If you walk past the Ian Snow warehouse or visit India’s shop, Sunshine & Snow in Bideford, you’ll likely catch a glimpse of Jakki Moase. Though she "retired" a few years ago, Jakki’s version of slowing down is busier than most people's full-time careers.
She is currently knee-deep in a new project, project managaing my sister's restaurant project in Bideford. When she isn't there, she’s likely in her massive polytunnel, a sanctuary of growth where she produces heaps of fresh vegetables for the small community that orbits the farm, or preparing her land for the summer campers who come to share a slice of her North Devon magic.
Living across from the Ian Snow office, she is the glue that holds it all together, our dependable back up and continuous support . She is the go-to for expert vintage repairs, a mother figure to so many, and the voice of reason amongst all the chaotic projects going on here. Her relentless energy is contagious and her optimistic outlook keeps us all going.
But to understand where this relentless creative fire comes from, you have to look back at the woman in the pink library van.
The "Scrap Scrap" Queen
Thirty years ago, 25-year-old Jakki was living alone in her factory in a house made of pallets, surrounded by what most would call rubbish. Long before "sustainable fashion" was a global movement, Jakki was living it. She started Scrap Scrap, turning waste rags into high-fashion garments.
It was during this time she met an "interesting hippy" named Ian at a local craft centre. Ian, who sold at the local markets, famously told her Scrap Scrap wouldn’t work and she was wasting her time. Jakki, in typical fashion, proved him wrong. Her business sky-rocketed, leading to orders from Harrods, Liberty’s, and Topshop, and even dinner with Prince Charles. Eventually, even Ian started ordering from her for his own shops.
The Road to North Devon
Life moved fast. After exhausting the UK’s entire supply of cotton velvet rags, Jakki and Ian headed to India in search of silk saris. Jakki was eight weeks pregnant with Daisy at the time. Returning to a changing fashion landscape, she decided to close Scrap Scrap and move her life to rural Mid-Wales in an old library van, painted pink and covered in huge flowers.
After years on the festival circuit, and with a second daughter, India, on the way, Jakki wanted to be near her own mother. And in 1999, they bought the run-down North Devon farm of her dreams.
Building a Legacy in a Cow Shed
The farm’s outbuildings soon became warehouses for the Indian treasures they were importing. Jakki nurtured the brand while picking orders with baby India strapped to her back and doing paperwork between nap times. Her first "office" was a plyboarded-off section of a cow shed. From those humble, gritty beginnings, Ian Snow grew into the global community it is today.
To Jakki, with Love
Jakki taught us that you can build something beautiful from nothing, that sustainability is a way of life, and that family and business can grow side-by-side. More than that, she passed down a relentless work ethic to my sister and I; a blueprint for a life lived with purpose, grit, and a whole lot of colour.
I may run Ian Snow now, and India runs her shop, but the heart of the it all, and our daily inspiration, still lives just across the road. Happy Mother’s Day to the woman who started it all. We wouldn't be here without your eye for beauty, your legendary energy, and the fire you’ve passed on to us all.
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