Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jaclyn Schoknecht. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jaclyn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

For about the last 15 years, I’ve had this vague plan in the back of my mind to start a caftan company. I’ve always been a huge fan of the timeless chic and comfort of caftans. What can I say? I’m a child of the 70s! I thought it was high time to shake off the notion that they’re just huge, shapeless garments for old ladies.

Over the years, I’ve become increasingly concerned about the state of our environment and more conscious of the clothing I was purchasing. One day, I looked at my own caftan collection and realized that many of mine were 100% polyester. When I started digging around to find companies that were making caftans in sustainable fabrics and sewn in ethical and responsible factories, I could only find companies selling at a $400+ price range. I wanted to make sustainable loungewear at a price within reach for more people.

When COVID hit and we were all on lockdown in sweatpants, it seemed like the perfect time to turn my dream into reality. There was one big roadblock, however. I had no prior experience in the fashion industry and no idea how clothing was manufactured. So, I spent most of the following year teaching myself about how clothing is manufactured by reading books, watching YouTube videos and listening to podcasts. I had everything to learn: sustainable fabrics and responsible manufacturing, building my own website, SEO, social media marketing, tax law, and business accounting among innumerable other things.

At some point I hit the limit of what I could learn on my own and really needed mentorship from people with experience running their own fashion brands. Luckily, I found a business accelerator program called Factory45. Factory45 is an online fashion school for sustainable apparel brands. Through Factory45, I was assigned a mentor, given access to countless resources, met people working in the industry and had a cohort of fellow entrepreneurs in various stages of starting their own fashion brands. It was exactly what I needed to get my business to launch and keep me sane on the journey!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am the founder and designer of Dessous Loungewear which I launched last April. Dessous is a women’s sustainable loungewear brand focusing on caftans and tunics. My customer is 40+ years old, upper middle class, well-educated, well-traveled and increasingly concerned about her impact on the environment. She seeks out chic, timeless pieces that are comfortable and have a sense of lightness and fun. My goal with Dessous is to be as sustainable as possible when choosing fabrics, fastenings, tags and labels and packaging. I use only safe, responsible factories that treat their employees ethically and pay them a comfortable living wage.

The oversized style of a caftan is also a sustainable choice for those who tend to change sizes. In fact, I’ve worn some of my caftans through my 20s when I was going to the gym most nights, through two pregnancies, while breastfeeding, into my 40s when I was chasing toddlers around the house and now into my 50s as my body changes yet again. I’ve probably gone through a hundred pairs of jeans in that same time period!

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

I do manufacture my products. I really didn’t know how clothing was manufactured prior to starting Dessous Loungewear. As I mentioned above, whatever I couldn’t learn by reading books and watching videos on YouTube, I learned through the sustainable fashion business accelerator program Factory45. And of course, I learned a ton just by going through the process of manufacturing.

It’s not easy for a small, slow-fashion brand to find a great production partner. Small brands pay significantly more for manufacturing than companies cranking out thousands of pieces of clothing at a time. While small batch production is less wasteful and better for the environment, you don’t have the same economies of scale that the big brands get.

I had the added challenge of finding a factory with the same values as Dessous. I wanted an ethical, responsible manufacturer that treated and paid its workers well and had a similar goal of reducing waste as much as possible. The first, small-batch production partner I used was great until the owner decided to change the business plan. That company did, however, introduce me to a small family-run factory in Los Angeles that continues to produce my garments today.

That experience taught me that even such a large and unexpected disruption like losing a manufacturer isn’t insurmountable. Part of being an entrepreneur is learning not to let these things knock you down. There’s always another factory or another fabric, it’s just a matter of taking a deep breath and going back to the drawing board.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I was an entertainment lawyer and film and television producer in my past life. I’ve always been a perfectionist and, while that served me well in law, rigid perfectionism will only hold you back when launching a fashion brand. If I waited for every single aspect of a garment or a social media post to be perfect before putting them out into the world, I would never get anything done. Part of making a garment is getting feedback from customers and continuing to make it better with every iteration. The same goes for marketing. Each Instagram reel, Facebook post or email to customers is a test. You put it out there, evaluate the success of each piece of media, dump what’s not working and do more of what is. Everything is a process.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dessousloungewear.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dessousloungewear/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DessousApparel
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/dessousapparel
• Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/dessousapparel/_saved/

Image Credits
Ren Adkins Photography