Jenerous

Summer 2023 is truly here with those warm July evenings and this months cover brand Jenerous are here to fill up your Summer 2023 wardrobe with their latest collection. We sat down with founder Jenny 6 months on from our last conversation to see whats been happening for the brand and what this new collection has in store.

Jenny, welcome back to Hinton. What's been happening for your brand over the last 6 months? Thanks for having us back again We’ve been busy developing our new collection which has just arrived from India. We’ve been working on it for a long time; as a slow fashion brand it takes about a year to develop new samples and get the fabrics hand printed, so when we finally see the dresses arrive it’s so exciting. We’ve also recently been finalists in a couple of awards which is really encouraging. I was listed as one of the WISE100, which recognises the 100 most inspiring and influential women in social enterprise for 2023, and we’ve just been announced as one of the finalists in the Global Good Awards for best start-up enterprise.

For a little recap, just remind us about your brand Jenerous, what you're doing and trying to achieve with this incredible brand.? We’re a social enterprise womens fashion brand on a mission to change lives through fashion, by creating clothing in a way that is positive for people and the planet. Our give back model means that not only do customers support fairer and more ethical fashion, they also directly support our charity links working to alleviate poverty in India, with 10% of their purchase. We also aim to make timeless desirable clothing, offering customers a contemporary collection of feminine, versatile pieces. We love artisan hand block printing and incorporate these beautiful prints in our collection.

I want to talk about your upcoming collection. What details can you tell us about this? We’ve developed a new collection of daywear that can also be dressed up for a special occasion. This is quite a big shift from where we were when we launched with a collection of occasion dresses.

The tag line 'Changes lives through fashion' is one I believe is quite self explanatory, but for you for the brand what does this mean? What does this look like? This is our motivation in all that we do, as we believe that fashion can be a positive force that makes a difference to peoples’ lives. We have been able to impact many peoples lives in India, where our clothing is made, through fair and empowering work in WFTO (World Fair Trade Organisation) factories and small family run printers. We also give back from sales, for example during Covid we supported our manufacturer in Bangalore (when established brands were cancelling their orders) by providing 242 days wages, and have more recently provided 280 weeks of tailoring training, food and accommodation for young people affected by leprosy.

Keeping on the topic, sustainability runs throughout your brand and you've recently released your 'Impact Report' for 2022. For those reading this interview could you share with us a little bit about what this is and what the aim for these are for brands? As an impact brand we felt it was important for us to keep track and report on our impact. So, we have recently published our 2022 impact report that’s on our website Sustainability page. It shows our progress and steps toward the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals that we are working towards. The UNSDG’s are a set of 17 goals that are the blueprint to achieving a better and more sustainable future for us all. These goals address the global challenges we face, including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice.

Now we've got the general idea of what this report is, how does this look for Jenerous, where does the focus lie for your brand? We are focusing on sustainable development goals numbers 1,5,8,12,13 and 17. These cover issues such as poverty reduction, gender equality, decent work, responsible consumption and production, climate action and partnership to achieve the goals. We’ve reported on the amount of money that we have donated to charities from our sales, the amount of decent work that we have created, the number of women we have created work for and our steps towards sustainable consumption and production and climate change. In 2022 we created 2174 hours of decent work at our factories in India and provided 67 women employment opportunities.

It's a topic we've touched on everytime we speak but I firmly believe it's an important one. But in your opinion why is it important that brands become more ethically conscious and sustainable in their practices? Do you think brands are currently doing enough? I think it’s vitally important that the fashion industry changes. Fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world and change is needed to address the impact on the environment. On top of this 93% of fashion brands surveyed by Fashion Checker aren’t paying garment workers a living wage. Although there is a positive shift towards more sustainability within fashion, there is a lot more that needs to be done!

I want to at this point revert back to your upcoming collection, where do your inspirations come from for the designs? We design our collection based on customer feedback and trends with longevity that will last for longer than just one season.

How long have you been working on the collection and has it turned out the way you had hoped? It takes us about a year from start to finish to develop a range and we’re pleased with how our recent collection has turned out. We’re excited about the new direction that we are taking as we offer customers more everyday clothing.

What for you is the staple piece in this collection? We’ve got a great update on our best-selling Transformation dress with a new ¾ sleeve version. It’s such an easy dress to just throw on for any occasion. It also comes in a cut out back version which is more in line with one of the big trends that’s been around for the last few seasons, and I think is here to stay for some time.

I get the sense from you and the way Jenerous is projected it's more than just designing a garment. For Jenerous it seems to be about the impact you can have on the planet but also on people the way your garments make people feel, is this something you agree with me on? Yes definitely, we want to make clothing that makes people feel good when they wear it, but also does good through choosing to buy clothing that’s made fairly and has a positive impact.

Something I've asked you before but I want to ask again, what single piece of advice would you give to someone starting their own fashion brand? Be prepared to make mistakes, learn from them, and improve.

What's your hopes for Jenerous over the next 18 months? We hope to see our brand continue to grow and therefore have even more impact.

Jenny, It's been wonderful to have you back on the cover, thank you.

Thank you.

You can shop the full collection from Jenerous over at https://www.jenerous.org/