WITH LOVE, GEMBABIES
Gembabies started when we both decided that we wanted to do something more than just simply sell our old clothes for a bit of extra cash. We’d both been casually selling separately on Depop for a few years and then it was during the first lockdown that we both decided it would be fun to start our own brand of reworked and vintage pieces. I (Jade) had always wanted to experiment by creating my own clothes and decided that lockdown was the perfect opportunity so I bought a sewing machine and we’ve never looked back!
Originally a lot of our reworks were made from old clothes gifted to us by family and friends and this eventually progressed to buying second hand, online and in person. We also spend hours online sourcing our vintage items to sell in our shop.
Our first key design was the ‘Bratz’ top and after creating our Instagram account we saw that it was very popular, we then went on to explore other similar routes with designs such as Betty Boop, skulls and hello kitty. I’d say that almost all of our tops are inspired by the 2000s era which is very popular at the moment and we love it!
We’ve both always been a big believer in trying to ensure the clothes we buy are as sustainable as they can be but we understand that not everyone can afford to shop as sustainably as they’d like to, including us, and so we decided to create unique and exciting pieces that are hopefully affordable to people! We also give people the option of sending us their own T-shirt’s that they already own for us to rework it for them.
The dream is to have a successful business making and sourcing clothes that we love. We’ve been exploring a few ways of growing our shop such as promos and giveaways. A goal for 2020 is to become a verified seller on Depop and from there hopefully branch into the creation of our own online shop.
I think that, especially with lockdown, many of the younger generation have become a lot more vocalised with their views and opinions. People are more aware of issues such as global warming and slave labour and I feel that now a lot of teenagers are seeing it as ‘cool’ to buy second-hand and sustainably, which is amazing! I remember when I was younger that everyone would say it was embarrassing to go into a charity shop, now we all walk out of there happily and with an armful of goodies that won’t cost the earth!
By Jade Warwick (she/her)
and Darcy Stubbs (she/her)