We were lucky to catch up with Jordan Redwine recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jordan , appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Ankh&Lotus was created in April 2015, but it wasn’t until I attended a fashion business retreat at the very beginning of the pandemic, that inspired me to transition Ankh&Lotus into the “D Cup and Up” brand. I always wanted to create luxury pieces but I couldn’t figure out how to stand out from the crowd until that moment in 2020. I knew I wanted to serve women, but I didn’t know how and in what way. I was in the audience listening to one of the seminars and it hit me! I’ve had a large bust since the 4th grade and it has always been super difficult to find clothing that fits me properly the first time. I knew that there were other women just like me so I set out to create clothing specifically for us. Ankh&Lotus blossomed into Ankh&Lotus Womenswear – the luxury brand designed for the ladies with the ‘D Cups and Ups’ specifically 36 DDD – 42H. Designing clothes to fit us properly was not enough, I also wanted to improve our livelihood because having large boobs is not always as easy breezy as it may seem. Being top heavy can lead to neck, back, and overall chronic pain. When designing my intention is to support the back, improve posture and accentuate the breasts. I understand firsthand what many of us busty ladies go through; wanting to hide in fear of being oversexualized, having to get a new bra every second, back and neck pain, overall pain, clothes fitting everything else nicely except for girls, gaping button holes, broken zippers, and the list goes on. I’m excited to cater to women in the ‘D Cups and Ups’ because not only is she going to look fantastic, her overall physical health and posture can improve. I want my ladies to have ultimate relief. Lastly, there’s a razzle dazzle about Ankh&Lotus. Spirituality is at the very foundation of my life and business. Every design is a self love ritual all wrapped up into one. I firmly believe that clothing holds energy. My purpose alongside of dressing busty ladies to a T, is to also infuse each design with a healing energy that also adds prosperity and sweetness to her life, and all she has to do is slip on her Ankh&Lotus and trust in her own magic.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn that there will never be a perfect time to start something. In the beginning I allowed money to be the main reason as to why I was taking so long achieving certain milestones. Although money does play a major part in building a clothing brand, I came to realize that when you want something bad enough it’s going to come regardless of your current situation. I had to change my mindset from “When I get X amount of money, I’ll do A,B, and C” to “I’m going to utilize all of the resources that I have right in front of me.” Once I shifted my mindset to that, new opportunities began to open up for me. I’m still grounded in reality but I don’t allow the resources that I may not have yet to overshadow the resources that I do have. I use what I have – social media, friends that will model for me, me being the model, working with freelancers to get items sewn in bulk as opposed to larger apparel production companies, all of the trainings and mentorship I’ve invested in, and the list goes on. One thing I know for sure is I’m going to figure it out and I’m going to go at my own pace and not compare my journey to someone else’s.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

Ankh&Lotus is 100% online. Online was the best choice for me in the beginning. I plan to have a storefront in Detroit but once the pandemic hit, I knew that a store would be something further down the line and that was perfectly fine. My main focus is my online store. The only cons of online is that you can’t go into a fitting room and try things on before you buy. The pros of online is that it is 24 hours and I can utilize video and photography to explain how our clothing fits on different body types. Online also allows people from all over the world to shop in the palm of their hands.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ankhandlotus.com
• Instagram: @ankhandlotus
• Facebook: Ankh&Lotus Womenswear
• Twitter: @ankhandlotus

Image Credits
Adonnica Genon – Solid Studios, Jordan Redwine