Fats Shariff has fashion in his blood coming from a family who supplies the manufacturing for Britain’s biggest fashion brands and conglomerates. A real West Londoner who can’t walk ten strides down Portobello Road on a Friday without bumping into someone he knows, Fats is known for his rudeboy meets Texan cowboy style with a piece of The London Leatherman thrown on for good measure. He almost always has a camera around his neck- he takes a great photo.

Questions by Bridget Veal Carroll

Q. Fats! I distinctly remember the first time I met you, you came round to see Dave when we were living on Gun Street, in Spitafields circa 2008, we were having a party, the front door was jammed so you arrived through the window! But, after all these years I don’t actually know how you and Dave came to be friends, do you remember how you met?

A. Oh my god yes the window entrance that was so much fun, hah…what a night! East London was a lot more fun then!!! Well I really met Dave in 1995/96 when I was working for YMC, Fraser Moss introduced us. Dave had a label he’d done in Japan and we were all about developing things for Japan.

Also, I knew of Dave through Portobello Market, but really it was the YMC meeting that brought us fools together : )

*Fraser Moss- Design Director at YMC

Q. You’ve collaborated with Dave on projects in the past, do you have any fond memories of these projects? How would you describe yours and Dave’s collaborative style?

A. Yes, we ended up working on a clothing collection for women in 96 or 97, I believe I still have all the sketches and mood boards we made, all hand drawn, photocopied and stuck on with glue, way before Photoshop or Illustrator etc. We had a lot of fun, that was the key word FUN. We had the same childhood references and were both into the same things. Plus, we knew what the hell we liked and what we wanted to put out there. Damn, what was the name of the collection…Dave came up with it…I remember him insisting on putting these clear PVC pockets on the garments where you would put the brand logo as a card insert…still love that idea…took me a minute to like it though…(remember Dave, hah!) I need to go off and find those boards. If we dropped that now I reckon we would make a killing!

I would say our work style was a lot of laughs and giggles, but we got shit done.

Q. You’re known for your style and everyone knows you love clothes, how do you style your The London Leatherman pieces?

A. For me the The London Leatherman bits I have are everyday items, the dome stud bracelets are never off my wrist, the belts the same. Day to day though I wear the leather jeans!!!

With the leather jeans I treat them like my everyday (denim) jeans, I’ll wear them with a T-shirt, hoody or shirt…with a pair of AF1’s or my boots, mostly cowboy boots…I might even throw my Concho belt on with them too. My The London Leather pieces are staples for me, everyday wear.

Q. Do you have any favourite The London Leatherman pieces? And why?

A. The leather jeans, the 1976 style !!! The leather is so incredible and the workman ship….QUALITY…When I put on those jeans, I feel sexy as fuck and hell they look so good…I can’t go a week without wearing them.

Fats Shariff wearing some of his The London Leatherman pieces

Q. You’ve always got something ‘cool’ you’re working on, with some ‘cool’ artist or label. Are you working on anything at the moment you can talk about?

A. Hah, right now I’m working with some great young streetwear labels in the UK, who are making big waves. I always like to be working with the new, seeing what’s coming up. It’s what keeps me excited and inspired. We have some great talent here which we tend to forget and not nurture enough. That’s always been my thing, help bring people up….show them that the industry’s not full of sharks and that there’s ways of doing it without selling out.

Q. What’s Uncle Fats Chats?

A. Hah…Uncle Fats Chats… So, this is a platform where I’ll be talking about love, life and business and not in that certain order. I’ll pick topics, talk about them and hope to get feedback and engage with people. I’ve had a lot of situations in my life, that have made me realise we all need a pick up, we all need that Good Uncle that gets you back up, makes you feel bigger and better…makes you feel you are not alone and yes it is tough out there. But we can all traverse this terrain together for the better. I want to motivate, empower and inspire people to be their better self. By doing this I also become better, a challenge aired is challenge solved. We have one life, so best live it well. As my friend Dee says, ‘This ain’t not dress rehearsal’

Q. What does 2023 look like for you?

A. 2023 is where I take my power back. I’ll do what I want to do and what brings me joy. That does not mean I will stop working, far from it, just means I will focus on where I can make a difference. Utilize my skills and knowledge to make a better today and tomorrow for me, because if I can do this for me, it will be better for all around me. Bring some control back. I want to work to live, not live to work…we have done enough of the latter already. Time to change the mindset…even at 56 I have still so much to do and accomplish and I will!

Smeg, he’s the lead singer of the psychobilly band King Kurt, has big hair and a big grin and we’d describe Smegs style as Lee Marvin meets Gene Vincent, Smeg knows his kit. Smeg and Dave have been friends since the early 80s, the first time they met Smeg was wearing a McLaren Westwood ‘F*** Your Mother’ Seditionaries T-shirt.

