vww.clitheroBadvertlser.co.uk Thursday,Octobers.2015 I CLITHEROEADVERTISER&TIMES


| Thursday,October8,2015 www.clilheroeadvertiser.co.uk


CUTHEROEADVERTISERSTIMES I


VALLEYFASHION


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Clitheroe mum of three who was laughed at by careers advisor now sees heiigerie designs worn by the rich and famous Ba


FEATURE


bySuePlunkett sue.plunkett@jpress.co.uk Twitter; ©clithadvertiser


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was almost the same day her dreams were crushed. For the careers advisor


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she told laughed and said it would never happen because Jenna was not any good at


. maths - so how could she pos­ sibly do measurements and work out fabric widths and all that goes with being afashion designer? But today it is the Clit-


.heroe mum of three who is laughing as the successful owner of her own bespoke online lingerie brand @Rai- neand Bea, as worn by celeb­ rities including Victoria Beckham, Alesha Dixon, /A Will Young and even A™ Kylie Minogue.who m


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has her own range designed by Jenna. “I felt so deflated when


that careers advisor said that to me as it was the first time I- had actually said any­ thing to anyone because before I just felt daft say­


ing it,” said Jenna. It was her shyness that


almost held her back from grabbing golden opportuni­ ties to pursue something that she had an obvious flare for. From the age of four she


would stage impromptu fash­ ion shows for her family and be the only child on “toy day” ' at school who wanted to cut pictures of fashion models from magazines and stick ' them onto paper, so it was obvious to those around her that Jennawouldworkinthe' fashion industry. As young as eight she


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would sneak onto her mum’s sewing machines and run up clothes from patterns she had designed herself. And her little sister became her model for many of the items she would make, including a Little House on the Prai­ rie style smock dress Jenna madeforher. Jenna eventually began


her own little cottage indus­ try making scrurichies by cutting up old dresses and sellng them at school..until the teachers said it wasn’t .allowed. Growing up in Sal­ ford, Jenna was never


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he day when Jenna Barnes finally plucked up


the courage to tell someone she wan­ ted to be a fashion designer


s i l l w m V | § '• ■■ ■ -V; ® . i S s I S S ? SBC ft BModelsatthe^RainQandBeadisplavatandatthgftifabtgVal a Some of Jenna's creations


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one of the “popular” crowd sporting all the latest fash­ ion s. In fact, she would go the opposite way and be spotted in items that no one else had even seen. ’ Jenna laughed: “I used to get some funny looks, but at the endofthedaya lot of the other girls used to come up to me and ask where I hadgotmy shoes from." When she left school Jen­


na studied art and design at college ,but she hated it and eventually took ajob making karate suits at a factory in


. the shadow of Manchester’s Strangeways prison. “The oldest lady working


, there was 85 and the young­ est, apart from me and an-


other girl, was 65.1 learned so much there it stood me in good stead for the future,” she said Her first taste of the real


world of fashion came when she was asked to work with


‘Alot of youngsters , today want


overnightsuccess without putting in thetimeandeffort’


a group of young fashion gradu­ ates and Jenna learned the tools of the trade pat­ tern cutting and making sam­ ples. From there sheworkedfor


fashion house Arthur Hen-


riques, which made clothes for labels such as Principles, Next and George. The brand designers would come to the factory and Jenna cuther teeth working on designs with them that she would ■


later make as a sample ma­ chinist.


She said: “It was an amaz­


ing time for me and such an opportunity.” One ofthe highlights was


when she was asked to make six samples of Maria Grach- vogel shorts worn by Victoria Beckham during London Fashion Week. The iconic shot of Victoria wearing the tiny shorts went around the world and Jenna maybe hopes that the careers advi­ sor who was so harsh to her may have seen that. The next career oppor-


turiityfor Jenna (36), who lives with her music teacher husband Chris, and their three children, Lili Raine (11), Nancy Bea (three) and George (she), came when she visited vintage emporium Rags to Bitches in Manches­ ter’s Northern Quarter. “I went along to see if they


Iwould be interested in stock-' ling some of my clothes. They lasked me to help out with isome alterations in their Jbespoke range and I stayed jfor two and a half years,” said fJenna. During that time Jenna


|was asked to work backstage titering costumes for Celine


iDion’s dancers during acon- JcertinManchester.lt was - Jone of her toughest challeng- |es, working round the clock on PVC macs that heeded Rusting and adding os- f rich feathers to Herve Leger dresses. After Rags closed Jenna


^et up her own range, Frock- Btars, with a business part­ ner, for a time before she eventually launched her pwn stunning raunchy lin­ gerie collection featuring Swarovski crystals, lace hot


pants, feather skirts and silk bras. It was launched at Liv­ erpool Fashion Week and pic­ tures ofthe collection went worldwide. One of Jenna’s main selling points is that it is all UK based, from the design right through to the fabrics she selects. And she now has a brand


new market opening up to her- transgenders who are clamouring for the vintage inspired garments. Jenna, a finalist in the Ribble Valley Business Awards, said: “I am making the same garments


,but in much larger sizes.” Jenna is currently looking


for a studio to work from in Clitheroe, but she now has a business partner based in London who has all the contacts and public rela­ tions experience to help her break into the American


market. Her collection of dresses and lingerie is set to he showcased at a fash­ ion show at Brady’s Wine Bar in Whalley on Thursday, October 22nd. It is her dream to become


a household name and Jenna certainly deserves that suc­ cess for all the hard work and graft she has put into her ca­ reer. She said: “A lot of young­ sters today want overnight success without putting in thetimeandeffort. “Over the years 1 have


learned so many skills that seem to be a dying art, such as using a sewing machine and that is something I would like to encourage the next genera­ tion to learn.”


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