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Jenerous: What is it?
Jenerous is a fair trade apparel brand that combines artisan block printing with contemporary style to create beautiful handmade clothing.
Their timeless collection is made from sustainable and deadstock fabrics, with a focus on organic cotton dresses.
Founder and designer, Jenny Allan, is a fashion designer who has worked in the fashion industry for many years, previously designing for the UK High Street.
Jenny says: “I first visited India in 2007 when I took a short career break from working as a fashion designer for the UK High Street. I had never seen first-hand the degree of poverty and need that I did while teaching at a village school on the outskirts of Delhi.”
Jenerous was borne as a way to help communities in India find freedom from poverty. It offers a shopping experience that gives back, with the goal to transform lives.
On their online store, you can purchase everything from fair trade tops to dresses, skirts, and trousers. They also offer matching mini-me girls dresses for kids and use fabric offcuts from their collections to make a range of zero-waste accessories.
Also, you can opt into the Jenerous pre-loved scheme option and return your unwanted Jenerous items for them to resell to extend the life of your clothing.
Jenerous best-sellers:
Raglan Sleeve Dress
£89
Wide Leg Trousers
£79
Indigo Floral Dress
£80
Jenerous: How sustainable is it?
As well as ensuring the people making their clothes have safe and fair working conditions, Jenerous strives to be sustainable in both their fabric choices and production processes.
The majority of their collection is made using sustainable fabrics such as organic cotton and Lenzing Modal. They source all their fabrics from India where the garments are manufactured, with each factory used for production being World Fair Trade Organization or Fairtrade certified.
They are also partnered with Tharangini studios, a woman-owned sustainable block printer in Bangalore, so that their dying and printing is done using dyes that aren’t harsh on the planet.
Additionally, Jenerous supports local Indian businesses by including some deadstock end of roll fabrics in their collections. This uses up fabric that has already been produced and prevents it from going to landfill.
After Jenny’s visit to India in 2007, she felt called to give back to the communities that had such an impact on her life. She says: “At Jenerous, our business activities aim to empower and bring freedom to the individuals and communities we are working with, and we hope to over time increase the number of people offered training and employment.”
A key element of this is to ensure that the workers and artisans involved in the production of Jenerous products are paid fairly and have good, safe working conditions. All five of the factories used and the teams that work there can be found on the Partners and Suppliers section of their website.
Jenny says: “I created Jenerous because I wanted to use my love of fashion as a force for good. Jenerous is on a mission to change lives through fashion, by using Fairtrade production and giving back from sales.”
As such, 10% of every purchase is donated to their charity project The Leprosy Mission, which trains people affected by Leprosy to become tailors. So, every purchase has impact through supporting Fairtrade production and giving back.
They use carbon-neutral international shipping and recycled and biodegradable packaging for deliveries. As well as printing all promotional material and swing tags on recycled paper.
Jenerous: Where to buy?
You can shop their online store: Jenerous.
You can also find Jenerous on select online retail platforms such as eBay for Change, Etsy, and Project Cece.
