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NO-ONE IS UNIFORM
THIS SECTION HIGHLIGHTS SOME KEY ASPECTS OF THE jSD APPROACH TO DESIGNING CLOTHES THAT GO FAR BEYOND FASHION ALONE TO FIT AND DELIGHT REAL WEARERS AT WORK. CLOTHES FIT FOR PURPOSE TOO – WITH DETAILED FUNCTIONALITY, DURABILITY & SUSTAINABILITY BUILT INTO THEIR FABRICATION. AND AWARD-WINNING DESIGNS THAT ARE NOT JUST BRANDED BUT BRAND-BUILDING IN THEIR ORIGINAL CREATIVITY.
At Jermyn Street Design we create uniforms, corporate clothing and other custom workwear for leading brands operating in diverse industries and across diverse cultures and countries. One core belief informs and inspires not only our approach to wearer-driven design and well-being but all aspects of how we work – from our company ethics, respect for others, collaboration and team-work to our flexible client-centred operations, outstanding supply-chain partnerships and care for the environment. That core belief ? No-one is uniform.
ANN DOWDESWELL jSD MARKETING + SALES DIRECTOR
ETHICS:
EXPERIENCE BRANDING:
jSD creates uniforms, corporate clothing and other custom workwear for clients that are brand-building not just branded.
SUSANNE MALIM JERMYN STREET DESIGN FOUNDER
THE IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYER BRANDS
For every service brand, we know that the well-being of customer-facing staff has a very direct impact on the customer’s brand experience. That is why jSD places so much importance on designs that are wearer-driven in terms of fit and sizing for inclusive body types and fit for purpose in terms of job-specific tasks, functionality and real work environments [see FIT + WELL-BEING].
We aspire to delight each individual wearer – and not just with the garments themselves but with the entire experience of ordering and re-ordering right through to the responsible end-of-life disposal of garments. We understand the importance of a strong employer brand to delivering a better customer brand experience.
During the 360º research that jSD undertakes at the outset of every design project [see RESEARCH + DESIGN], our designers undergo a full on-the-job brand immersion to understand not only the wearer’s specific needs in context but also the all-important interaction between wearers and customers.
BRINGING BRANDS TO LIFE
Brand-building design means not only capturing a brand ID in terms of logo and colour palette but all the other original and creative ways that jSD finds of expressing unique brand qualities in a design concept and each garment’s signature details. Before samples of any new designs are machined for Wearer Trials, jSD uses advanced 3D visioning software to give clients the best possible idea of how these original creative designs will look, function and communicate their brand in a real work environment.
No-one is uniform – and for us that applies to individual brands as well as the individual wearers.
MORE THAN SKIN DEEP
Finally, we understand that successful brands are rooted in deeply held company values. Clients trust jSD with their brands and reputations because of our own resolute commitment to such important issues as ethical sourcing and manufacturing as well as our long-standing commitment to advancing Sustainability throughout the lifecycle of Clothes at Work [see ETHICS]. Indeed, as part of our Green Thread Sustainability Initiative – and jSD’s own company culture of partnership and collaboration – we hold Sustainability Workshops for clients and non-clients alike as a way of sharing our expertise in ecological practices and policies.
jSD... reflect the new global World Duty Free brand perfectly.
WORLD DUTY FREE
FIT + WEARER WELL-BEING:
jSD sets wearer well-being as the single most important business need for our clients.
All creative designs must be fit for purpose, fit real body shapes and sizes and aspire to delight the individual wearer. By doing so, uniforms and other custom workwear can promote not only wearer well-being but productivity, durability and other key business drivers, including a better brand experience for our clients’ customers.
GETTING REAL
This unwavering commitment to wearer well-being shapes jSD’s rigorous wearer-driven design approach.
Our 360º research starts with focus groups across an inclusive range of wearers plus interviews with key brand and business stakeholders. Alongside these focus groups, we review historical feedback & all relevant report data. Our Creative Designers then go into the work environment to carry out observational and, where possible, filmed research into the real-world demands of each job and the body kinetics for every garment.
In short, our design teams listen hard to the wearers then shadow them on-the-job to get firsthand actionable insights and inspiration for their designs plus a practical immersion into the client’s brand, including the all-important interaction between wearers and customers.
SHARING FAST
jSD believes in moving fast to present initial creative thinking and concepts to clients, including ideas about fabrics, trim and other design elements. This practical speed and transparency ensuring we have understood from the outset both the client’s and wearers’ needs correctly and enables jSD to share with the client additional insights and practical learnings from our extensive experience of different business sectors.
Sharing fast in this way also establishes a dialogue of ongoing feedback and collaboration for all subsequent design iterations.
We believe in listening hard, getting real, sharing fast and listening again to the client and, most important of all, end-wearers.
BODY ANALYTICS + SIZING TECHNOLOGY
In addition to client-specific research, jSD has carried out a number of Right-Sizing initiatives for our clients. These Right-Sizing initiatives include partnering in ground-breaking research using the latest advances in body analytics. jSD has incorporated these important latest learnings into our development process, marrying them up to further breakthroughs in self-sizing technology.
Prior to the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, jSD had been trialing advanced self-sizing apps and working to have the best of these adapted to our client’s needs. The lockdown provided an unfortunate but ideal environment for further field trials and development. This means we can now incorporate tried-and-tested app-based self-sizing technology into our Roll-Out and on-going Ordering processes for clients, helping to eliminate human error and subjective sizing bias.
ONGOING ENGAGEMENT + FEEDBACK
All the technology and best designs in the world will fail if the well-being of the individual end-wearer is not given due recognition throughout the lifecycle of Clothes at Work, including not only the design process and Wearer Trials but Roll-Out, re-ordering, end-of-life disposal of garments and, most important of all, on-going wearer engagement and listening to their feedback. Because at jSD we oversee the full end-to-end lifecycle of uniforms and other custom workwear for clients, we have the wider understanding and creativity to work with clients on making the entire experience of Clothes at Work a rewarding and motivating one for their staff.
DURABILITY:
Many factors impact a garment’s durability – from fit and fabric to wearer allocation sets and care regimes. Some factors are more obvious than others. Care, for example, often gets overlooked but can be hugely impactful on a garment’s life-span; for this and environmental reasons, jSD has been trialing a ‘Cold Wash’ initiative with clients and end-wearers [see INNOVATION].
Some of these durability factors can also be more readily calibrated than others. Our fabric technicians, for example, understand in exacting detail the tested variations in durability of different specific fabrics and finishes. Other factors, such as the impact of an original, well-researched functional design based on job-specific needs relies on the expert judgement and practical experience of our designers and product developers to assess accurately.
DURABILITY INDEXING
jSD draws on this valuable combination of both technical analysis and years of practical experience and data to quantify in months for each client the minimum durability of every garment we design, manufacture and supply. In short, jSD calculates FIT + FUNCTIONAL DESIGN + FABRIC/FABRICATION X ALLOCATION SETS + CARE to quantify durability for clients.
The unique jSD index allows the client to make informed comparisons and decisions about such critical factors as quantities, fabrics and finishes – based on the life-time cost of every garment.
INNOVATION:
