Ross Worswick

Worswick has no formal training in fashion. He has said on the show that before starting the business he worked in nightlife, and that earlier he had raced go-karts professionally and later raced cars; at school he was good at art, design and technology, and sport, but not at academic subjects.⁠[1][1]

He appeared on the MTV reality show Ex on the Beach. He has said that he went on reality TV to use it as a platform for a future business, not simply to become famous.⁠[2][1][1]

On November 20, 2014, Worswick was registered as a director of THE COUTURE CLUB LTD. In 2015 he and Scott Shashua founded the streetwear brand The Couture Club in Manchester; the brand launched on Instagram, and its first collection was a line of signature T-shirts.⁠[3][3][4][5]

Worswick has said he started the brand because he could not find the clothes he wanted to wear. In the early days Shashua focused mainly on finance and operations, while he handled design and marketing. The brand started with about £5,000; he has said on the show that the money came from his own savings, with a loan from his mother.⁠[6][6][7][1]

In 2016 The Couture Club launched its first website and its first global campaign. In 2017 the brand opened its first flagship store at the Trafford Centre in Manchester and launched its first womenswear collection.⁠[5][5]

In November 2018 Worswick and Shashua won Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the Digital Entrepreneur Awards. Worswick later described 2018 as a turning point: the company was spending heavily on marketing, international shoots, and brand parties, and its grip on its finances was not as tight as they had thought; afterward they learned to pull back on spending when necessary.⁠[2][2][6][6][6]

In 2019 The Couture Club’s womenswear went live on ASOS, and the brand opened a store at Westfield Stratford in London and launched a mobile app and The Club loyalty program. Before opening in London, the brand already operated stores at the Metro Centre in Newcastle and the Trafford Centre in Manchester.⁠[5][2]

Worswick said at the time that the company was on target to double its 2018 turnover and was already seeing traction in Germany and the United States.⁠[2]

In 2020 the brand introduced activewear and kidswear collections. From February 2020 to July 2022, Peter Cowgill served as a director of THE COUTURE CLUB LTD. In 2021 the brand released a collaboration with Ellesse; in September of that year, the multi-brand retailer Flannels and The Couture Club launched a 23-piece womenswear capsule collection.⁠[5][3][3][5][7][7]

In 2022 The Couture Club replaced its script logo, began an “elevation” strategy for the brand, and introduced the CTRE line. In 2023 the brand closed its Trafford Centre store.⁠[5][5][5]

In 2024 The Couture Club launched in Selfridges and ran pop-ups in London and Amsterdam; in 2025 the brand entered Flannels stores, celebrated its tenth anniversary, and began filming an anniversary documentary. Worswick has said the brand sells mainly online while also being stocked at these two luxury retailers.⁠[5][6][5][6]

The Venture Room interviewed Worswick at The Couture Club’s warehouse and offices and in Selfridges. He said on the show that in its first year the brand made about £500,000 in revenue without paid marketing; for the first two or three years it ran no paid ads and relied on friends sharing posts and on social media, while he and Shashua handled shipping, customer service, and shoots themselves.⁠[1][1][1][1][1]

He also said on the show that the brand had to leave its Trafford Centre store within 30 days after the centre’s new landlord signed a deal with another brand, after which Selfridges approached the brand and let it build its own shop-in-shop; he said a single Black Friday campaign shipped nearly 25,000 orders. Looking ahead, he said the company was simplifying its business and focusing on the UK and on the Netherlands, its second-largest market.⁠[1][1][1][1]

In March 2026 Worswick said that 2025 had been the brand’s biggest year yet, and that its focus for 2026 was international expansion, starting with pop-ups across Europe, while in day-to-day business it aimed at “doing less but doing it better.”⁠[6][6][6]

Build hype before buying stock: “I’d probably launch the website without even buying any stock yet,” using samples to build hype for the launch and collecting data, then deciding how much stock to buy based on the response (at 09:08 in the video).⁠[1]

On a tight budget, trade time for exposure: make as much content as possible on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, all of which is “using time rather than finances” (at 08:56 in the video).⁠[1]

Keep up constant communication and transparency with suppliers, “treating them how you’d like to be treated,” and treat the relationship as a partnership rather than simply manufacturer and brand (at 10:45 in the video).⁠[1]

To get into major retailers, first build your own brand and online business: “keep focusing on our brand and what we’re doing,” and as online sales grow, wholesale opportunities will follow (at 17:24 in the video).⁠[1]

The Couture Club: Official website: https://www.thecoutureclub.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[4]