Ella Jones, a 32-year-old mother of two from Heswall, has built her fashion brand Ellenna Belle while navigating some of the most difficult times in her life, including the premature birth of her son and her own battle with sepsis.
The brand, known for strong silhouettes and feminine identity, was created without formal fashion training. Ella, who goes by the name Ellenna, began working at luxury fashion institutions like Cricket and Harvey Nichols from the age of 16, learning directly from the retail floor.
Self-taught path and personal challenges
Ella said: "I didn’t come into fashion through the traditional fashion-school route. I have ADHD, and when I was younger I was bright but really struggled with concentration and with fitting into a very traditional school environment. I’ve always been much stronger creatively and visually, and I think that has probably shaped the way I work now."
Having also worked as a patient coordinator in plastic surgery, Ella added: "[My experience] taught me a lot about the level of service people expect when they’re spending more, how important the whole customer experience is, and the little details that make something feel premium."
Ella described her design approach: "I start with the feeling I want a woman to have when she puts something on, and then I build the piece around that."
A new outlook after health crisis
Ellenna Belle was born during a period of immense personal upheaval. Ella suffered severe illness with sepsis following the premature birth of her son, Albie, three months early. At the same time, her father was admitted to hospital in critical condition and later lapsed into a coma.
Ella said: "Going through all of that completely changed my outlook on life. It made me realise how quickly everything can change and that I didn’t want to keep putting my ambitions off or waiting for the perfect time. I wanted the freedom to be there for Albie, give him a really good life, and make amazing memories with him, while still building something ambitious for myself."
She added: "Trying to keep building Ellenna Belle through all of that has probably been one of the hardest parts. But in a strange way, the brand has also been one of the things that has helped me through those periods. It gives me something creative and positive to focus on, something that feels completely my own, and something that keeps me looking forward."
Continuous learning and future ambitions
Since then, Ella has tackled the steep learning curve of fabric sourcing, sample alterations, website management, and packaging. She said: "Probably the hardest part is learning how many different jobs there actually are behind a fashion brand. There have definitely been setbacks with manufacturing and pieces not coming back exactly how I envisioned them, but I’m very particular. I’d rather keep changing something until it feels right than put something out just because it’s finished."
A major milestone was The Shape of Ellenna showcase in Liverpool, which moved the label from an online presence into a physical experience. Ella said: "Up until then, so much of Ellenna Belle had existed through my phone, the website, shoots, and samples. So actually seeing the clothes in a room and creating a whole physical world around the brand felt quite surreal. We had music, a fashion illustrator creating live illustrations, a psychic medium giving readings, and different creative experiences happening throughout the space. It was really about bringing people into the world of Ellenna Belle rather than just putting clothes on a rail."
Looking ahead, Ella aims to establish a lasting fashion house rather than a fast-fashion label. She said: "The goal isn’t just to sell individual outfits. I want to build a fashion house with longevity. I want Ellenna Belle to become internationally recognised and eventually be stocked alongside the luxury contemporary brands I’ve always admired. I want to keep developing the collections, work with incredible talent, and build campaigns that people remember - something that Albie can grow up watching me build from the very beginning."
