Joanna and Susanna are identical twins who, at just 20 years old, already own their own successful clothing brand; Anna Seven London.
“Love Thy Homie” and “Thou Shalt Not fear” are just some of the slogans that you can get on an Anna Seven T-shirt, not forgetting their most popular quote “Thou Shalt Change The Game” which went viral online with celebrities such as P Diddy and Zendaya posting it on their Instagram feeds.
“So many people would want to show their faith through what they wear. We’ve seen really cheesy Christian clothing but we wanted to create something that is cool because Christianity is cool!” Says Susanna.
So where did it all begin?
“We started it around September 2012 at the age of 17. We just thought it would be really cool to start a brand! But Anna Seven properly started in 2014, June 23rd on our birthday!” Says Susanna.
Although the twins always had a love of fashion, they continued their studies as normal at sixth form, all the while wanting to study fashion more and more! But God’s timing is perfect, right?
“We were in Florida when we found out that we didn’t get in to our second year of sixth form! We didn’t get the grades, and I worked really hard so for me to fail it was like obviously this isn’t for me.” Explains Joanna.
Susanna continues, “We only had a week to get ourselves in to another college. But we got in to a fashion college and it turned out that our tutor was from our church! So it was like, wow this is God! God was all over it. It was how we realised that fashion was what God wanted us to do.”
Joanna and Susanna share with us that the reason they started their own brand was simply because they wanted to raise money for victims of human trafficking.
“The A21 campaign was what made us want to raise money, by doing what we love for the girls who are being trafficked.”
“We give 10% of what we earn to the A21 campaign because we felt, especially as young girls, that we wanted to give back to the girls that were being trafficked because we are literally the same age as them but we have the privilege to be free and do anything we want, but they don’t!” Explain the twins.
So not only is the brand amazing, its intention is great too!
Although Anna Seven has only been established for just over a year, we wanted to find out some of the highlights for the designer twins.
After a bit of thought, Susanna starts with hers; “This is more crazy than a highlight, but when celebrities post one of our quotes on their social media, it’s overwhelming. I don’t feel a sense of ‘oh my gosh that’s so sick’ I feel a sense of WOW it’s getting out to all those people and they could all be inspired by the quote.
“I think that’s what inspires me the most; something that we created and that God gave to us to give out to the world. We are so privileged to be a part of it. It’s never about us; it’s about the people that are inspired by it because you realize that people are going to change the game!”
Joanna then joins in; “I think my highlight is getting orders from across the world. Like when I see Germany, or California, or Australia and New York. Anna Seven isn’t only here any more, it’s gone to world! Even some countries that don’t speak English!”
Nodding in agreement Susanna adds “It’s so funny, we always tell the story of the Change The Game slogan that went so viral, we were literally making chicken curry when we thought it up! It’s so crazy when you think about how we just started in our little house and it’s gone so global. Never despise small beginnings. God can use anyone who is willing!”
The girls really are willing to work hard, because not only do they run their Anna Seven business, they are also university students and hold down part-time jobs in River Island.
However the business is always on the brain and even their work at River Island is helping them progress in their fashion careers. “it gives us a chance to see business on another side. See what people like, what they don’t like. How to approach customers and stuff like that.” Says Susanna
But there is one downside to the identical sisters working in the same branch;
“I work upstairs and she works downstairs and the other day someone was like ‘you were there!! And now you’re there!?’ and the girl was proper shouting and so people were saying rah let me go see the other one and it’s just the awkwardest thing ever.” Laughs Joanna.
The twins have an infectious laugh and an undeniable passion to go after all that God has in store for them. Before our chat came to an end we got a bit of advice from the duo for anyone who wants to start up their own brand.
“Be creative and be different. If you’re going to spend so much time on something then make it original and something that no ones ever seen before. Also, start right now. When we were 17 a lot of people patronized us because we were so young but we had a dream.” Says Susanna
“Never despise small beginnings, be nice and use what you have. Also be humble, you never know who will be inspired by the small things that you do so just set a standard and tone for yourself even from right now.” Concludes Joanna
For more from Anna Seven make sure you follow them on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook @AnnaSevenLDN and visit their site to see all the items available for purchase.
