LONDON — Sex sells and nobody understands this better than the queer community.
Average Boys Club, a London-based apparel brand founded by Jordan Sloan and Chris Ashley, partners in life and work, is playing into the flirty, homoerotic tropes of the ‘80s through the clothes and visual aesthetic of the brand.
For their upcoming summer 2025 collection, the Italian dancer and model Paolo Busti brings the pieces to life in images shot by Jesse Glazzard in Dudley, a town in the West Midlands of England, where a cropped T-shirt or jockstrap could easily cause a stir.
“Average Boys Club comes from a gap in the market. It’s a brand for and by the queer community with a story, narrative and clothing that’s purpose driven and elevated enough to be represented in a Dover Street Market or Selfridges,” Sloan said in an interview.
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“I find that the queer community is so creative and we’re the creative directors, videographers or photographers, but when it comes to contemporary, commercial lifestyle brands, for some reason [they’re] very underwear focused and there tends to be no apparel brand that can be taken seriously in the broader wholesale context,” he added.
The brand wants to spotlight members of the community through its collections — be it the models in the look books or the photographers taking those photos.
“The queer community is a niche culture, but at the same time, it’s mass culture. There’s ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race,’ Charli XCX and Troye Sivan — we rule the world, but there’s still a bit of a disconnect,” Sloan said.
He was also inspired by how the queer community navigates everyday life in its sartorial choices, from a tight T-shirt tucked into jeans; a cropped T-shirt that isn’t too short paired with baggy trousers, or a backward cap.
Average Boys Club is adopting the cliches with added humor and a playfulness that’s nostalgic.
Even though everything around the brand has a tinge of seduction, Sloan states that Average Boys Club isn’t about sex, but rather nods to a jock or athletic mentality with its apparel offerings of dyed T-shirts; boxer shorts; jockstraps, and socks.
There’s plenty of tongue-in-cheek moments within the pieces. One of the gray T-shirts has a Harvard graphic, but Sloan has printed the word “Harder” at the top; the Ford logo has been used so it says “Boys” and the Property of XXL logo, which has been changed to “Average Boys Club XXXL Athletics.”
“When we started researching, it’s all based on the premise of an aesthetic of this ‘80s boy-next-door JFK Jr. type or a woman throwing on their boyfriend’s T-shirt, which is how I dress. I wear a pair of Bottega Veneta trousers with a trash T-shirt and a backward hat. It’s a sort of a juxtaposition of average boyfriend elements with more elevated, curated pieces,” Sloan said.
“Everything in the collection triggers a feeling of, ‘yeah, I know that,’ and I know how that’s going to make me feel. It’s something easy to wear or something that you found in the bottom of your closet — that’s the emotion that I’m trying to convey,” he added.
The collection ranges from 15 pounds to 65 pounds.
Sloan took a conscious decision when putting the prices in place.
“I’ve been in the fashion industry for 15 years and I truly believe that desirability is driven by relevance. Relevance has nothing to do with price point. The general opinion of a brand is agnostic of price point and I’m actually finding that due to greed and public companies needing to always show growth, this is the first time in history we’ve really seen the industry outprice their consumer,” he said.
Sloan started the brand using his own savings up until October 2024, when Charl Clark, founder of Supa Model Management, came on as a director and investor.
