She’s had her say.
A few weeks back an investigation was done on some brands in Dublin that were sourcing goods from Asia and selling them at hugely inflated prices. Irish designer Jennifer Wrynne’s brand was caught up in the investigation, along with blogger Ciara O’Doherty.
The Irish Mail On Sunday reported that some of Ciara’s stock also appears on Chinese discount shopping website, Ali Express, for considerably lower prices.
Jennifer, who runs a shop in Dublin’s Powerscourt Townhouse, was also accused of selling stock for “extreme” markups. She released a statement at the time denying the claims but she hadn’t referenced the media storm on social media, until last night.
She took to Snapchat to chat to her clients and speak honestly and openly about where she sources her products from. She wanted to make it clear that the hats she creates are 100% made by herself and her team, but admitted that the bags and accessories were sourced from Asia.
She said:
“I just wanted to come on to chat to you about something that has been playing on my mind the last few weeks and I just feel like I need to address. It’s in relation to the article that was published about me or my business a couple of weeks so in one of the national newspapers. It was mainly about where we source our products and where we get our products from.
I guess I just want to kind of chat to you guys through it here and just to be super clear about things and how things came about.”
She then went into the background of the business, starting off with her millinery business seven years ago making hats as a hobby. Then two years ago, she opened her boutique in Dublin where she started selling dresses to go along with her bespoke hats.
While selling dresses and hats she saw a need for accessories that also matched the pieces. She wanted to source products and sell them on for a reasonable price.
She said, “This would be the perfect addition to my business, because I had the outfit and then I had the hats and the only things I was missing were the jewellery and clutches.”
When speaking about where she sources them from she added:
“Then in relation to where we purchase our jewellery from or our clutch bags. They’re all sourced in Asia, so whether it’s China, India, Thailand, basically that side of the world.
That’s where we can get our hands on beautiful quality jewellery and accessories and sell them on at an affordable price.”
Jennifer confirmed that her jewellery ranges from €12.95 to €39.95, and the bags range from €29.95 to €79.95. She added that within those retail prices there is a mark up for the different expenses that a business comes across.
Finishing on the origin of her accessories and their price she said:
“But I guess I just felt the need to come on and clarify more than anything else. So our jewellery and accessories are sourced in Asia, our dresses are sourced from different designers around the world… and with my hats they are all handmade in Leitrim.”
