NU-NUDE: INTERVIEW WITH JOANNE MORALES

Being comfortable in our own skin regardless of the flaws with have is near enough impossible with the rise of unrealistic expectations being demanded from young people nowadays. We spoke to Joanne owner Nünude, a clothing unique clothing brand that emphasis natural skin colours through clothing and focuses on creating and accentuating confidence amongst its customers. We wanted to find out what inspired her to create a brand that is inclusive of all people regardless of their shape, size or background and why she injecting confidence into today’s society is so important.

Tell us about YOU Joanne. The Joanne behind the brand.

Well, my name is Joanne Baban Morales. Growing up I realised that my mindset was quite different to those around me. I was always ambitious and always sought for new ways to better myself. In school, I started selling Colombian sweets as a means to make some “fun money”. In secondary school I upgraded to selling trainers and then tracksuits.

Even though I was a bit of a grafter, I didn’t have a good experience growing up and this was in school and within my own Latin community. I was bullied regularly and this had a huge effect on my confidence. As a way to channel my insecurities, I began to associate myself with business people who were much older than me from a young age.

I found myself falling in love with taking challenges and making them into a success. I’d always wanted my own clothing brand and I had the idea of skin tone coloured apparel back in 2011. Three years later Nünude was born.

Nu-Nude? What was your inspiration behind the name of your brand what is your mission statement?

Nünude was born after coming across an article that defined the word “nude” as one skin tone. Nude can never be defined as one skin tone and this re-triggered my initial apparel idea. Nünude (pronounced as new nude) is a rebirth of the original concept of “nude”. We launched in Feb 2017 with a petition against the Oxford dictionary definition alongside a photoshoot that went viral gaining the attention of the likes of Tyra Banks. We define nude as  “reflective of the wearer’s skin”.

We also define Nünude as the “new naked” - loving yourself wholly in your rawest form which will in turn allow you to love yourself in every other way too!

What was one of the mistakes you made when starting out?

Where on earth do I even begin? I made countless mistakes. As an entrepreneur making mistakes is completely inevitable. However, I don’t regret any of the things I’ve done so far because more than anything, they’ve been edifying and only made my brand better. With that being said, if there was one change that I could make, it would have been to have started earlier and not allow myself to succumb to the fear of failure.

Nünude features a lot of diverse models that could be considered to be out of the norm especially within the fashion industry. Why did you decide to be so inclusive?

We wouldn’t have it any other way!!! Although we are not the first brand to do skin toned coloured apparel or essentials we were the first completely diverse brand.

Our first campaign had 15 girls who were all our Instagram supporters with no previous modelling experience whatsoever. We made a conscious decision to have all continents of the world represented alongside 9 different sizes! The whole experience was completely magical beyond words.

The concept of diversity for me has really evolved and the meaning behind representation has gotten become much more profound than what is above the surface.

We had a campaign called Self-Love and even though the phrase is almost cliché, I wanted to take a completely different approach. I wanted showcase models with all types of differences, I wanted variation. People don’t understand that moving away from the norm is way more aesthetically pleasing and I wanted to use this campaign to showcase that. I despise the word “model” as I feel like its definition has completely changed due to social media. The girls that we work with are ROLE models. Girls that use their platform to stand up for what they believe in regardless of how they look.

We make our campaigns inclusive for many reasons; one of those being that fashion sets trends. A designer could create the most awful outfit that one would think they’d never wear however when high street stores begin to endorse it, it slowly starts to become a part of mainstream fashion. It’s like it’s in our human DNA to follow trends.

I don’t want to use fashion to set a diversity “trend”.  I want to use fashion to make a change, and impact in the world. I want to break the boundaries of what beauty is perceived to be in the fashion industry and make the “abnormal - normal”

I personally believe if the media and fashion industry represented “unique individuals” and normalised this there would be less bullying and more bulbuild absolute confidence and when you become a young adult you realise confidence is everything, in anything you want to be.

Winnie Harlow is the perfect example. She has used Vitiligo to became a phenomenon and seeing people with Vitiligo has become less of a shock. Having spoken to a few of our role models with Vitiligo, they have noticed that as they are more represented, walking in the street has become easier with less staring.

Now this? This is my aim with Nünude !

What is the selection process of your models?

We completely refuse to go to modelling agencies. Our perception of beauty is completely different. I love having a relationship with each of our role models and love that to many of them, Nünude become a platform of opportunity for them to get noticed.

We will be releasing each of their stories on our YouTube channel soon, so keep an eye out :)

The process is quite simple we put a post-up on our social media pages and website, go through our emails with reasons behind why they like the brand and a bit about themselves and what they stand for. We then set up a meeting and go from there.

Five of the girls we have worked with have gone on to do amazing things!!

Do you think that social media has had a role in the breaking and making of people’s confidence?

100000%! There’s absolutely no doubt. Is that even questionable? I think that fashion and media industry has always subliminally done that, but now that the internet is so accessible it has increased immensely. What people don’t quite understand is that what is seen on social media is hardly reality. You’ll see numerous “influencers” or “instagram girls” taking amazingly flawless photos but what isn’t seen is that behind the scenes there’s lighting, makeup tricks, angles and of course editing! Social media has allowed “normal” non-celebrities to look like celebrities and now we are comparing ourselves to people that are just as normal as us.

On the other hand, if used correctly it can be a such a great tool to create a positive impact and I my intention is to use it as such.

7) I can see that you add new pieces to your collection very often - from swimwear to tracksuit sets and to very soon - lingerie - what has made you want to expand?

It’s only natural for a business to expand but as we are an all-inclusive brand it’s only right to try and provide for all types of women. We want to have something within our brand for every woman. For the sexy woman – swimwear and for the casual women – loungewear, and for the women who dresses for comfortability – tracksuits.

What is your favourite part of being a fashion designer?

LOL! The fact that I never studied fashion or business and not only am I still in it but I’m still killing it. I studied media production and marketing at uni ! :). It’s my favourite part because I have learned so much without having any precious experience whatsoever.

How do you want people to feel when wearing Nu-Nude?

I want people to associate the brand name with confidence. I want women to put on their Nünude item and feel like they are wearing a crown of confidence on their head. I want people to walk with their heads held high smiling at the world because they know there is a small brand out there that represents THEM not just to be diverse but wholeheartedly for a deeper purpose !

How important is empowering women to you?

I think the concept of empowering women has become completely saturated. For me it’s not so much empowering women, it’s uplifting them. Telling them yes when others say no. Showing them love and support in a world where to find this in its genuine for is so rare!

What is next for Nu-Nude?

We are working on so many projects under the radar! Next up is our active-wear collection and I am beyond excited for that to drop.
I’ll let  you in on a secret… We’re expanding into different colours! We want to branch out into new colours and further emphasise the idea of loving yourself naked before anything. But please don’t get it twisted, nude shades will always be our thing!

Find Nünude on Instagram: @nunude_official or shop their collection at www.nu-nude.com