Jennifer Hope Interview with Juice Gee

We have our final instalment of interviews from our models from the photoshoot from the super talented Juice Gee owner of Small feet Big Kicks! However its not our final interview as we have some coming from our make up artist, videographer and good friend Gareth from Knife Party!

Juice Gee tells us about her company, from what she thinks about streetwear becoming more 'fashionable' to her essentials for festivals!

Enjoy!

Hey Jess!

 JG: yo!!!

We haven’t seen you since the photoshoot, have you been busy?

 JG: yeah!! haha I'm always busy... it's been non stop between working and festivalling, we did Sneaks and Peaks recently and we have Crepe City coming up this weekend!

How are you finding juggling your job with Topshop along with your company ‘Small Feet Big Kicks’?

JG: It's a hard struggle... I find myself always being quite tired... so I have to try to push myself to stay awake that bit longer! Luckily I have a good team that work with me.. but I do wish I could spend more time on SFBK to be honest!

For those who don’t know, Jess co-runs a company called ‘Small Feet Big Kicks’ where she sells trainers for us smaller footed people! We definitely agree with the moto “why should you have to have big feet to have nice shoes?” Is this the reason you started the company?

JG: “why should you have to have big feet to have nice shoes?”  - pretty much sums it up in one! Since I've been in to trainers I've had girls asking me where my kicks were from and could I help them find some... so it just seemed like the next best move to start somewhere that was created for that purpose!

Do you find the trainer market has become a lot more popular within the last couple of years?

JG: Yes definitely. There has been a massive boom in the trainer industry in the last few years, which is great for everyone. The market has opened up a lot more to the smaller footed peoples! Hopefully it will last :)

A lot of high street fashion stores now sell trainers within their walls, do you believe this is a positive or negative thing?

JG: I suppose it is a bit of both! I think it's cool the industry is being more open and welcoming a larger audience, as it makes trainers a lot more accessible. But at the same time, because trainers are being brought out quicker than I can say 'BOOM' the quality isn't as good as it was. It also means that the 'trainer/streetwear culture is getting lost, as every other person now is wearing generic releases and obvious streetwear brands like Obey, and Supreme.

 We know you have a good couple of hundred pairs, we saw the IKEA advert! Do you have a favourite pair?

JG: I always get asked this question, and it's always hard for me to answer!

So I always just go with my favourite pair for comfort which are, my Nike SB 'Twin peaks' - they have moulded to my foot, and are so comfy I bought a second pair!

Following your Instagram we can see that you have such a unique style, can you explain it to us?

JG: My style is hard to explain. I suppose it's an ecclectic mix of streetwear and quirky prints. I'm a bit of a tomboy, so I love menswear, mens sportswear and oversized baggy styles. And of course topped off with a pair of trainers! :) 

Do you have a favourite brand or shop that you buy into?

JG: I don't really shop in actual shops to be honest, most of everything I wear is found on ebay, charity shops, or bootsales. I do love Monki though! I discovered that shop about 4 years ago as one of my best friends lives in sweden and I was happy when it came to london, but pissed at the same time that my gem was going to be discovered by everyone!! haha

Streetwear brands I love are Stussy and Alife - I also have a lot of tees from small companies - I like to support other peoples/friends brands a lot!

If a friend called you and told you they were taking you to Boomtown festival in 10 minutes, what essentials would you pack?

JG:

- All Black AM90s

- A bag of bindis, gems and glitter

- Some kind of headwear

- Sequin/trashy hot pants/shorts

- Quirky print jumpsuit

- A baggy oversized top either tiedye, or bright colours

- My battery powered fairy lights

- BUMBAG

HAHA, battery powered fairy lights, amazing! We fell in love with the picture of you with the red smoke behind, as you can see it on most of our banners! How did you find the photoshoot with Tom Barnes?

JG: I loved it! It was chilled and so much fun.... all the colours worked so well! The pictures came out great. Although I'm a bit awkward and camera shy especially nexts to the likes of pros, El and Kitty! haha It was a good day! :)

Not at all you were a natural. Any thoughts on the brand? Favourite items?

JG:I love the brand! I love tie dye and anything with good prints as I specialised in print for my textile degree! I love the bubblegum tie dye dress/body!

Our last question for your wonderful self, what are your goals for the future?

JG: Venture into something more creative job wise... start saving properly and go travelling, keep things moving with SFBK!

