Illustrator and designer Gemma Shiel, 37, is the creative mastermind behind independent British street wear label Lazy Oaf. Founding the brand straight out of University in 2001, Gemma has taken Lazy Oaf from a stall in Spitalfields and hand printing t-shirts in her Dad’s garage, to a flagship boutique in London’s Soho, a hugely successful web store and over 250 stockists worldwide - having grown the company with no outside investment.

Led by Gemma, Lazy Oaf focuses on driving irreverence into everything it does - creating pieces that play on the brand’s warped sense of humour. Her attitude of poking fun and not taking anything too seriously is carried through the whole design ethos, continually inspired by youth nostalgia, teenage rebellion and a sense of apathy towards conforming to the norm.  

In addition to seasonal collections, Gemma has steered Lazy Oaf to work on special collaboration projects with some of her favourite artists and creatives - from YouTube phenomena Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared and other independent brands (Poppy Lissiman, JuJu Shoes) to high concept collaborations with the likes of DC Comics, Warner Brothers and Dreamworks (Batman, Looney Tunes, Garfield and Casper) ☺︎