Questions by Bridget Veal Carroll

Q. Leather and rock’n’roll, they go hand in hand, do you have any leather wearing rock’n’ rollers you consider a style icon? And why?

A. As you’ve already mentioned, Gene Vincent is surely the best leather clad icon, he had it all, style, the voice, the moves. But, also The Sex Pistols influenced me greatly in my teens and I always wanted the same leather strides, I bought a pair at age 60! Too old? Never for leather.

Q. You were a punk rocker before becoming one of the pioneers of the Psychobilly genre in the early 80s. How would you articulate the transition from Punk Rock to Psychobilly?

A. The Cramps, The Cramps were the transition. For me at the time I was into Rock’a’Billy and into Punk Rock, I was wearing Seditionaries bondage trousers but with 1950s jackets and a bright red flat top (hair style). And the Cramps, they summed up everything in their song Garbage Man ‘One half hillbilly and one half punk’ this made perfect sense to me, this was Psychobilly.

Q. In 2010 you invited Dave and I down to a King Kurt gig in Islington, my first time experiencing King Kurt. Pre-show people kept rolling their eyes at me, saying ‘ooh, you shouldn’t have worn that/ those shoes are going to get ruined/ do you not know what goes on at a King Kurt show’! For anyone that doesn’t know who King Kurt are, how do you describe the band to them?

A. You should’ve seen the mess in the 80s, we were banned from everywhere! Our music is good time Rhythm & Blues/ Rock’n’Roll/ Country/ Punk with its feet in the dirt (literally, in those days). We f***ed ourselves in the a*se though with the ‘highbrow’ music press for not having a political agenda. Our aim was and still is to have a good night out.

Q. Many people know King Kurt for your performance of ‘Destination Zulu Land’ on the British television show Top Of The Pops in 1983. How was this experience for you?

A. TOTP was a dream come true, it was the biggest music show for everyone of my generation. We were there from 8am doing what we did best, getting wasted! We hung out with UB40 for a bit (I still had one!) and I managed to upset one of the presenters -DLT a very rude, humorless twat. Like most ‘funny’ people he didn’t like being on the receiving end of a joke. We signed our contract with Stiff Records that day in the studio, then hopped on a train to Leeds for a gig. A good day out.

Q. Yours and Dave’s friendship covers many mutual interests from clothing to motorcycles, bully breed dogs to music. Do you remember the earlier years of how you met? Any fond memories?

A. Some memories are best left in the haze of history! But I can say we’ve done some crazy sh*t together over the years!

Q. There’s a legendary story I’ve heard of you going into Seditionaries and Jordan dressing you. How did this come about?

A. I was 16 and just got my first pay cheque, so went to Seditionaries to spend it. Jordan (Mooney aka Pamela Rooke) and I used to have a mutual friend who would pass messages to her from me and on this occasion Vivienne (Westwood) and Jordan were in the shop, they got me dressed in a full outfit and I stood in front of the mirror and declared ‘you’d f*** me!’ whilst fake masturbating. They were in stitches (laughing) and people were being brought in off the street to witness the spectacle! Vivienne gave me a parachute shirt, I was over the moon. Years later, I lent it to someone and never saw it again. But, I used to save up and buy loads of the stuff and had quite a bit in the end, sadly all was lost in a house fire during the 1984 Riots in Brixton.

(Left) Smeg wears Sir Tom Baker Sequined Tux Jacket with The London Leatherman 1976 Leather Jeans and Pistols Belt. (Middle) Smeg in the 80s with his exaggerated Psychobilly quiff, photo by Patrick Gilbert. (Right) Smeg wearing his The London Leatherman Leather Jeans styled with Pistols Belt, Lewis Leathers Jacket & Burberry Coat.

Q. A couple of years back you self-styled a The London Leatherman look fused with the legendary tailoring of Sir Tom Baker. How would you describe this look?

A. I’ve paired my The London Leatherman 1976 Leather Jeans with Tom’s Sequined Tux Jacket, a frock coat he made for me and what is called The Gutter To Gala Suit which is a kind of punk rock/ The Sex Pistols/ Johnny Rotten inspired thing.

Tom loves punk rock too.

Q. Do you have any favourite The London Leatherman pieces?

A. I love my leather jeans. But, the LV4 Jeans Style Jacket is one of my faves, I love my Pistols Belt too, the leather jeans are never worn without it!

Q. Are you working on any projects for 2023 you can disclose/ talk about?

A. I’ve got a new suit on the bubble with Tom and with the band we’re rehearsing regularly with a view of producing something new. Shows start in mid-May in Lewes and there’s a London show on June 23rd at The Underworld in Camden.