Two University of Sheffield brothers turn side hustle into growing fashion brand
“When we first started, it was just a side hustle and we were figuring everything out as we went”
Two brothers who studied at the University of Sheffield have turned their social-media success into a growing fashion brand.
Aftab Ahmad, 25, studied Computer Science at the university and built an online following of more than 400,000 under the name “Sheffield G”. His younger brother, Abdul Haseeb, 22, studied Business Management at the same university and developed his own audience of more than 100,000 followers under the name “SheffieldChads”.
While Aftab built a strong presence through online content, Haseeb developed his understanding of business and commercial strategy through his studies. Together, they brought these different strengths into a shared venture, combining their experience of social media with an interest in fashion.
Abdul Haseeb said: “During uni, my brother and I, we started making videos and we wanted to get a name that was more local. He named himself the Sheffield G and I was like the Sheffield Chad, and we started making videos and it got a lot of followers there.”
After graduating from the University of Sheffield, the brothers began experimenting with clothing reselling as a side hustle. What started as a small operation gradually developed into Sheffield G Collections, a fashion brand specialising in vintage leather jackets.
The name came from Aftab’s online identity, which had grown while he was studying in Sheffield. Over time, that identity became the foundation for a business the brothers could build together.
“We started off just reselling clothes as a side hustle,” said Aftab Ahmad.
“At the time, we didn’t really know where it would go. But as we learned more about the fashion industry and saw how people responded to the products, we realised there was an opportunity to build something much bigger.”
For Abdul, the partnership brought together their individual strengths in a way neither could have achieved as effectively alone.
“We’ve always had different strengths, which has actually worked really well for the business,” said Abdul Haseeb.
“Aftab already had the audience and the identity behind Sheffield G, while I was studying Business Management and was more interested in the business side of things. We could bring those two sides together.”
Following their graduation from the University of Sheffield, the brothers moved to Doncaster, where the business has been based for around a year.
“We’ve got 10 employees working for us, a team of people that collects the jackets from abroad and polishes them to a quality that is the Sheffield G standard,” Abdul said.
The company initially operated from one office before moving into a larger space as the business expanded. While its operations have grown in Doncaster, the Sheffield name remains central to its identity and reflects the founders’ university years.
Abdul said: “Sheffield has got a really big place in our hearts because we are actually international students in the UK, I moved from Pakistan to the UK in 2022 and the first place we came to was Sheffield University.
“We’ve got so many memories there, so many friends there, and it’s where the business started.”
Today, Sheffield G Collections sells to customers online and has accumulated more than 1,500 five-star reviews, marking significant progress from its early days as a small reselling operation.
But the brothers’ ambitions extend beyond simply finding and reselling vintage clothing.
Sheffield G Collections is bringing a fresh perspective to vintage fashion and sustainability. The team follows strict quality-control standards, carefully reworking and upgrading selected pieces to enhance their quality while preserving their character.
Drawing on their creativity and design ideas, Aftab and Haseeb are also developing distinctive designs that give existing garments a new lease of life, allowing the brand to contribute to more sustainable fashion while continuing to explore new ideas and future collections. Their experiments include jackets featuring fireman-style clasp fastenings, giving selected pieces a more individual look.
“We don’t want to just buy a jacket and put it straight back up for sale,” said Aftab.
“We’re interested in what we can do with each piece and how we can make it feel like something that’s ours. That’s why we’ve started experimenting with different designs and reworking vintage pieces.”
Their experience in social media has also helped them understand how branding, presentation and audience engagement can contribute to a fashion business. Together, the brothers have built audiences of more than 500,000 followers, which they have been able to draw on as they develop Sheffield G Collections.
Abdul said: “When we started this, we gave hints about leather jackets, we would wear them in our videos because it’s actually like a huge thing to have a big reputation online. There’s such a big audience that is literally sitting there watching you.”
For Aftab, the name has taken on a meaning beyond its original use as an online identity.
“‘Sheffield G’ was originally just my online name,” Aftab explained.
“It was never created with the intention of becoming a fashion brand. But over time, it became part of who I was online, so when we started developing the business properly, Sheffield G Collections felt like the natural name.”
Although the company is now based in Balby, Doncaster, Sheffield remains an important part of the brand’s story: the city where the brothers studied, developed their online identities and laid the foundations for what would become their business.
The move to Doncaster has provided a base from which they can continue expanding, with the recent move into a larger workspace reflecting how far the company has come.
“When we first started, it was just a side hustle and we were figuring everything out as we went,” Haseeb said.
“To now have our own larger space in Doncaster and be developing products ourselves is something we didn’t necessarily expect when we started.”
The brothers are now looking beyond leather jackets as they continue to develop the brand. They have begun working on their own denim collection, including bootcut and wide-leg styles, with ambitions to introduce more distinctive products under the Sheffield G Collections name.
What began with two brothers building audiences while studying in Sheffield has developed into a growing fashion business, with its own premises, a substantial online following, more than 1,500 five-star reviews and plans to create original products.
Giving advice to anyone starting out in their own business, Abdul said: “It’s always about solving a problem. So in my case, I tried out way too many businesses, and every time I started a business, it was because I’ve seen someone else doing it and them getting successful.
“I realised that’s not how it works, not everyone is good at everything - you need to find something you’re truly good at and then you’re going to find a problem there and you’re going to solve it.”
From their university days in Sheffield to their growing operation in Doncaster, Aftab and Haseeb are building a brand that carries the city where it began in its name, while looking towards the next stage of its development.
Find out more at www.sheffieldgcollections.com