FIFTHSTRAIN

About Us

Welcome to Fifth Strain, a Sunderland-based workwear brand here to supply your business with high-quality, hard-wearing, and practical workwear garments.

Our Inspiration

Let us take you back to the 2000s and the great city of Sunderland to trace Fifth Strain's founding. Nick, our founder, grew up along the Wear, surrounded by honest, working people. He's passionate about clothing, saving his dinner money to dress well and look the part. This brand, a long-held dream of Nick's, is a product of Sunderland, a testament to the many lives that have influenced it.

Nick - "Growing up in Sunderland, you're taught the stories of the collieries. I wanted to honour my heritage somehow, so I was inspired by the story and the iconic image."

Nick's reverence for those who worked to lay the foundations for modern Sunderland means we're committed to continuing their story. The workers' outfit in the mines was their collective identity, a uniform that took them to work in the most demanding conditions. What better way to continue their story than to take inspiration from their image and replicate it in our workwear brand, appreciating our heritage of hardwearing garments?

Therefore, Fifth Strain wants to recognise the hard work of those we work with in keeping with our traditions. Our suppliers and customers are the people we trust and admire to achieve our collaborative duty of providing working people with top-quality clothing based on utility, classic design, and a comfortable fit.

The Story So Far

2016
Nick graduates and aspires to start his own business.
2018
The first idea of Fifth Strain is born. To complete the requisite steps to opening his dream business, Nick first needed experience.
2019
Design Hive was the first venture, a clothing printing business that endeared itself to the local community.
2019
He started working towards fully realizing Fifth Strain after spotting a gap in the market. Design Hive had focused on printing clothing, but Nick, aware of his customers' needs, concluded that Sunderland businesses needed practical workwear that looked professional.
2022
Fifth Strain launches.
2023
Fifth enters into a period of maturing. These years of hard work were marked by meeting with suppliers, developing a new design, and sampling the product.
January 2024
Fifth Strain launches its Storm Duty T-shirts and Armoured Heavy-Duty Pullover.
August 2024
At present, Fifth Strain's movement is in full swing. We established our own brick-and-mortar shop. We are proud to show that we are a business you can interact with face-to-face. We are delighted to have made this massive step in realising Nick's dream.

The future of Fifth Strain certainly looks promising. Please check out our collections and innovations page for our products and unique insights into the workwear industry!