Jenifer Storey Wants Others to Tell Their Own Stories Through Fashion Brand, Unknown Union
Jenifer Story and her brother, Jason, are anything but your typical fashion entrepreneur story, and that's just one thing that makes their L.A.-based fashion house, Unknown Union, so special.
The brother-sister duo were both successful corporate lawyers before they realized their passions lay elsewhere. They joined forces in order to create a meaningful way to bring life to art, culture and history through fashion, and Unknown Union was born. The unique brand is all about celebrating diverse perspectives while allowing wearers to create and tell their own stories through their clothing, and they recently opened their first store at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. We just had to know more, and Jenifer was kind enough to share her own story with us in the interview below.
Name: Jenifer Storey
IG handle: @unknownunion
Hometown: Scottsdale, Arizona
1. Jenifer has loved exploring different styles from a very young age.
"Some go through style phases that fit certain periods of their life, but my style could change from week to week. Fashion is an extension of our personal expression. Might as well have some fun with it."
-Jenifer Storey
(Image courtesy of Jenifer Storey)
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2. She loves clothes that carry meaning.
"Sometimes that's a subtle nod to form and silhouette; sometimes it's an overt representation of the ideas or image I want to express; but always, it's an extension of my ever-evolving worldview."
-Jenifer Storey
3. Jenifer and Jason, her brother and Unknown Union co-founder, started their careers as corporate attorneys.
"To be candid, although we greatly valued the opportunity to have trained and practiced as attorneys (each of us successfully for over a decade), we wanted to pursue work that gave us meaning and purpose in life. For some, that's law. For us, it was not. So we set out on a journey to create Unknown Union, a fashion house that bridges the worlds of art, culture and history.
We believed then, as we do now, that knowledge is humanity's most precious and underappreciated resource, and that our tendency to rely upon contemporary sources of knowledge (to the exclusion of ancient and indigenous sources) mistakenly limits our perspective to far too narrow a point of view. After all, as intimated by Bernard of Chartres, 'In comparison to the ancients, we stand like dwarves on the shoulders of giants.'"
-Jenifer Storey
4. She says that a focus on authenticity sets Unkown Union apart from other fashion labels.
"I think we are less focused on current trends and what our competitors are doing. Instead, we focus on being true to the story and creating pieces we are proud of. We live by the motto, 'Do good work with good people,' with the understanding that the journey itself is far more important than the destination. This ethos holds us accountable both in the value systems we encourage within our own organization, as well as the value systems we seek in our partners. That being said, there are many companies and organizations that do the same. What makes us intrinsically different from other companies, particularly with respect to those companies engaged in the production of fashion, is that the preservation and dissemination of knowledge is our primary purpose for creating fashion and that art and culture are the reference points we use to give each source of knowledge context.
For example, we have a capsule collection called Original Royals, which focuses on value systems originating from Lesotho, a small mountainous country that sits within the borders of broader South Africa. This country has an important blanket-wearing tradition—if you saw the movie Black Panther, many of the blankets worn in that movie were Basotho blankets from Lesotho. In 2014 and 2015, we were invited by Aranda Textile Mills (the exclusive manufacturer of the Basotho blankets) to participate in the Royal Fashion Affair for the royal family of Lesotho. Our show intended to do two things: first, to repurpose these blankets into modern fashion in a way that respected the culture and the people who carry this heritage, and second, to share the stories and ideas literally interwoven into each blanket's design. After the showcase of both the fashion and the stories they contain, we were given permission to carry on this important work."
-Jenifer Storey
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5. The name Unknown Union represents the invisible connections between us all.
"We believe that people have more in common than they don't and that those differences that do exist are opportunities to learn from one another. Through storytelling, we find common ground: the Unknown Union that connects us."
-Jenifer Storey
6. Every year for the past decade, she's loved skiing exclusively on the bunny hill with her Olympic Nike jacket and mini skis.
7. Jenifer travels a lot, which informs her fashion as well.
"I like pieces that are versatile, layered and have the ability to be easily dressed up or dressed down. You may notice that a lot of our own designs reflect that philosophy. Anything black (with a good lint roller on hand) is my best friend."
-Jenifer Storey
(Image courtesy of Jenifer Storey)
8. When Jenifer was 8, her grandma told her, "You can fall in love with a rich man, just as easily as you can a poor man."
"Which I never listened to, but maybe should have."
-Jenifer Storey
9. Her father also always encouraged her to live a life of purpose.
"If you're following someone else's purpose, then you've dedicated your life to the changes someone else wants to make to this world. Look deep inside and find your purpose, your light, and then do all you can to shine it brightly during our short journey here on earth."
-Jenifer Storey
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10. She says she's slightly addicted to K-dramas and foreign TV series in general.
11. Jenifer's favorite pieces in her closet are her vintage kimonos and Unknown Union's Hybrid Jacket.
"It's hard for anyone not to look super swaggy in that piece."
-Jenifer Storey
(via Unknown Union)
12. She believes the Sour Patch Kids "Big Kids" should qualify as both a major food group and professional therapy.
13. At the moment, her favorite style trend is ultra-cropped sweatshirts.
"They look amazing on so many different body types, easily layered over other tops, and you can rock them year-round."
-Jenifer Storey
For more on our biggest inspirations in the fashion world, click HERE to read our interview with BONBONWHIMS founder Clare Ngai.