Jaded London co-founder chats streetwear success

Jaded London is fast becoming one of London’s hottest street label, worn by the likes of Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Cara Delevingne, and has become instantly recognisable for its colourful, urban designs.

Founded in 2013 by sibling duo Jade and Grant Goulden, their innovative designs and cutting-edge trends have earned them an army of dedicated social media followers and a worldwide customer base as they are not “afraid to break boundaries” with their bold, unique and colourful prints that are seen across hoodies, joggers, crop tops, T-shirts, shorts, and dresses.

The London-based company have become key players in fashion e-commerce, offering womenswear, swimwear and menswear under Jaded Man, with the siblings working side-by-side to build their fashion empire. Jade, a former Asos buyer with experience working with design houses including Burberry and Vera Wang focuses on the brand’s womenswear and swim, while her brother Grant runs all of the brand’s menswear.

Five Minutes With…Jaded London co-founder Jade Goulden

FashionUnited chatted to Jade London over e-mail to find out a little bit more about how it is to work with your sibling, what inspired the launch of the successful streetwear label, as well as what impact social media has had on the brand, and what we can expect from future collections and category launches.

What inspired you to launch your own clothing label with your sibling?

We have both always loved fashion and had a real passion for the industry. Having worked at Asos, I noticed that streetwear was filtering down into the mainstream but no brands were really doing it well at an affordable price point. I noticed a gap in the market which inspired me to launch something that was accessible to the mass market.

Were there any challenges to launching a start-up?

There is a lot of trial and error to get the right suppliers/teams in place when starting a business. We grew very quickly in terms of sales but it was hard to hire staff and supply the goods at the same speed as the demand.

Did your experience as a fashion buyer help?

Yes, it was extremely helpful as I knew how to price the items and what product was in demand for the market. It was also very helpful when working with wholesale clients as I understood how the wholesale business worked.

You seem to utilise social media successfully - how has that helped build the brand?

Our social media strategy is targeting more micro influencers with gifting and no paid placements rather than the mega ones that require high fees as we feel this is a lot more organic for our brand. We find that these micro influencers are often more influential than some celebrities for increasing sales for a product.

Our product is extremely visual so Instagram is a great way to promote the product and allow our customers to express themselves showing off their new purchases. We often re-post our customers and have built a huge following by creating a page where people get inspired.

You have also had a lot of celebrities wearing your designs - how has that helped? Anyone you’d love to see wearing your designs?

Celebrities have massively increased brand awareness for our brand and sales of the item that they are wearing, we have had Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Rita Ora and Gigi Hadid all wear our brand. We would love to see Bella Hadid, Kylie Jenner and Dua Lipa wear our brand as they are currently the most influential with huge social followings.

Who is the Jaded London customer?

Our customers are between the ages of 18-35 (male and female) they love socialising with friends, going to festivals and gigs, holidays in Ibiza and big social media users. They are not afraid to show off their personality through their fashion.

Any plans to follow up on your successful pop-up with a permanent store?

We would love to open future pop up stores abroad in LA where we already have a significant following or Asia, potentially Tokyo. Our main focus is growing our online platform as it allows us to sell worldwide and target a much larger demographic.

What is it like working with your sibling?

It is great working together as it allows us to make decisions a lot quicker as you don’t need to tread on eggshells if you don’t agree with each other’s ideas. We are both good at different things so we focus on separate areas, I focus on womenswear and swim and Grant runs all of menswear.

What can we expect from Jaded London going forward?

We won’t stop until we become a globally recognised brand with millions of followers and consumers, we are growing at an extremely rapid rate year on year and would love to explore different markets and categories such as Jaded gym wear and footwear.

Jaded London is stocked in major retailers such as Topshop, Selfridges, Urban Outfitters and Asos, with Jaded Man sold in Topman and River Island, and both are available via their own e-commerce that trades in five currencies.

Images: courtesy of Jaded London