Matt Dehaty
Matt Dehaty has gone from two of the biggest global sportswear companies to one of the smallest (his words).
After working at Nike and then Gymshark across two decades, a new baby on the way led Matt to a new decision…
He wanted to cut loose and start his own business, which would allow him to better balance work AND satisfy his love of rugby.
Enter Old Novo: a stylish rugby apparel brand rooted in the culture of the sport.
We chatted to Matt about going it alone with a young family, juggling multiple jobs, and what he hopes the future will hold for Old Novo.
Interview by Liv Collins
Photographs by Christopher Owens
IN THE SCRUM
It’s a Friday afternoon, and I’m sat in a patch of sun about to have a chat with Matt Dehaty. He’s the founder of Old Novo; a modern lifestyle brand rooted in rugby. Although I know nothing about rugby (sorry Matt), I’m excited to dive into his world, and learn about his squiggly career journey from two decades in Nike and Gymshark, to fledgling start-up founder. I want to know about the reality of starting a business with a young family, as well as the dreams for this emerging Northeast sportswear brand.
Matt joins the call and I’m met with a warm, cheery voice. He laughs that he’s sat with his young daughter, keeping an eye on her as she plays with stickers. What strikes me straight away is his candidness. He’s open and unpretentious, promising to share the “full, unfiltered truth” behind his brand. This feels soo refreshing, at a time when we often only see the glossy, polished exteriors of brands and founder-led journeys.
“It’s been a breath of fresh air for me. I’m combining passions! This is everything I’m about, all in one thing.”
He shares that he moved back to Newcastle a few years ago, where he met his partner Charlotte and had a baby (who’s currently having a ball with stickers). Matt was the Buying Director at Gymshark - working 2 days a week away from home, and struggling to balance work alongside his young family. When he and his partner discovered a second baby was on the way, Matt knew that something needed to change.
In 2025, Gymshark was making a string of redundancies, and Matt took this as his sign to leave the company. He’d been itching to do his own thing, and now he had the gift of time (and a nice chunk of money), allowing him to figure out what was next.
He began posting about his passions on LinkedIn – rugby and apparel. As someone who’s worked in the apparel industry for 20 years, and played rugby for 20 years, it felt like a seamless no-brainer. Suddenly conversations started to spring off these posts, and Matt had his lightbulb moment. He realised that there was a huge gap in the market for stylish rugby wear. He had the industry-insider knowledge, knowing that the big brands like Adidas and Nike don’t focus on rugby, as it’s a small sport, which won’t drive enough commercial sales. Matt realised that this left space for a new, agile brand to create authentic and high-quality rugby lifestyle apparel. And so Old Novo was born (!!)
He jokes how he’s gone from the biggest sportswear company in the world, to the smallest one. And I bloody love that. “It’s been a breath of fresh air for me. I’m combining passions! This is everything I’m about, all in one thing.” Old Novo creates small batches of high-quality garments that are rooted in rugby culture. Think stylish, heavy cotton rugby jerseys - that you’d wear more to the pub than on the pitch. They’re all manufactured in the UK, in a place that’s been making rugby jerseys since the 70’s (pretty cool ey). I like that there’s a real sense of heritage to Old Novo. The fact that Matt himself is a keen rugby player, and has instilled the aesthetic and values of this sport into the fabric of his business. But also, he knows what really good sportswear looks like, after being surrounded by it for over 2 decades. He’s a man who knows his stuff.
Matt notes that he’s creating products that he’d love to wear himself. “None of the actual rugby brands are really creating anything that’s wearable, outside of the sport.” Matt noticed this gap, and capitalised on the desire for cool, rugby garments that aren’t polyester and skin-tight – that you can wear outside of the sports field. He’s also tapping into the nostalgia; of oversized, heavy rugby shirts that people used to wear at school. Clever.
Matt shares how Old Novo isn’t big enough yet to be his full-time job; in fact he has a full-time job at OddBalls, as the Director of Buying & Merchandising. I wanna know how he balances it all. How does he have the time to create a start-up clothing brand, work a 9-5, look after his family and do the dishes?! He gives a lot of credit to Charlotte, his partner, who has been really supportive since the first seeds of Old Novo took root. He’s using the dining room as an office, surrounded by samples and products, and sneaks time to create content for socials and work on the brand in the evening, when the kids are asleep. He feels the time-pressure, knowing that he wants to make the most of every minute he can. The doubts and financial worries are there, he shares, but his buoyant sense of optimism and passion for Old Novo is undoubtable too. I like how he says that he’s not trying to create the next Nike or Adidas, he just wants to create a brand that’s authentic, exciting, and actually sustainable for him to run. “Every time an order comes through, I’m like YES! Literally every order matters.”
Matt truly wears all the hats. The founder hat. The corporate job cap. The dad hat. The marketing hat. The sales hat. And a scrum cap. Surely (!!)
“None of the actual rugby brands are really creating anything that’s wearable, outside of the sport.”
“Every time an order comes through, I’m like YES! Literally every order matters.”
When I ask Matt what it's been like starting a business in the Northeast, his reviews are glowing. He’s been bowled over by the support available, from upskilling his creative skills (for free!) at The Creators Academy at Sunderland Uni, local businesses and universities inviting him to do talks about his career journey, and the support from friends and family too. He’s proud that the majority of his orders go to people in the Northeast – which is in part due to his strong networks, and the power of online SEO too.
Like the classic Gen-Z Scorpio I am, I ask Matt what his ultimate dream is for Old Novo. He’s got his sights set on the 2031 Rugby World Cup in the US, which he’s hoping will catapult rugby-core apparel into the mainstream. So his dreams are to keep slowly growing, and then going ‘big’ in time for the World Cup. He’s got some dreamy collabs he’d love to make a reality. And he adds that he’s yet to bump into someone in the street who’s wearing an Old Novo shirt, and that in itself would be a pinch-me dream come true.
With a new launch weeks away, Old Novo is a grass-roots brand that truly is going from strength to strength. We can’t wait to see what Matt does next, and one thing’s for sure – we’ll all be cheering him on from the sidelines.
