PIP JENKINS/ JOHN SMEDLEY

Pip Jenkins, Design Director, JOHN SMEDLEY

This company has a long history and many honors, and holds two British Royal Warrants. Its production structure is also very complete, and the system and business modules she shared from sketch to production have been very helpful for me to establish my own brand in the future, making me clearer about which departments need support for a mature brand.

This heritage brand is also changing with the times, and they are also focusing on and practicing sustainable development and the use of digital media. They are committed to producing durable and slow fashion trend, hoping that their products can last a lifetime. In addition, they are also researching fabrics that can be recycled to a greater extent, reducing resource waste.

This makes me feel that almost all brands are following the trend of the times, and sustainable development and the digital industry are undoubtedly hot topics in this era. These brands all feel the need to keep up with the development of the times, adjust their strategies, constantly add new elements to their brands, and prevent themselves from being abandoned by the times.

In addition, during the final Q&A session, a student raised a question about garment size, asking why this brand has such a long history but did not consider adding a larger size. This is a problem that I often overlook. It reminds me of seeing some women discussing the size changes of Chinese women's garments in recent years on Chinese social media. In recent years, many Chinese businesses have been reducing the size data of women's garments, such as the original S data being labeled as M, or the M data being smaller than before. This has caused a lot of female body anxiety, and without a good understanding of garment size data, many women's first reaction is that they have gained weight. In this era of inclusiveness, openness, and the rise of feminism, this is not a good phenomenon. The reduction in size data for women's garments is an exploitation of women, and similarly, the lack of the degree of importance on larger size garments is also ignoring the feelings of some group. 

Many people wants to be more beautiful, but who can define what is more beautiful?