My second client spotlight is Lucy from Chico Jack's. Although not a brand new start-up, Lucy like many of my clients jumped into the fashion industry from a different career. I've worked with Chico Jack's now on a couple of projects and have been excited to work with the brand as Lucy's enthusiasm always shines through.
This client already had a supplier in place but needed me to design some new products, delivering full factory packs that could be taken to the manufacture for production.
Can you introduce yourself, your position and your brand?
Hi! I’m Lucy and I’m the founder of the award-winning breastfeeding clothing brand, Chico Jack’s.
What do you sell and who are your customers?
We sell breastfeeding specific clothing to Mothers. Our clothing is designed to make breastfeeding journeys that little bit easier by offering clothes that are comfortable, practical and fashionable. Our brand launched 2 years ago and since then has built an incredibly strong community of Mums that support each other as we all make our efforts to #normalisebreastfeeding
What was your background prior to launching in the fashion industry?
Entirely unrelated to what I do now!! I have worked in a variety of backgrounds from childcare, pensions and finance to working in the police force.
What drove you to set up your brand?
When starting my first breastfeeding journey in 2016 I really struggled. Not just with establishing breastfeeding which was hard enough, but with not feeling myself in the big whirlwind of being a new Mum. I didn’t feel like ‘me’ anymore and a big part of that was because I couldn’t wear the clothes that I used to – I was faced with a ‘mum uniform’ of unflattering and non-stylish clothing so that I could breastfeed my baby. Obviously, this was a far from acceptable excuse for me to stop breastfeeding but I’ll be honest, it did put me off because of how it made me feel.
How long did the launch take from concept to product?
About 3 months roughly. I got some samples and launched those to see how things took off and to see if there were any other Mums ‘in my boat’. I took to social media firstly to ‘reach out’ and in the 4th month launched the website.
What have been your main challenges with regard to being new to the fashion industry?
The amount of work that goes into a single design! I have learnt so much about the fashion industry in 2 years, but each day I’m learning more. There are so many more components to working in the fashion industry to what I imagined, but with the right people alongside and professionals to reach out to they have guided me considerably!
If you could go back in time knowing what you know now, are there any changes you would have made to how you started out with the brand or launch?
I don’t actually think there is. I probably would have dived in deeper at the beginning as I now know how high the demands are.
Which of my services have helped the most and why?
Michelle has helped considerably with our brand. We have actually only worked with her on 2 of our new designs and one print but that in itself goes to show the impact she has had. The whole process has ran that much more smoothly thanks to her professional input and we look forward to working on new designs with her.
Is there a top piece of advice you’d give other startups considering launching a brand?
I really would say that when planning, think of where you want to be a year, in 5 years time and the future. This really helps to get action plans in place and to dictate what you need to do to get there and meet your goals.
What are your plans for the brand in 2019?
We’ve got some really exciting projects coming up this year and we’re looking forward to opening up opportunities for Mums to join us. Alongside these projects, we’ll also be growing our brand with new collections and designs – we’re very excited for this year!
You can find out more about Chico Jack's at their links below
https://chicojacks.co.uk
https://www.instagram.com/chicojacks