Meet the Portsmouth man raising awareness of depression through a colourful clothing line

Now the saying – which he concedes is too brash for some – is the name of a clothing brand he has launched to raise awareness of the mental health issues faced by men. 

The 40-year-old from Farlington got the ball rolling on the project in January last year, but after a change-up of his small team is hopeful 2019 will bring opportunity to grow. 

And if the success of Kill It Dead’s pop-up shop at Victorious Festival in August is anything to go by, the next 12 months have the potential to be very exciting. 

‘We made £3,000 over a two-day period – it was unreal,’ Matt said. 

‘People really bought into why we are doing this and that’s so important because depression can be a very lonely existence – but it is a reality for a lot of people.

‘I’m in the process of trying to build Kill It Dead back up to that point again now.’

A father and husband, Matt attributes his own struggle with mental health to the stressful, ‘target-based’ environment he knows as the owner of a Portsmouth telecoms firm.

Since he founded it, Kill It Dead has been a happy diversion from that and the clothing he designs and sells is styled on exercise gear – testament to his belief in the mental health benefits going to the gym can have. 

While national mental health charities Mind and Calm have rendered his brand’s name too negative to forge an official partnership, he is determined to lend a helping hand to good causes throughout 2019.

He said: ‘I don’t think there’s enough being done about homelessness, so that’s another problem I would love to help with.’ 

To learn more about Kill It Dead – and visit the store online – got to killitdead.com