Aneta Hendricks: Business-savvy young designer invests in quality sportswear
The contemporary fashion scene in Jamaica is dominated by designers and aspirants who merely stick to creating outfits intended for the catwalk at Caribean Fashion Week (CFW) or a sophisticated Sunday evening. However, one young entrepreneur has braved a path few have chosen – designing everyday sports and gymwear for Jamaican women, men and children.
Aneta Hendricks, a 30-something year old East Kingston native, told allwoman last week that for the past 10 years, she has been channelling her creative energies to offer brand name quality sportswear to Jamaicans within a reasonable price range.
The business-savvy young woman currently operates an outlet -Neta’s Sportswear -on Lady Musgrave Road in Kingston, and satisfies a growing clientele that includes customers from Portmore, Ocho Rios, and upper Kingston and St Andrew. Her designs include tanktops, male and female tights, bodywear, shorts and a variety of other items, made almost exclusively from cotton lycra.
“I love what I do, I love to be creative. It makes me feel good to be doing this because whenever I go into stores and I see all the foreign designs I tell myself that we have the talent here in Jamaica that can make such quality outfits and even better,” Hendricks told allwoman.
It was this drive, coupled with her childhood passion for needle, thread and fabric, that forced Hendricks to successfully enrol in local fashion designing classes. The rest is money-making history.
However, life was never a bed of roses for the young businesswoman who suffered bitter disappointments as she strived to be viable in an uber-competitive marketplace.
“When I was starting out, it was extremely difficult to get loans, but I kept the faith and didn’t give up. At one time I was selling out of my van. I had even opened a store some years ago and had to close it down,” she revealed.
However, within a few years, patience, dedication and family support helped the designer to sharpen her business tactics and open another outlet. She told allwoman that since the doors opened four months ago, business has been booming, and with Carnival in the air, the demand for her products has increased.
“In everything you do, it takes time. You have to be patient and you will succeed. I’m still hanging in there,” she continued.
Even local celebrities have taken notice, as she is now in the process of designing a line for a very popular entertainer.
She expresses gratitude to her grandmother, her uncle and two employees for their unwavering support of her ideas.
In the meantime, she dreams of further business expansion to include more outlets and to provide a wider range of options for male customers. She also intends to add casual wear to her repertoire and tap into international markets.
“I set goals and objectives for myself every day and I try to achieve them one at a time. In the past, I used to feel like giving up, but the drive I have to be successful keeps me focussed,” she said.
At the same time, she believes there is an urgent need for more avenues to unearth local talent to help in the country’s development. She singles out Michael Lee Chin of NCB fame as a role model, for his undying commitment to the promotion of Brand Jamaica, and implores other Jamaicans to do likewise to boost productivity and growth in the local market.
“Jamaicans should support Jamaicans because we can do it too. Let us give our local talents a chance. We need to appreciate our own before we target what the foreigners have to offer,” she said.
