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Fiftysomethings in pink bobble jumpers: how White Stuff’s boss plans to tap midlife trends

Jo Jenkins is making a play for the mature shoppers left bereft after the loss of so many of Britain’s department stores

The deal with M&S brings Jenkins full circle back to the company where she started as a “Saturday girl”, and then a management trainee straight from A-levels, before returning many years later, after a long stint at Next, to become beauty and clothing director. While the UK fashion industry has suffered a difficult period, with a warm autumn and then a chilly wet spring, White Stuff has continued to grow, benefiting from improvements in style, new routes to market and steady income from good-quality basics such as chinos and cardigans, which are less dependent on the seasons. Founded in 1985 by catering student Treves and his friend Thomas, a tour operator and handyman, the pair first sold their “Boys from the White Stuff” T-shirts out of a suitcase in upmarket resorts such as Méribel and Val d’Isère to pay for their skiing habit.

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