of garment length that our ‘tall’ range offers, even though he doesn’t quite hit the 6’3” height guideline, purely as a personal preference.
“I started wearing BadRhino just over a year ago, and found the products very reasonably priced – especially when compared with other plus-size brands, but in particular I like that when you wash BadRhino clothing it doesn’t go out of shape or shrink”.
In fact, the quality and durability of our clothes has really been the unsung hero of our range since its inception back in 2015. The attention to making sure the clothing fits properly, on a true plus-size man, and using higher quality and weight of fabrics [than other brands] throughout the range is a real focus and point of difference for the brand.
Marc went on to tell me about his design preferences across our range…
“I’m very particular with my style of clothing and normally stick to plainer t-shirts and polos with simpler branding, but I do love some of the more heavily branded BadRhino stuff coming through right now. It’s a really strong brand and logo!
Like most people, I have my opinions about what I’d like to see BadRhino designing and making; and as a singer in a band I have to perform at a lot of functions, so often need smart shirts, waistcoats and smart trousers. I like the BadRhino Oxford Shirts and smart trousers currently available, but definitely think a wider range would be great to see!
I also play a lot of golf, and like me there are a lot of golfers who struggle to find affordable, quality plus-size golf clothing, so maybe getting into that would be good. Golf clothing designers also seem to have a lot of fun with their branding and colours.
I regularly visit my local store, in Peterborough, where the BadRhino range sits alongside the Yours ladies wear range, but would really love to see BadRhino have a store all of its own!”
Check out Marc’s band, HALO and their gig schedule at www.halotheband.uk and visit Rhino’s Gym at www.rhinosgymnasium.co.uk
