CLINTS DOESN’T EXIST WITHOUT MANCHESTER

For some brands, a hometown is just a starting point. The way Junior Clint tells it, CLINTS wouldn’t even exist without Manchester. Founded in 2020 while the world retreated under COVID restrictions, CLINTS emerged from the rubble as a shining light in the North, championing Manchester and its community. It’s a tale as old as youth culture: In trying times, people like Junior find a way to harness collective energy and build something new.

With no formal training, Junior has built one of the most exciting brands in the UK. Across apparel, footwear, and womenswear, CLINTS is a uniform for daily life with comfort and wearability baked into its DNA. Walk around Manchester on any given day and you’ll see it in practice: CLINTS heavyweight sets, CLINTS signature footwear being worn by the community that inspires it—a reciprocal energy loop.

Ahead of the latest CLINTS collection hitting END. stores and online, we visited Junior in the label’s Salford warehouse to talk through early lessons, obsessive details, and the importance of keeping a sketchpad close by. 

What does Manchester mean to you and the brand?

Manchester gives the brand a sense of togetherness and provides a massive support system as well. Since we started in 2020, Manchester has been at the absolute root of our DNA and without the support of the city, CLINTS kind of doesn't exist. I can’t really know how other cities would have impacted our product, but the way it is, it was birthed here and the connections that make it happen are all from here. It’s Manchester’s community and togetherness that we couldn’t exist without.

What made you go for trainers initially, and how did you figure out the production side with no roadmap?

I’d say the footwear started as a research project. At first I was just handmaking clothes from YouTube videos and that became a hobby which quickly turned into wanting to get into the footwear space, but I didn’t know how to start. I took a lot of transferable skills from making the clothing. So, for example, I used to do a lot of modelling, so whenever I’d get clothing from brands, I’d take some of the fabric and cut it up to make footwear samples.

Social media had a massive impact, too. People were seeing these designs and asking how to buy them, so it was kind of a case of reverse engineering to see how I could bring them to life. A friend of mine had a 3D-printing machine, so he helped me create the original CLINTS sole and that allowed me to make connections with factories to make some real samples.

It was definitely a challenge to get them onto the market but it hit at the perfect time really. It was COVID, so people had all of their attention online without having to go into work, and still had disposable income, so I guess the timing was good for a start-up brand. The rest is history.

So was it the idea that came first or was it the 3D printing that really unlocked that inspiration?

Actually, this one started with a sketch on a flight to Spain. There was no internet, so it was just me and the sketchpad and as I spelt out the word, it just formed naturally with the shape of the sole of a foot.

That has obviously become our classic footprint silhouette now. The 3D printing just removed a massive stumbling block and gave us access to go from sketch to real-life product in less time.

Does sketching still play a big part in your process, then?

Definitely. For me, it really helps when you maybe aren’t able technically or time-wise to get a design onto a screen. Sketching gives you the freedom to explore a design whenever and wherever you are. 

Nowadays, we’ve obviously grown as a team so technology definitely helps with sharing ideas, but I think there’s so much you can do that’s not digital that offers a kind of creative freedom and that’s not solely limited to sketching. 

How many of your ideas come when you’re disconnected? Do we rely too much on technology and AI these days?

So many. I 100% believe that the best ideas come when you’re disconnected. With that said, I do think you often need the inspiration that ideas from the past give you, and the internet makes that kind of research so much easier. It’s just about how you use it: I think it should be encouraged but with measures. You need to always make sure you have your own identity.

In terms of relying too much on technology, you could argue that without access to 3D printing at the time, that first shoe design wouldn’t have gone through so quickly. I think with AI, I’m not strongly for or against it. There’s probably great work that will come from it, but it’s essential to hold a level of creativity and collaboration that you can bring to it instead of it becoming a crutch that just does all the work.

The TRL footprint sold out within an hour in May 2020, in the middle of lockdown. What do you remember about that day? 

Yeah, the first launch of the TRL Footprint was a surreal moment. It was really the culmination of the work that had been put in for a year and a half or longer, from the development process to bringing it to life and finally hoping everyone could get a pair. 

All of it was pretty overwhelming, seeing the reaction developing before the drop, then selling out so quickly, and then seeing people wear it afterwards. That feeling doesn’t get old; seeing people champion the brand not just in the North of England but globally, it’s really humbling.

Looking back at those early drops, what was the biggest mistake you made or the hardest lesson you learned?

In the early days, it was more lessons than mistakes, but there were a lot of them. Obviously COVID came with lots of challenges in terms of production lead times. There’s always a bit of back and forth around production, but during the pandemic I think it was something like a six to nine month turnaround on footwear production.

Shortly after that, we moved our footwear production to Portugal which helped a lot, but it taught us a lot about how to time drops and actually pushed us to widen our range. We moved into clothing out of necessity because of the delay in footwear. We felt we needed to bring something else onto the plate. So, I guess you could see it as a mistake but it helped us to grow into another space. Everything is just about how you react to it.

Talk to me a bit about the journey into womenswear. 

We actually started with a few women’s products early on but that was just coming from my lens and how I felt a CLINTS consumer would approach a womenswear line. Since then, we’ve had some amazing female designers come on board and bring a much clearer perspective. 

It’s helped a lot to have these guys provide their experience to it. We keep it super authentic to CLINTS still, but it means I’m not just approaching it as a male designer who understands menswear. We’re really seeing it grow, so it’s resonating with the customer, which is great to see.

You held a music festival in 2025, how does that relationship work?

Well, from my perspective, you can’t have music or fashion without the other. Whether it’s music videos back in the day, or how people dress in the street, all those inspirations are connected. Actually, I think in a way, if you have a good taste level in music or fashion, you can probably create either. 

So I think, with our festival, that was at the core of it. We just wanted to bring a collection of musicians—just starting out or already established—and give them a platform to showcase to an audience that we’ve been fortunate enough to grow within the city. It’s been a pivotal part of what we’ve done for the last several years.

Looking ahead, what does success look like for CLINTS?

Success looks like lots of different things for me. Mainly, I want to be able to continue with our strong DNA to always serve the community in the best way possible. That means continuously improving our infrastructure so we can keep providing and spreading the word. 

I want more people to experience a CLINTS product; how it looks, how it feels, and how it makes them feel. With clothing, there are so many options now, so it would be disingenuous to say we’re going to make the best product in the world, but that’s always the standard to aim for. We want our products to keep resonating with the way people live their lives, how comfortable they are and how they complement their day-to-day.

Being stocked by END. is a major milestone, too. Growing up, I used to go to the END. stores a lot so it feels like a big moment and a championing of the North. What END. has brought to our culture, through the early releases or the drops, I used to queue up for them, so it’s a real pinch-me moment. It means a lot to be able to bring our product to people wherever they are. This is just the beginning.