The Sweden-based brand, Novanne Jhons, was established by the couple Szilvia Kovacs and Ferenc Szabo in 2015. Novanne Jhons embodies the experimental visions of an intellectual woman with strong rebel mind and romantic heart. With the love for nature and crafts, Novanne Jhons represents conscious designs expressing the fusion between the imaginative subconsciousness and tailored constructions. The slow-fashion philosophy is accompanied by signature textures, sophisticated detailing with a hint of artistic attitude and a touch of luxury.

Here, we go behind the brand to find out more…

When did you launch the brand and what was the reason behind it?
Szilvia: Officially, we launched the brand, or to be more exact, we started to work on it seriously in autumn 2015. I developed the concept of Novanne Jhons during my final year at college (2013/14). I created a so tight and emotional visionary relationship with “her” that time – she is a kind of alter ego of me- , I’d always knew I would build my own brand one day. The motivation behind the official establishment was that, from the artistic side, I wanted to create freely and on the other hand we wanted to translate our way of thinking of sustainable lifestyle and individualism into a bespoke clothing brand.

Ferenc: Moreover, as we tell our stories through signature handcrafted textiles and textures, we celebrate the art of craftsmanship!

Whats your background?
Szilvia: I completed my BA in fashion design and graduated from the Mod`art Fashion and Art Academy Budapest in 2014. After that, we moved to Stockholm and I started to gain professional experience within fashion design-production and pattern making at various Swedish fashion labels.

Ferenc: ..and what most people don’t know, we are from Hungary and we have lived in Sweden for 3,5 years.

How many people are involved in the company and what are their roles?
Szilvia: It is just the two of us at the moment. Sometimes I wish we were more but I always make us remember that hard work pays off. I do the creative directing, design, production, visual communication and marketing, while Ferenc is the CFO and is responsible for administration and accounting.

Ferenc: Everyone does what he/she knows the best but we always have discussions about major design or production issues as well as financial questions.

If you could start over with the business, would you do anything differently?
Szilvia: Our policy is `learn from mistakes and do it better the next time`. We did choose the path that we would want to create a clothing brand, which is never easy a business to build. Our brand is still very young. We are developing it at a slower space trying to consider every step rationally and carefully.

Ferenc: Let’s come back to this question a few years later and see whether this tactic worked or not.

What is the hardest challenge you have faced since you started the company?
Szilvia: I think everything is challenging when you build it from the ground, especially of you are not surrounded and helped by a bunch of (professionals) people. There are a lot of things that we have to figure out by ourselves, we have no mentor who would help us to keep the right direction. It is also challenging that both of us have daytime jobs too, so we spend less time than needed nursing our lovechild (the brand). This means we have to work in the evenings, on weekends.. But fortunately, we love what we are doing.

2018 is almost here, where do you plan on taking the brand?
Szilvia: Our signature style and designs are under constant development in order to make every collection tell the story of our visions in a unique and recognisable way. As for the creative and production side, we are planning to make our supply chain to be even more sustainable and expand the range of iconic products.

Ferenc: Furthermore, we are working on finding suitable retailers and showrooms in Europe so we could be presented internationally. Now we have to focus on developing our PR and marketing strategy.

To date, what has been the highlight since launching?
Szilvia: Every time when we get a positive feedback is a highlight, but if we have to pick one, then it would be our first appearance in the latest December issue of British Vogue.

Tell us one fact about you that people wouldn’t know?

Szilvia: When I was about 9-10 years old, I wanted to become a spy.

Ferenc: ….maybe the meaning of our last names : Mine is Szabò which means taylor in Hungarian, while Szilvi`s (Kovàcs) means smith.

Style means….?
Szilvia: Way of thinking, creativity and self-expression.

Best thing about London to you?
Szilvia: The diversity of people, cultures and styles and the endless opportunities of trying out something new and exciting.

If you had to, what piece of clothing from your wardrobe would you wear everyday?
Szilvia: An oversized royal blue shirt with a pair of fitted jeans. My favourite working outfit.

Ferenc: A pair of Acne jeans with a simple V-neck T-shirt and lightweight knitted wool sweater.

Favourite love song?
Szilvia: Literally, The love song by Marilyn Manson.

Ferenc: I’m afraid I don’t have any. I prefer to listen to liquid drum`n`bass and some hard rock.

Most memorable piece of advice given to you?
Szilvia: It wasn`t really an advice, but when I was child, my grandfather asked me who I would like to be when I grow up and I answered `human` and he said `”yes, that was the right answer”.

Guilty pleasure?
Szilvia: Unflavoured popcorn with grated cheese, any time.

Ferenc: I could eat almost a whole Swedish kladdkaka which is a sticky chocolate cake by myself.

If you could spent 24 hours in anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Szilvi: We haven’t travelled too much yet, so if we had to answer this question, then we would opt for a good old friend, Budapest where we had lived for 3 years. A quick re-visit of our favourite places would be so cozy and refreshing. In case of an unknown destination, we choose Okunoshima, the Rabbit Island. 24 hours are even way too much to spend there as we would probably die immediately because of the overdose of cuteness. (We have rabbits, we love rabbits.)

In future, how do you plan on expanding the company?
Ferenc: Among the many future plans, we are hoping to open an office-atelier-showroom in a few years so we could grow our staff and expand the profile of Novanne Jhons by developing accessories and maybe homewear products. We are also planning to cooperate with more local raw material producers and textile manufacturers so that our supply chain would be more close-knit, controlled and of course, more sustainable.

Find out more…
Visit our website www.novannejhons.com or our online shop at www.shopnovannejhons.tictail.com.

We are presented on Instagram @novannejhons and facebook www.facebook.com/novannejhonswomenswear.

We are also avaialble via email: contact@novannejhons.com or order@novannejhons.com

Author

Northern girl Laura is the epitome of a true entrepreneur. Laura’s spirit for adventure and passion for people blaze through House of Coco. She founded House of Coco in 2014 and has grown it in to an internationally recognised brand whilst having a lot of fun along the way. Travel is in her DNA and she is a true visionary and a global citizen.

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