THE Brit awards on Wednesday night was the usual feast of glitz and glamour, with Armani Prive dresses and Dsquared2 suits catching the eye of aspiring fashionistas the length and breadth of the country. But only one costume from this annual gathering of the great and good of British showbiz society could truly be described as out of this world, and it originated from a small firm in Leith called Superlogo, which is owned and operated by a former Scotland rugby international.
On the night that the British music industry paid tribute to the passing of Ziggy Stardust, a real life Major Tom was among the star turns at the 02 Arena in London – with astronaut Tim Peake catching the eye in a tuxedo styled t-shirt when he appeared on giant television screens to present Adele with her ‘Global Success’ gong.
Speaking in a pre-recorded video message from the International Space Station some 400km from the earth’s surface, Peake moved the 100 million record selling songstress to tears with his heartfelt tribute to her achievements. Meanwhile, back in Edinburgh, Andrew Dall’s mobile phone was in meltdown.
“I was at home, and I have to admit I wasn’t watching the awards, when I started receiving all these messages from staff, customers and friends about Tim Peake wearing a t-shirt at the Brits which looked very much like one of ours,” explained the 39-year-old, who earned his one and only cap against Wales in the Spring of 2003, but also toured South Africa with the national team later that year.
“We were pretty confident it was one of ours because it is a pretty unique design and we sell loads of them all over the UK, and when we checked our email orders the next morning and found that he had bought it himself last month before setting off in his rocket.”
“We’ve been producing these t-shirts for years and we sell them all over Britain, so we know that they are a popular product, and it is great that we have now moved into a new market place … although I am not sure how many more customers we are likely to find in outer space.”
“It was a pretty special night, really,” added the former Edinburgh [Reivers] and Heriot’s back-rower. “It’s not often a business such as ours get to see one of their products being worn by a key person in the Brit awards, and the fact that he was being filmed on a spaceship is just crazy.
“It’s created a real buzz in the office and we’ve been trying to push the story on social media. It’s not going to make us millionaires overnight, but if it gives our sales a little boost then that’s great.”
Dall started Superlogo [which provides printing and embroidery solutions for schools, colleges, universities, sports teams and businesses] after his career as a professional rugby player came to an end in 2004. After almost 12 years of solid growth, he now employs 20 staff out of his headquarters on Coburg Street in Leith, and has contracts all over the UK.
“Things have gone really well and we’ve got a great team here,” he reflects. “A few years back we embroidered the sponsor’s logos which were stitched onto the jacket which this great adventurer called James Ogilvie wore for his ascent of Everest, and we’ve got some great photos of him at the summit.”
“So we’ve gone to the top of Everest and now we’ve reached the International Space Station, which must be the two highest places we can go as human beings at the moment. It’s not bad for a wee business in Leith.”
Staff from Superlogo wave to their famous patron from outside their headquarters on Coburg Street in Leith.
Staff from Superlogo wave to their famous patron from outside their headquarters on Coburg Street in Leith