A STREETWEAR company which launched just 12 months ago is eyeing up a 700-store deal in the US.

Blaq Mass, founded by husband and wife Jordan and Jessica Childs at their Worthing home, also recently saw off competition from 550 companies to win a regional start-up competition.

The business was started as a side hobby in the couple’s bedroom three years ago.

It officially launched a year ago when Jordan gave up his high-flying Fortune 500 job to spend more time with his one-year-old daughter and build up the business.

He recently returned from a meeting in California with one of the US’s biggest sportswear brands, and has a collection debuting with them in 2016.

Creative director Jordan said: “In my nine-to-five job I was getting up before my daughter, and by the time I got home she would’ve gone to bed.

“I felt I was missing her childhood, so I was heavily motivated to keep my own hours.

“We’ve had awesome growth. One minute we were folding shirts on the bed, the next flying out the US. We’ve missed out the soft middle bit

“Everyone starts a business with a dream that it’s going to expand, but when it happens you feel like rubbing your eyes.”

The brand style is described as “occult merged with wearable streetwear”, with Jessica the lead designer.

Inspired by punk-rock, there are hopes to get the brand in mainstream fashion retailers such as Urban Outfitters.

Jordan said: “We make clothes that we’d like to wear. We joke that it’s the merchandise for a band that never exists.”

Recognition has come from old fashioned cold-calling and they were discovered by chance by Agenda trade show in America.

As well as Blaq Mass, Jessica also runs Occult Tattoo from the same address.

Jordan said: “We’re finding out far more people are aware of us then we know.

“We’ve been working so hard we hadn’t had time to realise how visible we were.”

Once more retail deals are in place the couple hope to take on staff.

They will use their £7,500 loan from the Start Up Loans Company to invest in laptops and samples.