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EYE-CATCHING: Jeanette's creations are designed to empower women and boost confidence

JEANETTE YOUNG is definitely a woman with the 'x factor'.

The 40-year-old wife, mother and Christian of 21 years standing, was the talk of a recently held soiree because of her eye-catching stylish outfit. Everyone, including myself, asked the question and then discovered the reason why Young stood out – she’s a stylist.

Young, who describes herself as "outgoing, ambitious and exuberant" is a London College of Fashion graduate and for the past 15 years has built a successful career as a freelance senior garment technologist for leading fashion brands including Karen Millen, Topshop, and most recently, ASOS.

She recently launched her debut fashion collection and has been a stylist for five years.

Her knack for putting clothes together is what led Young to take up styling.

She said:

“I was inspired to be a stylist because I have always been told that I have great sense of style and people always ask me for style advice or want me to style them.”

She feels people should pay attention to their image.

“The way we portray ourselves is very important and speaks volumes,” she explained.

“We speak in many ways, the top two being through style and image and body language.

"We live in a society where perception is everything and 100 per cent of the time a person is perceived by how they look, everything else is secondary.”

With the advent of social media, more people recognise the importance of looking good and realise the right image can open doors to great opportunities.

Christians are recognising this too, and prominent believers who have experienced Young’s stylish touch include leading UK gospel artist Muyiwa Olarewaju and award-winning choir director, Karen Gibson – although she says she would love the opportunity to style leading MOBO award-winning artists Lurine Cato and Rachel Kerr. The innovative stylist thinks it‘s good for Christians to be interested in fashion.

“I believe that God is concerned about all of you – not just the inside, but the outside too,” she said.

Young she understands the dilemmas Christians, especially women, can have when it comes to fashion.

“Faith and fashion can be a sore subject at times, especially when it involves women looking sexy and showing curves and cleavage. I love it when a woman knows how to embrace her sexiness, because I do. But it must be classy – not tarty!”

Young is regularly invited to give workshops about fashion and styling in churches which are proving popular and her debut fashion collection is getting good responses.

She added:

“My designs are created to empower women, making them feel bold, confident and beautiful. I want women to embrace their sexiness in mind, body and spirit."

The future is looking bright for Young, whose favourite scripture is:

"For God has not given us a Spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7)".

She is amassing a large social media following, is praying her fashion collection explodes and is set to organise a special fashion show featuring up and coming designers. It will all be stylishly done, of course.

Click here for more details.

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