Jen

Can you introduce yourself and tell us about your role within the company?  
My name is Jennifer Jarvis, 37, originally from London and I joined Tribal Textiles in 2019. Before coming to Zambia, I was in the fashion industry, I still see my work around social media and on celebrities today which is quite fun. After that, I worked in the jewellery industry working closely with the manufacturing process and workshops.  

I joined Tribal as the Production & Design Manager and more recently I shifted to run the online website, marketing and I still cover design.  

What made you pursue a career at Tribal Textiles? 
I was already following Tribal Textiles from when they first started using Instagram, so I knew a fair amount about the company. I spotted a job for them via Escape The City and so it was a no brainer for me, the perfect mix of creative and workshop management, encompassing all of my main skills... plus, escaping the city!   

As I arrived in the bush, surrounded by bugs and my ultimate fear – spiders, I didn’t think I’d last past the year but here I am 5 or so years later. 

Tell us about a colleague past or present who was inspiring to you. 
Treser, I honestly think I would have withered away by now, I’m terrible with remembering to bring food and she’s shared countless buns over the years. She and I worked closely together when I was running the production side of the business. She has a wicked sense of humour, which I discovered when she pulled a fluffy blanket from a tiny storage cupboard and exclaimed ‘Someone’s living here!’  

Do you have a favourite collection, design or product of Tribals? 
I’m going to pick Kuba, because of the journey it took to get this design. It stems from project work I did for Made51, working with refugees from Congo in the north of Zambia. The shapes on this collection come from palm woven shapes that we were experimenting with during that time. So, it's like a nod to the creatives I met there and a nod to the Tribal workshop staff.  

How has your role evolved overtime? 
The great thing about Tribal is that we really play on people's strengths, so there's room to shift about. I have a nerdy side and I know my way around the inner workings of a website, so I’ve ended up taking over the online store and moving away from managing the workshop.  

I also took on the glass recycling workshop, which has been so much fun, every time we design together it’s like a science club. We never know what will work and what may possibly explode. Risky creativity! 

How do you approach your design process from start to finish? 
I try and think logically about what Tribal is missing, where the gaps are .. maybe its colour, style or product. I also like to have a story to tell behind designs, so most of the collections come from something specific, like the Kuba collection. Another example would be Kuosi – this comes from small patterns around beaded elephant masks worn in traditional ceremonies. And more recently, Atlas comes from a pattern on the edge of a Moroccan plate.  

What is the most rewarding part of your job? 
When people tell me what they have bought from Tribal and it turns out to be something I’ve designed. We have a mix designs – some by the former owner and founder of Tribal – Gillie Lightfoot and some are mine. 

Can you share a memorable moment you have had at Tribal Textiles? 
Discovering Meanie, our office cat, had been swallowed by a python... won’t be forgetting that any time soon! Plus, the time when Kirstie our managing director thought an intern coming was a lady called Janice, when in fact it was a man called Jannis. We had been speaking about HER coming for a while!  

How would you describe Tribal Textiles? 
The funniest team in Zambia, I’ve never laughed so much in my life whilst working at a company. It’s like we’ve gathered the biggest personalities and put them all in a big creative pot.

The company itself, is creative, pushes boundaries and we can proudly say we do it all ethically after we gained certified ethical practise status back in 2021.