Ladies get ready to flaunt your curves in an ecofriendly way! Say hello to sustainable swimwear brand Miss Janna – a green figure-flattering swimwear brand with a vintage feel. Like Urban wear brand Movinun that we introduced to you, Miss Janna too participated in the recently concluded Berlin Fashion Week.
Twice a year, fashion-lovers, buyers, trade visitors and media representatives meet for shows and awards, converge at the Berlin Fashion Week to find out about latest collections and trends at the trade fairs, visit exhibitions and off-site events. One of the key highlights of this fashion week which is of great interest to us UrbanMeisters is the Greenshowroom and Ethical Fashion Show Berlin at Funkhaus. Our founder Mirela attended this in 2016 and gave us first hand review of all the excitement, green energy and sustainability quotient. The Greenshowroom is the high-end home of the sustainable fashion scene during the Berlin Fashion week. The Ethical Fashion Show presents progressive streetwear and casual wear labels during the Berlin Fashion Week.
So get ready to discover Miss Janna, meet the founder and learn a bit about their experience at the Berlin Fashion Week if you are a green-entrepreneur/enthusiast yourself!
In conversation with Miss Janna!
Hi Janna, introduce yourself to our UrbanMeisters!
Janna: Hi! I’m Janna, the founder of Miss Janna. My crew and I just got back from the Greenshowroom in Berlin where Miss Janna exhibited and participated in the runway.
How was your experience at the Berlin Fashion week?
Janna: This year was the first time I visited Greenshowroom and the Ethical Fashion Show. They are two fashion trade shows, which are a part of Berlin Fashion Week and are housed at the same location. Only brands, which fulfill certain criteria on sustainability and fair production, are able to exhibit their products. Besides the brand exhibitors there are fashion shows and lectures as well as organizations like OEKO-tex and Fairtade present, to share knowledge about the green fashion industry and help brands become even greener.
Tell us about some of the exciting new things you came across at the fashion week.
Janna: The Greenshowroom is such a great place to showcase sustainably designed apparel, showing that things made with concern do not need to be boring at all! In fact it is quite innovative how something made from recycled plastic mixed with organic cotton can have the feel of silk and having breathing properties just like the real thing, without using animals that are boiled to get the silk fiber.
It is like clothes 2.0. I saw many different innovative materials like shoes being made of wheat instead of leather by Italian Nemanti and new ways of thinking as a brand. Labels like UPSHIRT and Noumenon that make cool new clothes using the leftover materials from bigger brands that usually would just be destroyed. It’s so inspiring how all these brands have come together in one spot to make the fashion industry exiting and driven with true passion, not just profit. Clothing that does good, feels good and these labels help in finding a new way to easily switch from conventional shopping to a sustainable option. Once one gets aware with the problems in the fashion industry, it is hard to go back.
The whole vibe of Ethical Fashion Show and Greenshowroom was of innovation and new opportunities. It even reflected on the beverage company they brought in to serve drinks on one of the days, Selo Coffee Fruit who uses the leftover shells of coffee beans to make a beverage of! It’s starting a new economic as something that was thrown away can be used for something new making the farmers earn more and using resources to it’s fullest. One feels the opportunities are endless after having visited Ethical.
How is participating in the Greenshowroom & Ethical Fashion Show helpful to entrepreneurs?
Janna: Even as an entrepreneur and not just a retailer it is valuable to visit Ethical as it gives you an opportunity to meet other companies and learn about how they work. There are many difficulties when running a sustainable fashion company and it is hard to find information on how to do things, both when it comes to making your products as green and fair as possible as well as how to run your business. At the fair I picked up info about how the GOTS certificate works which will be very valuable for me in my future work. This type of meeting place does not only benefit each individual company but the green fashion industry as a whole and by extension the environment.
Now! Tell us all about your sexy label Miss Janna!
