5ft 1in mum making big bucks out of clothes for small women
THE Daily Mail has been asking you to nominate mothers who have created businesses while raising children, for our first ever Mumpreneur Of The Year Award, in association with NatWest everywoman Awards. Here, INDIA STURGIS meets Jess Jeetly, who has big ambitions for a clothing business aimed at shorter women.
FRUSTRATION with being a small person in a tall person’s world provided Jess Jeetly with the inspiration for her business — the first ‘collaborative’ clothing brand for petite women.
Customers are asked to vote on her designs so only the most popular garments go into production. She also invites them to suggest colour, cut and style alterations, so her label is perfectly tailored to its diminutive customers.
Things came to a head for 5ft 1in Jess while she was working as an optometrist in the West Midlands. A patient asked her whether she was old enough to treat them.
‘It was a comment I was getting all the time,’ say Jess. ‘It felt so derogatory. As petites, we know we are short but we don’t want to look like a child. It suddenly dawned on me — maybe it was the way I was dressing.’
But at just over 5ft, finding workappropriate clothes that fitted properly was a struggle.
‘I’d buy size 6 clothes from Next but even they were too big. Some children’s clothing did fit me but it wasn’t cut for breasts and hips. High Street suits and jackets needed expensive alterations and I didn’t feel petite sections in wellknown High Street brands were wellmade enough.’
Jess made do with sleeves that were too long or gaping shoulders that made her feel like a little girl playing dress up. Then her husband Jay, 38, also an optometrist, suggested that instead of moaning, she do something about it. And she unearthed some surprising research.
‘I found that despite petite women making up 35 per cent of the UK (and U.S.) female population, and there being more than 60 countries in the world where the average height of a woman is below 5ft 3in, there was no petite-exclusive UK clothing brand.’
So she decided to start one. Jeetly (her last name) would make smart dresses, coats, trousers and shirts for women of 5ft 3in or under.
‘Our clothing choice has been limited and determined by designers and High Street retailers, who think culottes and midi lengths are a good look after seeing them on 6ft models. The aim was to make workappropriate clothing that was feminine, timeless and chic.’
SHeset off at the gallop with her then two-yearold daughter, Lara, in tow. Two weeks after having the idea, she took her husband and Lara on a trip to China to find a factory that would make her clothes.
The production plan was for Jess’s petite designs to be made into samples, first in the UK, then photographed and uploaded on to her website, to ensure she was happy with every inch of them.
The public has 30 days to vote each either ‘in’ or ‘out’. If a design alteration is suggested during that time that improves the garment, Jess uses Photoshop to change the look online. Once the 30 days are up, if the item has more than 65 per cent of ‘in’ votes, she’ll send the pattern to the factory in China to roll into production, available to buy within four weeks.
‘It helped that I had a husband who said “Yes, why not”,’ she says. ‘I saw ten factories in three days. I needed to see the owners face-toface, who was working for them, that they were following protocols and had stringent safety standards.’
Jess employed an interpreter, found an independent qualitycontrol agent (to check garments when she was in the UK), a freight forwarder and a logistics partner to get the items to the UK in time. ‘It was a lot to do in a short time but great fun as well. I was driven.’
What’s more, the business would be entirely self-funded.
‘I was lucky enough to have saved over the past nine years. I earned quite well and used all my savings. It took £25,000 to get Jeetly up and running in the first year, including the £10,000 I spent on the first collection. Since then, we’ve had enough revenue to put back into the business and keep trading.
‘Parents, friends and business consultants said I was wasting my time and money. About 90 per cent of people I met were naysayers. I’d come home in tears thinking I wasn’t doing the right thing, but my heart was telling me to go for it.’ After six months of preparation, Jeetly launched in January 2013. What sets the website apart is its option to let consumers influence what’s produced. ‘Most women are pretty good shoppers, they understand what looks good and what makes them feel good,’ Jess says.
‘This empowers them and helps us save money, as we haven’t made any unpopular decisions. If someone makes a suggestion that I use, I name the dress after them and send it to them for free.’
She’s already attracting hundreds of votes for each garment. One dress won 800 votes after a customer suggested it should have threequarter length sleeves instead of T- shirt ones, and be black rather than navy.
Jess made the changes, naming it the Cara after the woman who sug- gested them, and its been a best seller. ‘I’ve been globally minded from day one. I’ve got customers in Australia, France and Sweden as well as the UK who regularly comment on how things are made.
‘They feel a part of the brand and really valued. No one has asked them for their input like this before. I’ve had some even ask if I could employ them.’
BUTit hasn’t all been plain sailing. With no previous experience in fashion, Jess had to outsource expertise from freelance designers and employed fashion students from Birmingham University to create toiles and patterns.
‘early on I forgot to check that a fabric didn’t crease before putting it into production. It did, awfully. We had to remake the whole batch. I lost £5,000 as I couldn’t sell them.’
Balancing motherhood and work has been tough. Jess — who juggled the new business with her part-time optometry work for the first 13 months — wakes at 5am to speak to suppliers in China, gets Lara, now five, ready for school and drops her off while fielding emails and calls. She works until 4.30pm, when Lara needs collecting, then Skypes and emails late into the evening, often leaning on Jay to put Lara to bed.
‘Sometimes I work 20-hour days. When Lara was younger, I’d be on my laptop with her running around. She’d tell Mummy to put her phone away and play with her. Luckily, I had friends and family to help with childcare, too.’
Jeetly now sells 120 garments a week, in 16 countries worldwide including boutiques in Russia, the U.S. and China. Revenue has been increasing steadily by 20 per cent month- on-month and she’s just signed a contract with a big UK department store, though isn’t saying which one just yet.
The business has three employees and six freelancers, and the plan is to up production from two to four collections a year and branch out into accessories, shoes and maternity wear — all for the petite.
‘We are looking for investment to reach £800,000 turnover next year and £1.5 million the year after,’ says Jess. ‘As women, too often we make do with the status quo. If you have a vision, you can find a way to make it happen.’