José Hendo

General information

http://www.josehendo.com/

Award-winning design label José Hendo takes a fresh approach to contemporary fashion design, challenging the obsolescence nature of fashion, and the throw away culture. The label are passionately conscious of the times and are inspired by the world around us.

It uses eco-friendly fabrics as much as possible, creating unique one-off pieces, from organic barkcloth, cotton, used garments such as suits, denim, wedding dresses etc.

José Hendo promotes the use of organic, untreated raw and recycled materials to support ethical trading, fair working conditions and raising awareness about the environmental issues affected by the fashion industry.

Their garments are designed to flatter all body shapes, the designs are contemporary, edgy, tailored, timeless pieces.

Their bespoke designs are made for any occasion and existing garments are also re-work (revamp) to give the customer a different or updated look.

Josephine says, "I graduated from the London College of Fashion (University of the Arts). The reason why I went back to university was to justify being in the fashion industry, redirect my career, and revive the artist within me. In my final two years, through my research, I learnt what happens through the life-cycle of a garment: From the growing the crop, making the cloth, garment production to customer then to landfill and recycling.
Designing clothes now requires an awareness of the environmental impact of the fashion industry. Thats why I have made the choices I have, aiming to combine good design with sustainability."

Sustainable fashion is the way forward. In the desire to get away from fast fashion, the label has invested in research into sustainable designs.

The data collected clearly indicated that the future trend in the fashion industry was towards sustainability.

This has become the cornerstone of José Hendo - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle the 3Rs.

From materials to clever cutting and simplified production processes, we pride ourselves in quality, environmentally friendly designs while aiming to stay relevant.

This results in beautifully sculptured gowns that echoed Japanese cutting and tailoring. Through sustainable fashion José Hendo wants to make a positive contribution to society. This is clearly demonstrated via José Hendos apprenticeships, work experience and free workshops as a way of giving back to the community, and also creating awareness of sustainable fashion. Furthermore each sale made also sees a percentage given to charity.

The clothes we wear are a direct expression of our personalities, beliefs and lifestyles. Organic fashion has moved from the fringe into mainstream fashion, as a result its important for eco-clothing companies to produce fashionable garments.

"My dream is to make bark cloth work alongside mainstream fabrics." Bark Cloth is a centuries old technique, one that is recognised by UNESCO as a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity. It is considered the oldest man made fabric and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Material in 2005, Josephine states.
In 2014 Jose Hendo launched an initiative called BARKCLOTH TO THE ROOT (B2TR) taking her extensive work in barkcloth to Uganda for the 1st time after many years of working with it. She is now connected to the Bukomansimbi Organic Tree Farmers Association.

On the 28th of July 2011, Josephine was also invited to UK launch of the Nnabagereka Development Foundation (NDF), the initiative of the Royal Highness Queen of Bugunda Sylvia Nagginda Luswata.

She presented her work to the queen at the launch taken place in North London.

The label is inspired by the founders African background, sculpture, and nature to create timeless pieces.

All garments are produced at their design studio, José Original, situated in London, the source of inspiration behind José Hendo. Josephines keen eye and attention to detail, together with her character as a perfectionist, can be seen in the quality of the work produced.

Consequently, the studio also produces garments for other designers including samples and complete collections shown at London Fashion Week, and small production runs sold in boutiques and outlets such as TOPSHOP.
All garments are finished to an exacting standard.