Janna: My brand – Miss Janna is a label focusing on how women should feel in their swimwear, confident and attractive. This was something I found was not available when I started designing swimwear, as I had to make my own swimsuit not being able to find anything that would match those criteria’s. I soon realized I was not alone struggling to find swimwear I felt confident in. How many don’t have stories of not feeling at ease in swimwear on the beach and hating swimwear shopping? That was the main thing I wanted to change.
How do you merge so much in your label from figure-flattering make, vintage design aesthetics, material innovation & sustainability?
Janna: Quite easy actually! We want to offer our costumers a graceful style in which they can enjoy themselves when they go to the beach. To those who associate swimwear and beaches with being uncomfortable and self-conscious we want to give them new positive associations. That’s why we always have a happy, positive vibe in our pictures and choose models of different sizes (We actually have up to size 42 in our collection – something we learnt during the fair is quite uncommon) which our customers can identify with.
Vintage is a natural choice. I have always loved vintage for its ability to accentuate the body, make shapes and having interesting cuts. I have a background in bespoke tailoring and have sewed historical clothing for theaters. I love how designs from the mid 1900’s accentuate the female bodies instead of exposing them. This is perfect for flattering swimwear!
Only with the addition of new materials more suitable for active wear with stretch and quick drying process time. We have a lot of retro influences, like in our Hello Sailor!-bikini, which has been so popular it has become a part of our continual collection an iconic piece for Miss Janna! We design patterns that are timeless and can be worn regarding of current fashion making the swimwear last throughout seasons.
As the company grew and increased I wanted to make it as sustainable as possible since environmental and social impacts are of great concern to me, being a long time vegan.
What drove you to being eco-conscious in your startup?
Janna: I think a lot about my own choices in my everyday life and I do feel that we as consumers have the power to change how we want things to be. But it can often be difficult to know how. As a designer I have the ability to make good options available and try to influence consumers to make greener choices. I can show new better ways are possible and taking in the consumers needs, like making swimwear that women actually want to wear, by listening to the consumer and its need.
Spill the sustainability magic beans about your label Miss Janna!
Janna: Happy to! Miss Janna uses 100% Recycled Nylon from ECONYL ® in all designs. By only using an already existing plastic no new raw materials are used. Old fishing nets are a big component in the Nylon mix we use. The fishing nets are cleared out from the oceans with the help of Healthy Seas Initiative. If left in the ocean it takes 600 years for a single fishing line to biodegrade. By that time it will have continued to cough numerous animals and killed the marine environment. It really is important to take care of the materials we already have instead of focusing on making everything new. Sometimes it is even better to use recycled materials. The ECONYL ® fiber used is twice as strong as a competitive fiber from new virgin materials because it has been re-processed. Sometimes there is no point in making things the old way, old fashions are not always better, they might even be outdated.
What would be your advice to all the green entrepreneurs out there?
Janna: My best advice for someone new to the sustainable world would be educate yourself! See what new materials and options are out there. There are so many new innovations and greener sustainable options available. At Ethical one could participate in discussions and lectures. It was very handy to have representatives on spot from OEKO –TEX and GOTS ready to answer and help you with all information on their standards.
What according to you is one of the big problems you face as a sustainable brand?
Janna: One thing we as brands still struggle with is why sustainably produced items cost more. It is because there are no shortcuts like poisonous chemicals being used in the process and fair and regulated working conditions do cost more. But it’s worth it knowing what you pay for. A Miss Janna Swimsuit for instance cost about 100 € in retail. In the price is included fair working conditions, a material that is both stronger and softer then a conventional one. Waste being turned into something useful saving the environment as well as not using any new fossil resources in the process.
So guys that was Miss Janna in conversation with UrbanMeisters telling us all about her label. Miss Janna swimwear can be found on their online shop missjanna.tictail.com and by retailers in Sweden. With SS18 they hope to expand to Germany some more places. If you want to read more about Miss Janna you can do so at: www.missjanna.se
Till then if vintage is not your vibe and you love itsy-bitsy tiny styles, then go for swimwear by yet another swimwear label using ECONYL – Breakfast Swim!