A Preston author has published a memoir of her time working in the fashion industry in 1980s Nairobi.

Jennifer Futter was an aspiring, ambitious fashion designer when at the age of 30 she left her Leith workshop with her trusty sewing machine to embark on the journey of a lifetime to become the principal of the number one fashion college in East Africa.

Jennifer’s memoir – 10 Years of Unpicking: A Yarn of Love, Fashion and Survival in Nairobi – captures how her younger ‘hapless and naïve’ self tried to fit in, but found many obstacles to personal and professional fulfilment. It also captures a decade of transition in Kenya’s history, 20 years after colonialism ended.

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Jennifer said: “In 1986, design was a fledgling industry and there were few educational establishments offering fashion studies. I mentored the next generation of Kenyan and sub-Saharan African refugee students, alongside establishing a corporate clothing company.

“My memoir stitches together the trials, tribulations and adjustments to an alien environment and the complexities of living and working in Nairobi… The daily commute, a design consultation with the Board of Kenya Airways, establishing a college in one of Nairobi’s most run-down and dangerous areas, finding a safe home, trusting friends, finding a husband, becoming a mother.

“Those years taught me lessons about trust, tenacity, friendship, and being true to yourself. It also awakened me to societal inequalities of my inherited white privilege. I discovered that people – no matter what colour or creed – have many connecting threads.”

Jennifer eventually achieved professional fulfilment, but with it came the realisation that her only option was to return to the UK.

Now living in Preston, Jennifer’s claim to fame is that she is the third cousin, once removed, of celebrated author Catherine Cookson. She has spent most of her life teaching and is passionate about passing on her skills to others. In 2009 she achieved a Master’s with Distinction in Fashion Shaping at UCLan.

Having worked as a counsellor with Relate for over 20 years, Jennifer has been able to unpick meanings from relationships past and present, while reflecting on the insights that writing her memoir has revealed.

Said Jennifer: “Who doesn’t wish that they knew then, what they know now?”

Jennifer’s first published work, 10 Years of Unpicking is described as entertainingly exposing, richly charged, informative, thought-provoking and written with wry humour, self-deprecation, courage and honesty.

10 Years of Unpicking: A Yarn of Love, Fashion and Survival in Nairobi is available from Jennifer’s Etsy shop in paperback form, or as an ebook from Amazon.

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