New Bexhill boutique opens - take a look inside

Jaadu, based at 34 St Leonards Road, takes its name from the Hindi word for ‘magic’, and is owned by Janine du Plessis and specialises in curated clothes, soft furnishing, homewares, accessories and jewellery, most of which come from India.

Janine said: “I go twice a year to India and have worked with the same makers for going on 20 years. Specialising in heritage hand prints, embroideries, and hand weaves, they work in safe conditions and are paid properly, which enables them to feed, educate their children and live with dignity.

“We've recently moved to Bexhill and we bought this building because we want to invest in this town. We think it's got great potential and we have plans to restore and renovate the ground and lower ground floor to make Jaadu a welcoming ‘go to’ destination.

“This shop is 1,000 square feet. This is just the front of it. It will be extended and I'm hoping to have a gallery downstairs as well. There's quite a lot of building to be done in the meantime.”

Jaadu is an independent boutique that was founded in May 2013. On the shop’s website, it says that the essence of the brand is to ‘bring together stylish, distinctive and beautifully made collections that are unusual and unique’.

Janine started her working life in fashion.

Her first job was running the press office at Brown's, South Molton Street. Following a career with top international designers such as Giorgio Armani, Valentino, Ungaro and the like, Janine ran her own PR and marketing business for the next 10 years, representing British designers such as Antony Price, Betty Jackson, Artwork, Workers for Freedom, Jenny Packham, Hobbs, and Austin Reed.

During this time she also lectured part-time at Epsom College of Art, London College of Fashion and St Martins.

Janine then studied pilates with the Pilates Foundation and became a qualified teacher.

She learned Kathak dancing, one of the nine major forms of Indian classical dance, and made frequent trips to India, where the idea for her label Jaadu was born.

For more information, visit www.jaadu.co.uk.