Aneta Jedrzejczyk is behind a new sustainable clothing range, RODI Apparel, inspired by her young scooter enthusiast son, Romeo. Here, Aneta explains how she’s on a mission to teach kids about sustainability in a fun and creative way
Trying to find age-appropriate slogan T-shirts for her scooter enthusiastic son was proving to be a bit of a challenge for Aneta Jedrzejczyk. The 41-year-old, who came to England from Poland 17 years ago – initially for a year – and ended up staying, says: ‘I went to do a Google search and obviously found a lot of really cool stuff, but I wanted him wearing something age appropriate.’
It got her thinking about creating her own clothing brand, inspired by son Romeo, who turns seven this month. ‘RODI was born from me wanting my son to have a T-shirt that was age appropriate with a simple and fun design – so he can express himself through it.’ They had moved to Haverhill around three years ago and they were soon down the local skate park with his stunt scooter.
But, what to wear? Aneta says: ‘There was nothing I could basically buy for him,’ she adds. ‘I like creating stuff, so I thought, let me try and design a couple of T-shirts for him.’
With Romeo’s help, she started out by designing one with a ‘triplbackflip’ slogan, in red and black. And she found a sustainable clothing business, called Teemill, based on the Isle of Wight, to turn their designs into reality.
The result is an online collection that includes kids’ jumpers and T-shirts, sized up to 12 years, and adult hoodies, such as #skateparkmum and #skateparkdad. ‘We’ve been doing it for a month and a half it’s very fresh,’ says Aneta. The collection gets the thumbs up from Romeo, as Aneta says: ‘He doesn’t want to wear any other T-shirt right now!’
She’s a big fan of stunt scooter riding as a hobby for kids. ‘It’s a really good sport because it keeps them from getting bored and, at the same time, they are socialising, exchanging ideas and teaching each other.’
RODI has been created to spread the love of scooter riding and sustainability amongst young scooter riding enthusiasts. The Certified Organic Cotton clothing is GM-free, not tested on animals, and does not contain animal-derived products. It is printed in the UK with low-waste printing tech and made in a renewable energy-powered factory.
Once a product is worn out, it can be returned via the Remill programme where it’s remade into new products, massively reducing waste. ‘It’s a fantastic company and they are really looking into the future.’
Aneta is also planning other projects in near future, that can help young people to share their passion and creativity. ‘I’m thinking of creating a space where they can, in a safe way, express their emotions. I’m meeting a lot of kids who don’t know how to – they are bottling everything up.’ It resonates with her. ‘I’ve been bottling everything up and I had to do a lot of work on myself to become a better mum.’
A lot has changed for Aneta since she came to England around the age of 25. ‘I think the most important thing is that the past 17 years has basically taught me quite a lot about myself. Remembering myself from 17 years ago I’m two completely different people. Sometimes when you are scared to do something I think you need to do it.’
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