Loungewear label Juvia stands for products that are so much more than mere finishing touches for cozy evenings on the couch. Since Judith Dommermuth finally took the plunge to break into a supposedly saturated market––a decision she made neither lightly nor quickly––those cozy, relaxed evenings have been rare for her. In recompense, Juvia is a type of success story that can still be found, defying the pandemic and the many other stumbling blocks along the way.
Interviewed by Nick Hartmann, owner and founder of hartmann consultants, Juvia’s founder Dommermuth mused that she could simply have stayed on that couch. After all, she already had plenty to do. “Nobody wants to step outside their comfort zone,” she admitted. But the vision in her head persisted, spurring her on. Dommermuth had always been a fan of casualwear, but had noticed a lack of options that were soft and comfortable to wear, but still stylish enough to impress. So the comfort zone was left behind, and the living-room gradually became an office. “If only I’d known how much work it would be!” she laughs. Perhaps she would still be on the couch with her feet up?
Dommermuth’s concept of high-end casual style rapidly proved to be a perfect fit for the times. In 2013, she began to pour her savings and all of her spare time into the project. She found a designer, attracted interested clients. All the more surprising, then, when she canceled the debut show of her first fashion line at short notice. “Basically, everything was ready. The rails and racks and everything were all in place. But the whole thing felt wrong to me. Pants that were too long over here, colors needing fine-tuning over there,” she recalls.
Once this blip was straightened out, the pace picked up––partly due to smart marketing strategies like booking advertising space at rail stations and airports, where fashion buyers were bound to pass on their way to attend trade shows. Of course it was very helpful that the brand was already selling well, but successful marketing operates on the same basic principle as the company’s original idea: identify an offbeat niche, and put meticulously planned ideas into practice with obsessed perfectionism.
The COVID-19 pandemic did not involve taking a break. Quite the opposite, in fact. Of course, if Dommermuth had set up a different kind of fashion label––evening wear, say–– the same level of success would have been elusive, but her idea of feelgood homewear was the ideal fit for the contemporary mood. “At first we didn’t even have an online store; we were a classic B2B operator,” she said. In lockdown, Dommermuth asked retailers whose stores were shuttered to return her products, giving Juvia the stock to meet potential demand. “It was a win-win situation. All the shipments landed in Montabaur. I spent two years just ironing,” she laughs. And there it was again––that startup exhilaration. Juvia was stunningly successful, attracting more and more prestigious customers. Today its online business has naturally become a cornerstone of the company. “My parents’ generation would never have dreamed of shopping online before the pandemic,” she affirmed, pointing out that this age group now thinks twice before heading to the high street for every little thing.
But hard work and good ideas are not enough on their own. Dommermuth’s advice: to seek external help in all areas that fall outside personal expertise: Asked for her most important tips, she instantly shot back, “Definitely call in a consultant!” She recounted how hartmann consultants helped her to recruit an urgently needed CFO/COO three years ago, at a time when the company did not even have a clear overview of its cash flow.
So is it time for Dommermuth to put her feet up now and again? Not a chance. She is also a member of various supervisory boards. But where does she find the time? “You just have to take the time,” she replies, while hinting that her position on the supervisory board of football team Borussia Dortmund is not particularly time-consuming. However, this is countered by her work for brotZeit e.V., a nonprofit “passion project” for which she would love to find more time. Founded in 2009, the charity has the mission of ensuring that no child in Germany goes to school hungry. Some work is enjoyable––while other work is simply essential.