After the CSM show, Jude took her collection home to Paris, to organise her own show outside of the university sphere. By a stroke of luck (and a well-connected babysitting client), she was able to secure a gallery space in Paris where Acne and Stella McCartney have previously shown collections. “I managed to pay almost nothing,” she beams. “The only big cost was the giant monster truck – a tribute to my dad’s accident that inspired the whole collection.” Besides the venue, Jude found the process of staging a show quite complicated. “It was like planning a bar mitzvah, my sweet sixteen and my wedding at the same time,” she laughs. “I never thought I would have to consider so many things – the chairs, the set design, the lights, the sound, the models, the hair. It was so intense!”
After showing in Paris, Jude released a capsule collection of swimsuits on Depop — a marked departure from the usual path of emerging luxury brands. “Depop is a slick platform,” she says. “It seemed silly to make a whole website just for three styles of swimwear, and stores in Paris would sell them at triple the price, so I thought I would try it.” The collection sold out in just two weeks. “I always thought my customer would be in Japan,” Jude continues. “But a lot of the buyers were in New York and Los Angeles. Now that we are in quarantine, I hope the public continue to support small brands and buy from us or share what they like about us. It will give us the motivation and platform to continue.”
“It seemed silly to make a whole website just for three styles of swimwear, and stores in Paris would sell them at triple the price, so I thought I would try Depop.”
Prior to lockdown, Jude’s designs had appeared in a slew of independent publications, as well as bigger titles like ELLE China. Now, she is struggling to maintain momentum. “My parents don’t think I am mature enough in my work to have my own company yet, but it’s hard for me not to create stuff. I am full of ideas and I want to make them. Before the lockdown, I could only work on weekends and at night, so now I am more focused on all the details because I have more time. I am hoping that the editorials I did before lockdown will help me get an investor so I can work on my brand properly later. I am hoping to produce small runs and limited collections after the pandemic. Hopefully, that will still be possible when this is over.”