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Meet Demoo: Durham’s environmentally conscious fashion designers

Their headbands are a medium to large vibe


Introducing India, Saskia and Jess, best friends and creators of Demoo: An environmentally conscious student brand which upcycles denim jeans and jackets, and creates unique handmade headbands.

Whilst you're trudging to the Billy B with a meal deal and a hangover, these gals are just casually selling headbands to Emma Louise Connolly (MIC Proudlock's megababe fiancé).

The Durham Tab met up with these annoyingly well dressed girls to find out about all things Demoo.

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How did you all meet?

Jess: Sassie and I are twins, then India and Sassie are both in Trevs and became good friends during freshers week last year. The three of us have so much in common, from our love of funky fashion, to cooking up all sorts of delicious dishes in the kitchen.

When we put our crazy ideas together they sometimes lead to something pretty great, and that’s what happened with Demoo.

When did Demoo start?

Saskia: The three of us are all pretty creative and are really into designing our own clothes. In sixth form I used to re-work jeans and sell them on Depop which I really enjoyed and I managed to earn a bit of extra cash.

It was on a charity shopping trip to Newcastle last April that Demoo was born. Jess and I were intending to buy jeans from charity shops to upcycle for Depop and then India proposed that the three of us made it into our own little project.

I remember brainstorming names on the train and we finally settled on the name: Demoo. "De" for the upcycled denim we mainly use and the "Moo" represents our signature cow-print style.

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Headbands, denim and animal print are literally everywhere right now, is this just great timing, or did you kinda see this coming?

India: To be completely honest we did not see the denim-animal print-headband fashion frenzy coming whatsoever! I’ve always been a huge fan of denim as there’s such an abundance of it in charity shops and I think its an extremely versatile material to work with.

Literally with just a few well placed stitches on the sewing machine, and some incredible materials you can turn a pair of once perceived drab 501’s into Jeans fit for a Queen. I think animal print is something that will always be loved and in trend.

Using different prints to spruce up old clothing can revolutionise a piece. Headbands were our second Einstein moment in the business. Originally we started up-cycling denim but then had the idea of turning the ribbon offcuts from the jean trimmings into headbands. I think headbands are such an easy accessory to put on with any outfit.

What is your best selling product?

Jess: The Shri headband is probably our best selling item. Its such a beautiful ribbon which you can dress up and down for any occasion – so versatile!

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The Shri Headband

What have been the biggest achievements so far for Demoo?

India: Not even a year old, we have been shocked at the support we have received. This term alone, we are in seven college charity fashion shows so have been crazy busy hand-making all the clothing, organising pre-show shoots and fitting so many models!

Saskia: It’s absolutely crazy how fast the Demoo word has spread! Over the past few weeks in particularly, we have received the loveliest messages from complete strangers, saying that they’ve spotted our stuff at the other end of the country and across university campuses.

Last week a student photographer from Bristol also got in touch proposing for us to be part of her new portfolio, an Exeter student also asked us to feature in their upcoming fashion magazine and we're taking part in fashion shows at Exeter and Newcastle University.

Jess: We also have a network of social media influencers and are hoping to grow the team even more. So far, our headbands have been worn by Jemima Rhys (Made in Chelsea) and Emma Louise Connolly which is pretty surreal.

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How do we place an order?

India: We take all our orders through Instagram. Our stock is constantly changing and we always have new denim styles coming in. We regularly post everything we have on Instagram so check out our "highlights" section or DM us and i'm sure we’ll be able to sort you out!

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