Check out Juice Gee's company Small Feet Big Kicks Here 

http://shop.smallfeetbigkicks.com/

Jennifer Hope Interview with El Wood

After working with such a talented group on our last photoshoot I really wanted to catch up with the individuals that took part and see what they had been getting up, what they do in their life's and how they felt about working with Jennifer Hope Clothing!

Our second interview is with the incredible EL WOOD!!

Hey El! Nice to see you again!

Have you been busy since we shot the lookbook?

EW: Yes super busy :) I love to stay productive. Lots of shoots coming up at the moment and a new cover out soon!

             

For a couple of people that may not be familiar with yourself, we wanted to give them a bit of back knowledge..

Where are you from originally?

EW: I grew up in Surrey pretty near Croydon  

You have a huge following at the moment, was modeling always something you wanted to do or did you feel as though you just fell into it?

EW: I decided at the age of about 17 I'd like to do some for fun. At 18 I did my first shoot for inked magazine NYC and just kept going after that. It's not my career so I take breaks from it but it’s a really fun way to help make a living. And I've been lucky enough to do enough published work that I can do it part time now. I'm ever so grateful and happy to have got to work with such wonderful people such as yourself! 

We have seen you at work and you definitely know what your doing! You’re such a natural in front of the camera. What’s one of the best photoshoots you have done? 

EW: Right now I'm doing a lot of fun things, a lot more fashion based projects that I can get quite creative with I've kind of started to enjoy doing that kind of work more because its a lot more creative and artistic however I always dreamed of working with a certain American photographer and thought he portrayed women in the most gorgeous way, I wished I could look like them...I had my heart set on it and after years of wishing I flew to New York and met him. He goes under the name Christian saint :) we did my dream cover of that time for Bizarre magazine and we shot my tattoo life cover together too. We stay in touch 

If you weren’t modeling what do you see yourself doing?

EW: I work part time for a company called @theaceofclubs you should go follow them! We host parties at London's best-voted clubs and my guests get spoilt rotten! I'm always looking for new guests :)! 

What would you say your personal style is like?

EW: A mess!!  I would have no idea in all honesty. My day to day casual wear consists of sports wear, high waist jeans, plaid skirts, netted tops, plain t shirts, biker boots, leather anything, dungarees!  

Do you have a favourite brand or shop you always seem to buy into?

EW: Nope! I'm a high street girl, always looking for goodies online too! Swooning over brands like nasty girl, my friends label Ilovestonefox, minkpink and you obviously!!!

Doesn’t matter who it is, if you could choose a style icon who would it be?

EW: Ahh I don't know !! I don't really have one!but I suppose I like the style of iggy azalea, Rita ora, alexa Chung ,

We can see that you have a lot of extremely stunning tattoos, we know that you worked within a tattoo store before showing that these are more of an art form for yourself?

EW: I just really enjoy the history of it. I'm admittedly a bit of a tattoo snob because I'm such a nerd about it all. I've been extremely lucky to work for some of the best talents in the world in that industry and have learnt so much. I'd say I'm more of an impulsive collector, my tattoos rarely hold sentimental value. I just really respect and love the culture it's a wonderful art form.

It feels as though its become a mainstream fashion now for women to gets more tattoos, do you agree that tattoos on women have become more of a fashion statement than a piece of art work?

EW: Totally! It's become more socially acceptable for women to get tattooed and this due a lot to the media and tattooed celebrity women so yes I feel a lot of people may get tattooed just because it’s on 'trend'. Sadly this also means that there's an equal amount of poor quality work happening now and a lot of people want to call themselves artists without putting in the hard work.

EW:I have mixed feelings about it all that I won't bore you with :) 

We could go on asking you questions for hours! BUT we will finish up with, how did you find the Jennifer Hope Lookbook shoot with the brilliant Tom Barnes?

EW: Amazing, so much fun and an absolute pleasure to work for a brand built up by such a deserving individual. Everyone involved was wonderful.

Any thoughts on the brand itself? Favourite items?

EW: When I think of JHC I think of exciting prints, vibrant colours and effortless style. JHC makes bold statements out of classic apparel. You can dress it up or just wear it casual! I fell in love with a tie die dress teamed up with matching tie die socks at the shoot! Just enough example of how the designer adds in her personal touches that transforms simple items!

If you could sum up the brand in 3 words, what would they be?

EW: Cool, fun and vibrant  

Our last question for your wonderful self, what are your goals for the future?

EW: Honestly...just to be healthy, happy and keep meeting such brilliant people! 

 If you want to check out more what El is doing and more stunning pictures, head over to her Facebook www.facebook.com/Elwoodmodels