Member Article

Hull fashion entrepreneur teams up with Barbour and Hugo Boss retailer to expand startup

Hull-based fashion designer Jay Junior Oke is set for further success after linking up with independent fashion retailer Bolo in Prospect Shopping Centre to sell his own brand.

30 year-old Jay Junior Oke, who studied an NVQ in Retail and Distribution at Hull College, worked at Bolo for over ten years, and launched Social Junkie three years ago.

After linking up with the company to sell his brand, Jay has seen Social Junkie rise in reputation to become one of the best-selling brands in the company, which also stocks brands such as Hugo Boss, Religion and Barbour International.

Social Junkie is also stocked by Minnies Boutique, owned by The Only Way Is Essex stars Sam and Billie Faiers, after Jay presented his brand to the company over a year ago.

Jay said: “I have always wanted to be involved in the fashion industry from a young age and after being involved in fashion for a number of years, I decided to take on the challenge of designing my own brand.

“Working with Bolo as a stock buyer has given me the opportunity to attend fashion shows and truly understand how the industry works, so I decided to draw up a few ideas and it has risen from there.

“The owners, Paul and Steve Wilks, were more than happy to stock Social Junkie in Bolo outlets and I’m delighted it is popular with our customers.”

“I’m hoping that Social Junkie will be stocked by a number of retailers in the next few years.

“With stores such as Minnie’s Boutique selling Social Junkie, I’m hoping the brand will continue to rise in popularity, especially now it has been endorsed by Sam and Billie Faiers.

“Creating Social Junkie has further fuelled my enthusiasm for working in the fashion industry and the growth of the brand is partly down to the support of Paul and Steve Wilks.”

Bolo owner Paul Wilks said: “We have seen Jay’s passion for working in the industry over the decade he has worked with us.

“When he came to both Steve and I with his proposal to sell Social Junkie in our stores, we were astounded by the quality of his ideas and we jumped at the opportunity to work with him.

“Now, Social Junkie has become one of the most popular brands in Bolo, especially in the Prospect Centre store, and we believe it will continue to grow in popularity with its constant flow of new styles and ever growing list of celebrity wearers.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .