How did we get here...

As we’ve just passed a whole year of Statement Clothing in May 2021 I thought you would find it interesting to learn more about how we work behind the scenes, so here’s the low down on how we started, where we are at and where we dream to go.

I have always wanted to have my own messages on clothing but never had the courage to truly go for it. In January 2020 we were at Centre Parcs our “holiday home” as the boys call it, we go every year for the twins birthday, having autism means they don’t really understand parties and can get over whelmed, but being in their happy place is the best birthday present they could ask for (if they could ask!). I was sat at the table in the kitchen reflecting, ironically it was the same place I was sat the year before when I rebranded my business to Self Love Detox. I had achieved so much, publishing my book, taking part in Celebrate You a 10k run around London in my underwear, organising a catwalk of 20 women and strutting my stuff in my underwear in front of 200+ people, launching my first membership group and so much more.

​However, I had noticed in the past few months that the interaction was low in my membership group, I started to feel like a gym where I was giving out the content but no one had the time to use it. I thought to myself “how can I help these women get results without taking time away from their busy day?” Being a mum of four boys I know how precious free time is and once we’ve wrestled the kids to bed we don’t always have the energy to do something to progress our self development journey. Then it came to me, we all wear clothes (apart from nudists and I’m yet to meet one it’s a goal of mine haha) what if I could put my affirmations on top clothing that could help empower and/or motivate women on a daily basis...the vision of Statement Clothing was born!

Our first collection that only went on sale for three days. Some of these pieces have made a comeback.

On my search to find a supplier we then went into a global pandemic, the schools shut, I had all the boys home, the twins only going to school two days a week even though they were classed as vulnerable children but I kept going. It also seemed like everyone around me was coming out with their own line of clothing with slogans on, I doubted myself and whether I should continue, I was very selective (some call it fussy but I wanted quality!) I did eventually find a supplier that I thought would work for me. We launched our first collection 27th May 2020 for just three days! We did a lot more orders than I expected I was so happy that people could see my vision. When I carefully went to put through the first order at the checkout I was charged with a very large hidden fee which then wiped any profit I had left over. I was crushed, no I was full on gutted, I cried into my glass of wine and threw my toys out of the pram like a little baby. “Why am I even doing this? I have enough to worry about in my life.” The words that swirled around my head but I knew exactly why I was doing this.

My mission: to empower women to honour their ‘flaws’ and rule their clothes with confidence no matter what shape or size

I of course continued and for our second launch worked with a lady to produce the next four collections and as we came up to Christmas, the kids were back at school so I only had the toddler to deal with so I started to look into how I could produce our collections myself from my bedroom office. I thought it was going to cost a lot more and take up a lot more space than it does but we didn’t and in October I produced my first collection with 90% of the items being made by me. The first four months I had my best months and it felt like I didn’t stop, we went from being open for only 3 days to being open all month long. It was a lot of work and there was and some days I’m totally overwhelmed, seeing selfies of our customers ruling their clothes with confidence makes it all worth it. This is why I have set our expected delivery time to 2-3 weeks to allow me to get orders ready to the best quality standards fitting around my family and all of the other parts of the business I have to run. Also to help with the overwhelm I know have the lovely Rachel working with me as a VA and helping me keep up to speed and hopefully help us to get closer to our big goals.

I’m very lucky to have a supportive family, all my boys have worn tees made by me, I even managed to get my Luca in one, normally he only wears shirts and jeans, so that was a big accomplishment. My eldest has designed one, Jordan has created a whole Fathers Day Collection and my dad collects all my pink parcels to take to the drop point.

I didn't win the battle this time with Luca wearing one of our tees but he does wear it as part of his PJs.

Our biggest challenge has been to get clothing in a wide variety of sizes, brands are just rubbish at it! There are very few colours available but I’m proactive and always searching, the other day I actually found a company who goes up to 7XL!! I was so happy, I mean yes they’re basic colours but we have the freedom to do bright and bold designs to include even more people.

What’s in store for the future then? Well my big dream is to have a small warehouse in the next village, where I can have a team of mothers and provide them with flexible work hours to fit around their families, I’d love to employ mothers of special needs child respect in particular because I know how many appointments you need to go to and how hard that makes it to get a “normal” job. Also world wide domination, of course! A Self Love Detox factory in every continent making our own tees so we can have all the colours and all the sizes empowering ALL women to rule their clothes with confidence.

There we have it, the past 12 months all in black and white, this is just a snippet of the joys and the struggles this journey has bought, I am constantly learning and growing and I am forever grateful to everyone who has become a customer, liked/commented/shared a post and become part of our community. Thank you! 

Stay tuned to see what the future brings us.

With love & gratitude,
​Ana Louise Bonasera

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