At ethical Canberra clothing label Peak Women, founder and CEO Jennifer Cowley looks beyond the person wearing the clothes.

Ms Cowley has worked in the Federal Government for almost 16 years, during which time she developed a passion for supporting others – particularly women – to achieve their goals.

“My early years were in a uniformed position where I was taught that uniform represented our authority as a representative of the government when engaging with the public,” she told CD.

“As my career developed, I noticed during mentoring conversations or networking catch-ups with colleagues, that women had a tendency to talk about their ambitions the same way they talk about their style; self-excluding.”

Ms Cowley launched Peak Women in mid-2024, with a range of three women’s suits.

The company focuses on blazers and paired trousers.

“Peak Women is a social impact brand that is by women, for women, supporting women,” Ms Cowley said.

“Supporting women in the workplace is at the forefront of everything we do.

“From ethical manufacturing to supporting local not-for-profit organisations helping women re-enter the workplace.”

Ms Cowley said the most unique thing about the blazers was the positive affirmations printed in the lining.

“Taking into consideration enclothed cognition, we wanted to give the wearer that extra boost of confidence every time they wear it,” she said.

Ms Cowley said as a small start-up business, there were some hard decisions to make when it came to being ethical and sustainable.

Peak Women partnered with a manufacturer in Vietnam that employed women in need, namely single mothers or survivors of domestic abuse.

“An ethical manufacturer was really important to me when I started the business,” Ms Cowley said.

“I wanted to make sure we weren’t empowering women with our end product, while taking advantage of them along the supply chain.

“Due to their higher wages and ethical polices, the manufacturer does have a higher cost price which is reflected in our retail price.”

She said this was balanced by using polyester as the main fabric and a cotton blend lining.

Ms Cowley said there were also some bumps along the way, including the samples being printed in the wrong design (twice) and the trousers being “too short”.

She said the business was launched only a couple of months after giving birth to her son.

“I had a very tiring day on our first photo shoot at the National Library of Australia in summer at eight months pregnant,” Ms Cowley said.

She runs the business online but has plans to host events over the year giving people the opportunity to try the clothing on.

“I live in Canberra, so I often have women come to the house to try something on before buying,” Ms Cowley said.

She said they were in the process of finalising the designs for the next range, with hopes to launch in the coming months.

“For the next range we will change it up slightly: instead of having three different suits, there will be one pair of wide-leg trousers plus a softshell style t-shirt that can be matched with three different blazers (one colour, two prints),” Ms Cowley said.

“Our community has requested hot pink as the base colour, so we have obliged.

“We are excited to be launching the next range.”

Visit the label’s website at peakwomen.com.au or connect on social media by searching @peakwomen.

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