APJ Lifestyle Magazine
Suzanne Harper
Founder of A Perfect Jane - Sustainable Luxury women's boots made from apples / Owner Villa Diferente Alicante / Check IG @aperfectjane @villadiferentespain
The magazine with tips, trends and all you need to know about a healthy plantbased lifestyle, mindset & meditation, exercise & sports, sustainable fashion, vegan boots & of course animals.
In this weeks Edition:
Why I started A Perfect Jane?
Let me introduce myself to our new subscribers first
My name is Suzanne, I'm 44 years old and I was born in The Netherlands. My boyfriend Frank and I have been together for over 21 years, and last year we added a new member to our small family, our rescue dog Marly, who we adopted from Ibiza. Isn't she gorgeous in the picture above? We absolutely adore her. One year ago I moved to Ibiza with just one reason, I was longing for more sun and blue skies in my life. Untill now we are super happy we took this adventurous decision. Sometimes I also live near Alicante (when our home is not rented out there).
I have always been an animal lover & a fashion addict. At the age of 40, I wasn't happy with my job as a manager at an employment agency anymore, and decided to end my career. No idea what to do next, but I knew it had to be a combination of my passion for animals and fashion. At that time I had been a vegan for years, which was fairly easy when it came to my diet, but I found it very difficult to find trendy high quality vegan boots.
One day I decided to design them myself and started A Perfect Jane.
Who is Jane?
Jane was my dog. A gorgeous, loyal & over active Belgian malinois. She was my inspiration to go vegan. We got her when she was 8 weeks old and were inseperable from day 1. Our strong connection made me more conscious about all animal cruelty in the food & fashion industry. Something I never wanted to contribute to anymore. When I started my brand, I was thinking about a name, I couldn't think of anything else than name it after Jane: A Perfect Jane
Jane had a fantastic long and healthy life. Unfortunately we had to let her go at the age of almost 17 years old. She will forever have a special place in my heart, and although it's almost 2 years ago now, I still miss her every day.
My struggles as an entrepreneur:
Never, in my wildest dreams, had I expected that starting a brand and designing your own boots, would be so challenging.
Let me share on of the biggest struggles, which I can laugh about now, but was crying about 2 years ago. As you know one of the main materials I work with, is Apple Leather. A stunning & strong plantbased leather alternative. I love the bohemian style and dreamed of making fringed boots. Well, you can all see how that turned out? When I received these samples, with fringes that looked like an electrocuted hairdo, I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. To be honoust, it was the last. You should know it costed 3 months of work, only to end up deleting this style. Obviously the apple leather is very strong, but you cannot make flowy bohemian fringes with this material that blow in the wind.
Another big lesson for me:
To me, building a Sustainable brand, means no over-production, fair wages, good working conditions, local and ethical production, lower order quantities to reduce ''left-overs'' etc. But all of this is absolutely not the norm in an industry where fast fashion still dominates. The race to the bottom of the lowest prices and over-production is still an ongoing worldwide problem.
For example, lower order quantities come together with a lot of challenges.
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There are so many different aspects of making a shoe, and literally every supplier has to agree with the lower order quantities. For example, we eventually made it through our 1st production, and then heard that we needed to buy 2000 shoe boxes per style. FYI: our 1st order was 1250 pairs in 7 styles, this means 14.000 shoe boxes for 1250 pairs. Don't ask me how, but eventually I found a solution. I always do, that's why I have to die my hair every 3 weeks.
Of course there are also successes.
Our biggest success of which I am so proud
In october 2023 A Perfect Jane walked down the runway of Vegan Fashion Week in Los Angeles. A dream come true. The front row was filled with celebrities, influencers and press. To see our boots styled in stunning outfits on stunning models coming down the runway, was amazing. The audience were super excited and I felt so proud of this big achievement. We put in so much work prior to this event, that we literally missed our flight to LA, because we forgot to apply for the temporary permit to enter the USA. Luckily we made it just in time for the runway.
Future Plans
This is most definitely the most comfortable stiletto you have ever worn in your life. With an 8 cm heel, it gives the perfect feminine touch to every outfit and you can still rush your kids to school.
And the good news is, we just pressed to GO button and ordered a part of our new collection. Starting with this gorgeous stiletto boot which is a complete new style in our collection. I believe it is the Perfect addition, because I want to cater to a broader audience. Of course, it wouldn't be like A Perfect Jane if we didn't add an extra detail. I will tell you more about this in next weeks edition.
Also, we'll be launching gorgeous loafers too. More about this style in upcoming editions.
It's my goal to see the world ''Walking on Plants'' in A Perfect Jane. Although there a still a lot of hurdles to overcome, I strongly believe we'll get there. Thank you all for your support, purchases and enthusiasm. It means the world.
In Next Weeks Edition:
Follow Us on Social Media for the latest updates, we will also be launching a pre-order campaign for our new collection with a special offer for you.
Don't miss out!
Instagram: A Perfect Jane | Website: A Perfect Jane
See you next week!
Mooi verhaal Suzanne!