Jeanne The Label Is Changing Shapewear As We Know It

Designed for women by women, Jeanne The Label is an Australian-based brand closing the gap between comfort and fashion. With the aim to break the boundaries between athleisure and everyday life with its versatile styles, Jeanne’s garments feature a blend of activewear and daily wear.

Choosing to focus on minimalism and sets that complement your wardrobe rather than trend-focused athleisure wear that lacks practicality and comfort, the clothing label stands out from the rest. Jeanne’s Bike Shorts and Active Leggings sport a ribbed pattern for a stylish, elastic fit, which can be worn as a set with the top. Thus far, the tops arrive in the form of two styles: the Box Crop and Active Crop, with the latter featuring a one-shoulder detail that further cements the label’s stance on not compromising neither fashion nor functionality.

To learn more about Jeanne The Label, we spoke with founder Ruby Pendergast about the making of the brand, the inspiration behind her ethos, and upcoming collections amongst other topics. Read our full interview below.

Fashion and comfort are two athleisure forms with a symbiotic relationship. How exactly do you see their connection with each other?

For me, I want to challenge one with the other! My focus for girls who wear Jeanne The Label is that they feel comfortable and confident to have fun with their outfits. Just because it’s comfortable, doesn’t mean you have to compromise on fashion. And, vice versa.

What made you decide to launch your own brand? Did you feel that there’s something missing on the market?

I have always loved fashion. I grew up with two older sisters which basically meant having two extra wardrobes. Straight after high school, I studied fashion business. I interned for magazines, PR agencies, talent agencies and knew I wanted to be a part of the fashion world.

Come 2020 I had every intention to travel the world however a week before my trip COVID lockdowns hit hard in Australia, and all my plans for travelling got cancelled. Like most of the world, I started working from home. I was feeling crappy wearing ugly sweats and pyjamas all day. I went online to look for a cute comfy set. I honestly couldn’t find anything in Australia that was under that $150 price range that didn’t just look like another gym set.

So I picked up a pencil and started sketching. I worked on samples with 30 different manufacturers, until I found the one that I fell in love with. The responses I’ve received from customers, content creators and people in the fashion industry makes me confident that taking on this journey was the right choice!

How did you land on the name and concept of Jeanne The Label?

I played around with a lot of different names trying to incorporate myself into it, but nothing really jumped out using my first name Ruby. One day I was going through old photo albums with my family and we found a photo of my great grandmother Jeanne, she is also the namesake for my middle name. My family tells stories of her being an incredibly beautiful, strong and independent woman. And that’s when I thought that’s exactly how I want women to feel wearing these clothes, strong and beautiful, so it just kind of flowed from there.

How would you describe your personal style, and how is that reflected in the brand’s messaging and garments?

I would say my personal style is very minimalistic. I try to keep a capsule wardrobe, having some really good everyday pieces and being able to elevate them with pops of colour, blazers, shoes etc. And that’s exactly what I do when I wear Jeanne The Label. You can wear our pieces just as comfy sets or you can chuck on a blazer or white shirt and, just like that, you have a chic outfit.

You choose to keep it simple, steering away from overcomplicated designs with core pieces in a mixed palette. What drove the decision to take a less is more kind of approach?

I think more than ever our busy and hectic lives demand comfortable and practical clothes, however, giving up on style is simply not an option. It’s so important to have pieces in your wardrobe that you can dress up or down. Towards the end of 2021 and going into 2022, it’s all about mixing fun pops of colour into this. I think people are looking for a feel-good moment and this includes what they wear.

What makes the brand stand out from the other local fashion and athleisure labels in Sydney?

Australian’s love affordable luxury. We put so much time and effort into making sure our fabrics were amazing to touch and wear, while still able to be retailed at an affordable price point. We didn’t compromise fashion, comfort, fabric quality or price point.

What recent or upcoming collaborations and projects for Jeanne The Label are you excited about?

We have so many things happening this year and lots of ideas to bring to life! I’m beyond excited. Coming super soon is some new limited edition colours in our bike shorts sets. And then hopefully a whole new collection focusing on more fashion pieces you can wear with our activewear e.g tops, jackets, pants, coming in April. Being in our second year now, we are really getting into the groove and understanding what our customers want, so it’s just really exciting to bring it all to life.