Eco Fashion World

Jenny Ambrose was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in Canada, also known as ‘the prairies.’ She grew up in clothing homemade by her mother and in the same way her mother worked with fabrics, her father worked with wood. He made furniture, patios and even houses. Her parents built two houses together, from foundation to decoration. After high school, she moved to Jasper in the Rocky Mountains for a year and a half before moving to the UK on her own in January 1998.

Up until this point, she had been involved in art and woodworking, and she had dabbled in textiles. After a couple years of living abroad, doing low paid work, and exploring the social scene to the max, Ambrose developed a need to do something different with her life. She returned to Canada for a year in 2000 and decided to change her course. She went to the local fabric shop, bought materials, then went and made herself something to wear. This first challenge gave her such as sense of satisfaction, inspiring her to start collecting vintage fabrics to make things. Ambrose enrolled in an evening course to learn pattern cutting and was eventually accepted into Vancouver College but declined her place as she got engaged and moved back to the UK. She was determined to carry on with her work so every chance she had outside of her work as a waitress and home-care worker, she would sew or draw.

In 2003, Ambrose earned a National Diploma in Fashion and Textiles at Northbrook College in Worthing. She completed a 2-year course inside a year. At this stage, she had discovered hemp fabrics and was mixing them together with vintage prints. She was making hot pants and tops to sell from a local vintage clothing shop and market. Her first sale was a beach top that was made from a 60’s curtain. It was in the shop window for only a few hours when it sold. This was the moment she decided to go into business for herself.

Jenny enrolled in courses through Business Link and learned about the Prince’s Trust through this workshop, then decided to approach the organization to see if she qualified. After receiving approval, she met her mentor to begin the arduous task of preparing a business plan. With a lot of determination and persistence, she did it and in January 2004 presented the plan to the panel. Ambrose was awarded a combined loan from Prince’s Trust and Fredericks Foundation. This was the beginning of Enamore. The official launch was in February 2004.

Enamore started with a collection of dresses, skirts, shorts, tops and trousers. A couple years after the launch of Enamore, Ambrose met an underwear designer named Ayten Gasson in Brighton. Ayten was working with the Prince’s Trust as well. She approached Ayten with an interest in taking the concept of eco-friendly clothing and applying this to underwear. The Enamore collections gradually transitioned into lingerie. Ambrose observed that lingerie is less seasonal than clothing and also thought of it as a brilliant gift from ‘him to her.’ She found that her customer base expanded as she was selling to both men and women. Ambrose had always loved the 1950’s pin-up glamour looks and had been collecting old post cards for years. These looks inspired the style direction of Enamore.

Ambrose recalls money being scarce in her early years of sewing, which pushed her to buy a lot of second hand or vintage clothing and fabrics to make up her own designs. This worked out well but sometimes she wanted a big piece of a solid colored fabric and this was difficult. She wanted to source something that was eco-friendly, and was aware at the time that conventional cotton was harmful to the environment due to the high use of pesticides. She discovered hemp fabrics in a local Hemp Shop in the Brighton Lanes and was instantly hooked on the idea of eco-fabrics from that point forward. Ambrose got involved with London Fashion Week’s Estethica when the exhibition first launched and this helped to open more doors for Enamore as a small label as she met a lot of other designers running their own small labels. Jenny says, “The ethical fashion community is full of very interesting, exciting and determined people; a generally honest community that is open to discussing the trials and triumphs both related to business and personal aspects. It is a huge support group that represents support for the planet and for one another.”

Enamore lingerie is created in a studio in Bath and they also work with a small production unit in Nottingham. The unit was set up by 2 ladies who spent years working for M & S and now have set up their own facility as M & S has gone to Asia for production. Enamore’s manufacturing is still relatively small scale, but growing.

Enamore lingerie materials include bamboo, organic cotton, silk, organic silks and soya. Their Organic Silks are from Majestic Textiles based in North London, who have just had their silks certified by the Soil Association; Bamboo and Organic Cotton from Ants Tekstil based in Turkey; and Organic Cotton, Soya, Bamboo from Pickering International based in the USA with fabrics produced mainly in Asia.

The Enamore design process starts with an inspirational mood board. Often their interns will research and collect images based on a theme Jenny gives them to create a mood from which they can pull colors and ideas. They then sketch shapes and decide on how to bring the product to life by incorporating the trimmings and components such as elastics, hook and eye, bra strapping, ribbon, etc. Sometimes they use existing patterns that already have a great fit but need fabric/trim updates to fit into the new collection. The Enamore team is always striving to improve fit, variety, and sexiness in their collections. Once they have a collection concept and fabrics/trims chosen, they call in their nipple-tassel designer, Alice Holloway-Smith, to make up samples that compliment the range.

As for the future of Enamore, this is an important time. Ambrose is planning her relocation to Vancouver, Canada after over 12 years in the UK. The Enamore team has always had a lot of interest in expansion to the North American market but their price range had been a little prohibitive. Now that they are working on some production to be fulfilled in India at a high-end ethical lingerie manufacturer, they feel the time is right for Enamore to be more widely available. Ambrose also expresses interest in expanding to include men’s underwear styles as well as expanding the existing size range in women’s styles, mainly offering bigger bra sizes. If you can even imagine getting sexier, Jenny says “we will be getting a lot sexier in 2011 as we will be adding some suspender belts and some eco-kinky accessories!”

In examination of the overall picture, Jenny Ambrose hopes to bring some fun to the eco-fashion industry. She says, “I think that fashion as an industry takes itself very seriously and this is important but I also believe it is important to laugh a lot and have fun with what you do. This is one of the many reasons I prefer lingerie; there’s more scope for amusement. I hope to inspire others to pursue their own creative dreams and am always encouraging our interns and the students who come to my workshops to keep creating and sewing. It’s a very satisfying past time, even if you don’t choose to make a career out of it. I also hope that we are making it easier for guys to get excited about buying eco-friendly gifts for their wives and girlfriends!”

Enamore offers more than sexy sustainable lingerie, through consistent involvement with various organizations such as: The Makery in Bath where Ambrose teaches sewing workshops and rents a studio space; Fredericks Foundation, through which she has been mentored; The Prince’s Trust; The Red Cross Prince Charles ‘Start’ a Garden Party to Make a Difference [September 2010]; Pants to Poverty; official mentoring through Bath Spa Universities mentoring program and unofficial mentoring for past interns or designers who have contacted Ambrose looking for advice on how to start their own businesses.

Burlesque design, earth inspired, sexy lingerie – Enamore proves that amazing and wonderful things can come in very small packages. Visit www.enamore.co.uk to view the latest collections from Enamore.

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