WHEN GREAT CAUSE MEETS FASHION & BLOGSPHERE

Lover of Fashion since she was very young, Jennifer Heath studied languages and got to travel around spending time in Paris, Shanghai, Frankfurt and Rome during her degree. Then Moved to London to study fashion buying at London College of Fashion and got a job as a Buying Assistant at ASOS quite immediately. This Red- hot- haired girl began selling vintage clothing online last year and have left ASOS to start her own business.

We wanted to know what motived this 25 years old woman to land to Kenya. Beforehand we had some questions.

You Worked for the past years for Asos and specially for Asos Africa. Tell us more about what your job consisted on? and what did you learn from this experience at ASOS Africa Department?

Working for a young fashion brand like ASOS you have to be on top of the trends so I would spend time looking at the catwalk shows but also looking at blogs and new and up and coming designers to spot emerging trends. Then it is about getting that trend or new exciting product to your customer, working with an international supplier base to develop products. ASOS Africa works slightly differently to the other departments, it has its own direction every season, designed in house and fabrics sourced where possible in Africa. SOKO then produce the collection. It was a great privilege to work on the ASOS Africa team but it also comes with its own challenges!

Can you present SOKO Kenya Organization, you recently joined?.

SOKO is an ethical sustainable production unit based in Kenya. They provide training and employment to people from the local community through the manufacturing of fashion garments for clients such as ASOS, Suno and LaLesso. SOKO believes in Trade Not Aid, by manufacturing quality garments in Kenya they show what can be done out here and will hopefully encourage more people to look at Africa as an option for production.

Why joining SOKO Kenya? (culture of entreprise, standards, values, ethics…) What is your mission/project there.

When I left my job I had in mind to create an ethical fashion brand of my own but I wanted to spend some time experiencing the ‘real’ side of ethical fashion first. So I asked Jo Maiden, Director and founder of SOKO if I could come and spend some time with them. I am working with them for 2 months – learning about what can be sourced locally and what needs to be imported, what the local skills are in terms of beading, jewellery making, basket weaving, how the production works. Quite simply what can be achieved here and what can’t, before I start to design a collection.

What do you think make the difference between Soko Kenya and Similar organizations?( the plus and approach)

This one is very difficult to answer as I dont have a lot of experience with similar organisations. One big advantage is that the director at SOKO is a fashion lover from London and so she understands the standards that a garment needs to meet in order for it to be sold in the Western market.

So you are a serious working gitrl! what we calls the new generation of slasher writer/blogger/ designer/been working for retailer/owner of vintage marketplace. What motivates you to run different positions and how do you find the right balance?

It mainly comes from needing an outlet for creativity. A lot of jobs require 10% creativity and 90% hard work/admin. So you need another space to put all your thoughts down – images and fashion go to my blog, thoughts and experiences go into my writing. And a girl has to eat (or go shopping) so after all that I need to sell some clothes!

What inspired you to start a style blog? What kind of fashion you present (inspirations..) ?

I started my blog as a diary for all the things I feel inspired by around me. I wanted to connect with like minded people across the world who would get just as much pleasure from an image of a vintage pair of Chanel shoes for example as I would.

The name of your blog is lovegettingdressed. I personally have a mum who teached me not spending too much money on clothes and try to recycle my wardrobe invest on africa and peru to help populations and sometimes is hard to buy luxury pieces thinking that with this money can feed someone for a year! my question is how your engagement for ethical balances with your love for clothes ?what kind of buyer are you? (brands you shop personally ethical or not 3 min)

Personally its all about the product and I believe it should be from a business sense as well. Whilst I think that ethical/fair trade is the way forward in clothing production I also feel strongly that you cannot convince people to buy things based on these values alone. You should buy something because you fall in love with it. I would like to be able to offer that to people; a product that they love which also happens to be ethically produced.

I wear a lot of vintage which is recycled, mixed in with both luxury (Balenciagia, Helmut Lang, Chanel, Alexander Wang) and high street labels (ASOS, H&M, Cos, Topshop). I do not shop only ethical brands but if I had a choice between two identical products of course I would choose the ethical one but I’m not willing to compromise style for an ethical choice and I don’t believe any other customer should have to either.

First impression of Kenya? population fabric artisan skills ? even food! are you used to it?

My first impression was how beautiful it is here! On my first day I woke up to see gorgeous sunshine and a green landscape with palm trees, clay red soil and houses with Makuti roofs. Of course I am fortunate that I am staying in a more developed region – Diani beach in a lovely house. It is difficult as a Westerner to really understand how it is – we live/stay in different area with different standard of accomodation, I also don’t speak Swahili which makes it more difficult to interact with the locals.

In terms of food fruit and vegetables are so cheap and readily available here that I have eaten a very healthy diet since I arrived. There has been quite a bit of ice cream too, necessary to counteract the heat!

How would you describe Fashion in the Country of Kenya?

Kenyan people dress very formally, they always look smart the men wearing suit trousers and shirts and the women often wear the bright colourful kitenge fabric that is made locally.

Who/what inspired you  from what you already saw?

The Masaii tribe look incredible – they wear a a red or check (depending which tribe they are from) piece of fabric around their bodies called a Shuka. Over this they have layers of beaded jewellery which has been made by the Masai women.

What are your favourite pieces in your wardrobe?

All of the pieces that my boyfriend has bought me because they all have a special meaning and signify a time, moment or place. When I wear them I remember that and so does he.

Is your personal style is inspired by ethnic ethical  (describe it!)?

I wouldnt say Im really inspired by ‘ethnic’ as such but I am inspired by the different fabrics, fashions and customs of different cultures across the world. For example I love the Comme Des Garcons Japanese style and how this fashion indicates a time of change in society and values.

Favourites designers

Marc Jacobs, Alber Elbaz, Coco Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Le Croix, Rei Kawikubo, Phoebe Philo, Martin Margiela, Meadham Kirchoff, Nicolas Ghesquire, Philip Lim, Alexander Wang.

Can you advise our readers on conscious brands and ethical designers/brands we should buy?

High street; H&M fashion conscious collection is getting stronger every time. ASOS Africa SS12 collection is going to be amazing. More premium brands; Suno has some beautifully chic designs.

What are the Misconceptions people have on ethical ?

I think that whilst we have come a long way with ethical clothing being fashionable it is still regarded as a niche industry with a particular consumer rather than it being more mainstream appealing to the mass. Hopefully the more ethical production units there are the more we can infiltrate the mass market and fairtrade practices become the norm within clothing manufacturing rather than being something special.

The Looks of Jennifer Heath. She is definitely  someone you need to follow.. Her style flirts between her Capeline chic,  to her leopard printed tanktop, red stunning dress,  grey rompers very James Bond though, Maxi dresses and seventies’ special mention to her orange purse! very Orange Mécanique!