Wednesday, 27 Nov 2024

‘I quit my job to start my own fashion label – and now make millions from it’

Millions of graduates leave fashion school every year desperate to start their own label – but few succeed in making millions from it.

However, that's not been the case for Jade Goulden, who launched a British fashion line in summer 2013 and has since had her streetwear designs photographed on the likes of Taylor Swift and even Beyoncé while shopping in Paris.

With the likes of Burberry and Asos on her CV, and armed with a fashion degree, Jade teamed up with brother and business student Grant to launch her dream start-up: Jaded London, in 2013.

"I went to London College of Fashion and studied fashion marketing and Grant went to Nottingham University and studied business," Jade, 30, explained.

But before that, fashion was already in their blood.

"Our mother was a director of sales at a large womenswear manufacturing business and our father manufactured men’s shirts for the high street. Our grandfather was also a tailor in West London," she explained.

In 2013, the duo quit work to launch their first statement collection. They focused on streetwear, inspired by London, LA and New York.

"This style was starting to filter through to the mainstream market and we wanted to make it affordable," they said.

Three years later, they recorded their first £1million. In the past year, it's turned over £2.5million.

"I was working in the buying team at Asos, and Grant had just graduated from university when we decided to just go for it. We put together a small collection of jersey product from unisex t-shirts, sweats, joggers, bombers and designed our own unique prints in-house.

"We used a process of printing the jersey called sublimation and UK manufacturers to produce the product. We used our friends as models/photographers and shot a lookbook on a very small budget."

Their first collection was shot with friends in a skate park in Camden for next to nothing – today, it's stocked in high street mecca Selfridges.

"We made a website that shoppers could buy from, and then started cold-calling all of the buyers of the major retailers to pitch our lines into their stores. We were lucky.

"After a lot of perseverance, we managed to get our collections into River Island, Topshop, Topman, Urban Outfitters and Selfridges in the first season. We are extremely proud of that."

The business, which has since evolved into a fashion empire with over 167,000 Instagram followers, is now run by 15 members of staff while the website trades in five currencies. Its UK warehouse is based near Gatwick airport and items cost anything from £18 for a crop top to £150 for outerwear.

"Our product has since evolved to all types of clothing from denim to outerwear, suiting and jersey – and everything is marketed purely on social media, namely Instagram."

And it's not the only brand to do so.

As the UK’s high street continues to deteriorate, an increasing number of fashion outlets are taking their business not just online but specifically to social media.

And Jaded London is one of those that might be considered "Instagram famous".

"At the start and when money was tight, we gifted some products to micro-influencers – ones that didn't require money in return for the clothes."

But Jade said they're lucky, as their unique designs make for appealing social media posts that naturally engage well.

"The lines themselves are very visual so it is quite easy for us to come up with exciting content to promote on social media," she explained.

"We now have a team that look after our social accounts as it is the most important way to target and keep in contact with our customers."

They even have celebrities on their books.

Jade, whose fashion icon is Kate Moss, now counts Taylor Swift and Rita Ora among her fans, alongside a slew of A-list pop stars.

"Our celebrity following has grown very organically. A lot of celebrities have contacted us directly via Instagram DMs or Twitter.

"Beyoncé visited Topshop on her world tour and bought some of our products with her stylist. Our designs are very visual so it is great for stage wear – we are quite lucky that stylists use it a lot."

A highlight, she said, is when Beyoncé was photographed wearing Jaded London's honeycomb skirt and diamond crop sweat while walking out of her favourite store in the world – Colette in Paris.

"Another highlight was seeing my diamond zoom joggers on a mannequin in the Selfridges window."

Today, Jade is the head of womenswear in their 15-strong team.

"I am head of womenswear and swimwear and run all creative direction for our female lines, Grant does the same for menswear."

But it comes with sacrifices.

"I work seven days a week. My job doesn't stop so I don’t have much time to socialise with friends anymore.

"Perseverance is key, never give up and always be passionate in what you believe. There are a lot of knocks in the fickle fashion business but you need to stay positive as things change so rapidly. You can go from the worst to the best overnight."

Her biggest words of wisdom for anyone else looking to start up is to stay determined, never be afraid to use all of your contacts and take the risk.

"Our next stop is to expand into the US. This is our second biggest territory, we want to increase product categories from accessories and footwear and grow the business in sales and consumer awareness."

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