Emma Roomes, an Inverness-based mother of two and former teacher of 22 years, set out to change the clothes made for girls with her empowering brand Scarf Monkey.

She had noticed that animals on boys’ clothing are often predators, like sharks or T-rex. Girls’ clothing, meanwhile, featured vulnerable animals like rabbits and butterflies, or princesses and unicorns. With a nine-year-old daughter who didn’t want to conform to the pink assault, Roomes decided she could do better and created Scarf Monkey, a brand of empowering clothing options for girls.

The brand’s T-shirts feature everything from sharks and wolves to suffragettes and important women from history. Other key designs include female astronauts, scientists and athletes, as well as science- and space-related designs.

Scarf Monkey also focuses on inclusivity, with designs having multiple variations to feature a different girl at the centre. For example, blonde, redhead, afro bunches, a girl in a wheelchair, or wearing a hijab. The intention is that every girl finds someone they relate to through the designs.

 

 

Commenting is Scarf Monkey’s founder, Emma Roomes.

“I spend a lot of time in the high street shops and whenever I was clothes shopping for my daughter, I would always come home empty-handed. She liked wearing bunny designs or sequined tops occasionally, but she didn’t want to wear them all the time. Girls’ clothes are very limited. There are no reds or greens, oranges or blues, no dinosaurs that aren’t wearing high heels or carrying handbags, and no sports or space designs.

 

 

“I’d never drawn anything, I had no sewing or fashion experience, I’d never run a business before; I had to learn all those things at 43. I spent the first three years working from my garden shed, and the response was amazing. We’re now able to produce our own organic cotton T-shirts, and our clothes are cut, dyed, sewn and printed entirely in the UK.

“It feels like a long way from my 22-year career as a teacher and headteacher. However, the shared principle between them is doing what I can to inspire and empower our younger generations. My children often talk about what they will do when they grow up, and I tell them: don’t decide what to do forever, just think: ‘what will I do first’.”

For wholesale enquiries, please contact emma@scarfmonkey.com. Alternatively, to visit the brand’s website, please click here.