Julie from London based brand Adrenna talks to Strong in Style about leaving a city job to develop a sustainable and eco-friendly activewear collection.

 

What made you start Adrenna?

I started Adrenna in response to stress developed at work and realising I needed to make a life change. I started my career as a lawyer in the City. The long hours and pressure eventually took its toll. I discovered that I was no longer seeing friends, was gradually losing touch with my family and myself. I eventually burned out after only 5 years in the City.

After suffering chronic neck and back pain from long hours working as a lawyer, I took up yoga and weight training to build strength and manage the pain which was a revelation. When buying activewear I couldn’t always find anything that fit or speak to my personal values. I thought of creating a brand that supported you through your transformative life change, which was also ethical and environmentally sustainable.

Tell us a little about being sustainable/eco-friendly?

The stressful, fast pace of life in London often means that the environment is an afterthought. In particular, the dominating presence of fast fashion brands and cheap, disposable clothing is very obvious here. In my opinion, the main environmental problems caused by fashion are a result of the sheer quantity of items that are produced, bought and/or discarded, the low quality items that are produced and the methods used in their production. You only need to look at news stories of well-known brands – luxury and fast fashion brands – incinerating their stock because they produced to much.

Adrenna tries to address these issues by only producing what is needed and we try to achieve this by producing very small production runs and customisable items which our customers design themselves. When we do make our clothes, it’s produced using zero-waste principles and all our components are sourced within Europe to keep our carbon footprint as small as possible.

 

You also offer customisation on products, tell us a little more about this.

Currently customers are able to customise design features and colours on their activewear. For example, you can have sports bras with a bra clasp or fixed band. You could also design them with one, two or three colours. There are literally hundreds of possible combinations.

What is your favourite piece from the collection?

My favourite piece has to be the Azure Sports Bra. Our sports bras have been our best sellers because they are just so flattering. And I can’t get past this shade of blue.

 

What can we expect from the next collection?

It’s all a bit under wraps, but you can expect more innovative and sustainable technical fabrics and a sports bra and legging range that will cater to more bodies. It’s all very exciting.

Who is inspiring you on instagram at the moment?

Not fitness related but I love: Life and Inflight Imagery

 

What is your favourite workout?

For my own workouts I love weights and conditioning. My favourite class at the moment is with At Your Beat – check them out!

 

What is on your spotify playlist as you exercise?

I tend not to listen to my own music when I workout. I just like to focus on what I’m doing than be distracted by my playlist.

 

If you hadn’t started Adrenna what would you be doing now?

​I can’t really imagine doing anything else at the moment!