Jody Plows sweeps aside a screen to reveal models, photographers and stylists swishing about the white-walled offices of the Nobody’s Child HQ in Camden.
The boss of the fast-growing fashion label, whose clothes have been worn by the likes of Phoebe Dynevor, Poppy Delevingne, Sienna Miller and brand ambassador Fearne Cotton, says she has been “building a culture” as much as a business.
The office is filled with colourfully dressed employees who, Plows says, hold a meeting once a month to “celebrate everybody” and the brand’s successes. “I think all of that is very motivational,” she says.
Founded a decade ago by tech and fashion manufacturing entrepreneur Andrew Xeni, and backed by New Look founder Tom Singh, the brand began selling affordable dresses at around £40 with the aim of being more ethical and sustainable than its competitors.
It shot to prominence through the success of its highly wearable “Starlight” A-line, puff sleeved midi dress, which began in florals and is now sold in multiple colours and fabrics.
In 2021, Marks & Spencer bought a 27% stake and made Nobody’s Child the first outside fashion brand to be sold by the high street stalwart.
Social media has helped fuel its growth and its sales are still mainly online, although its products are stocked in more than 300 wholesale partners’ stores worldwide, including M&S and John Lewis. It has just three of its own stores, but is set to open 10 more this year, including its first outside London, in St Albans.
Now, Plows hopes to take the brand well beyond its heartland in dresses to become a lifestyle brand, selling everything from perfume and sunglasses to coats and shoes. Its most recent launch is bridalwear.
It is also upping its ethical credentials, expanding rental services, experimenting with “pre-loved” and working to become a B Corp, which guarantees certain ethical standards.
“We want to be a sustainable, considered purchase for those who can’t afford a £350 dress,” says Plows.
The retail lifer joined the brand in 2019 and has her eye on every detail, from product to wider strategy. Today the cheapest dress costs about £70, but is underpinned by ethical credentials such as recycled or organic fabrics and guarantees on production standards. Prints and garments are dreamed up in-house by eight designers, guided by Plows.
The brand remains very feminine, with florals, frills and embroidery, but it also embraces more minimalist silhouettes in linen, for example, which appeal to a different shopper.
“We’re fully aware that the market is tough. What we’re seeing more and more is that we are making more considered purchases. So, we think with that customer mindset,” says Plows.
She hopes to win shoppers in an industry long dogged by concerns about the sustainability of throwaway fast fashion and labour issues in complex supply chains. Last week, a lawyer for fast-fashion retailer Shein was accused of “wilful ignorance” by MPs when requested to answer questions over labour concerns.
Nobody’s Child is expanding the use of a digital “product passport”, developed by Xeni’s tech firm Fabacus, which enables shoppers to track details of how and where garments are made and the ethical credentials of fabrics, packaging and components used. Plows says that her interest in sustainability dates right back to her early days in fashion, when she produced a report for a former employer, River Island, on how to become carbon neutral.
The garments made by Nobody’s Child may not exactly be cheap but are designed to be worn on numerous occasions – perhaps across more than one season – to tap into the trend for buying fewer but better quality items. “If consumers are spending less, that’s where you’re going to capture the appetite,” Plows says.
Despite a tough summer and autumn for fashion retailers – not helped by unseasonal weather – Nobody’s Child continued to grow, with dresses and new lines, including denim and coats, doing notably well. Sales in the year to December rose by 30% to £65m – including much more rapid growth via its own website and stores.
The retailer is pulling in shoppers across the generations. “We want to be inclusive and ageless. You see mums and daughters come in together all the time,” says Plows.
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Plows also wants to expand overseas. The brand is already in Nordstrom and Von Maur department stores in the US as well as Bloomingdale’s in Dubai and M&S outlets in the Middle East.
Plows’s ascent from shopfloor to the boardroom followed a familiar early path for retail executives. She worked for French Connection and Next as a teenager and, after studying politics at university she joined the merchandising team at River Island. Plows says she “loved the selling, loved the pace, loved people, loved fashion”, and quickly settled into her career.
She spent 11 years at the brand, eventually running its denim and casualwear business. She moved on to the more upmarket Reiss before heading to the Tesco womenswear team and then to New Look, where she met Xeni and Singh.
The brand has grown dramatically since she joined but Plows remains involved in many aspects of it: “It’s part of our culture: we call it high-low working. So, one minute you’re doing a three-year strategy, and the next minute you’re steaming clothes in a store. It very much keeps you down to earth,” she says.
One of her key aims is to avoid “greenwashing” by working “very rigorously” on digging out information about how garments and their components are produced and communicating that to shoppers.
Plows says she wants this digital passport information, which can be accessed by scanning a QR code on a garment’s label, to be available on all Nobody’s Child’s product areas by the end of this year.
She insists the company’s ethical drive is not just about ticking boxes amid concerns about the carbon footprint of fashion, but is a genuine point of difference in a crowded market. In September, the company introduced a recyclable denim collection with components that can be easily removed, and using recycled cotton.
“We are still quite ahead of the market. I thought that at this point everyone would have caught up with us doing fabrics this way. So many are using conventional cotton and too much water and too much traditional viscose. It is actually still a USP [unique selling point].”
Last year they began renting out garments and now aim to sell secondhand items for the first time, amid a boom in secondhand demand.
“A Nobody’s Child product is a more sustainable decision versus other brands,” she says, “but we have enough products on the planet … So if you’re going to buy products, have a considered purchase, or you can rent from us, or you can buy preloved from us.”
CV
Age 48
Family Married to Jonathan; two children, George and Darcey, plus miniature labradoodle Belah.
Education “Moved around schools, completed a politics degree while working in fashion shops.”
Pay Not disclosed.
Last holiday “Mallorca, our family favourite.”
Best advice she’s been given “Be authentic and be yourself.”
Biggest career mistake “Twenty years ago, empathy was often perceived as a weakness in leadership. I’ve always believed it to be a superpower, and now more than ever, it’s clear that empathy is critical for effective leadership.”
Word she overuses “Connection – whether it’s building relationships, understanding our customers, or aligning the teams, it’s fundamental to everything.”
How she relaxes Weekends with the family in Hertfordshire, running, and swimming.
