By Saoirse MacCarthy
Sarah Jane Rudaru launched RUD in 2020 at 17 years old. With plenty of time on her hands during the COVID-19 lockdown, she decided to earn a bit of pocket money by starting a small knitting business at her kitchen table. This decision felt natural, as she hails from a long line of knitters. Sarah Jane drew inspiration from her mother and grandmother: “My skills were taught; my granny taught my mum; my mum taught me.” This tradition instilled in her a love for handmade knits. “It’s more unique when it’s handmade rather than machine knitted. I just love the fact that I got the skills passed down,” she says. Nothing beats that “personal touch.”
Like many small businesses, she began selling on Depop. Originally crocheting bags, one day, on a whim after knitting a sweater, she decided to put it up for sale. The sweater sold the same day. After that, she went to the yarn shop to purchase more wool, where she discovered the “high-quality” acrylic wool she still uses five years later. This wool inspired her to create her most popular item, the shrugs. These shrugs then ‘popped off,’ and RUD’s popularity has continued to grow.
Sarah Jane explains that she remains committed to the wool she uses because she can’t find a natural or acrylic option that she loves just as much. She makes a concerted effort to stay loyal to three local shops: “I don’t want to buy from bigger places because I buy from a family-owned shop in Kilcock, a small town next to mine,” and “in Maynooth, and the same goes for one in Trim.” Having to keep up with sales, Sarah Jane creates garments around the clock, even during slow periods like the summertime. She has transformed the spare bedroom in her family home into a ‘spare wool shop’ since it is floor-to-ceiling full of shrugs.
The rud_aru Instagram now has almost 4,000 followers, and the website that Sarah Jane launched last year attracts visitors from all over the world, “There’s people from Sydney, Australia, on the website.” This year, Sarah Jane began selling PR packages to influencers, such as Jenny Claffey.
The RUD sizing system follows a ‘one size fits most’ approach, which may cause some anxiety for a few customers, but Sarah Jane assures them they should feel “free to text me if they want a different size. So, it’ll always fit them.” Most garments are made to order, meaning a slower shipping time; she has found that many people either forget or don’t appreciate handmade items anymore, as consumers have become accustomed to the fast turnover of Shien, Pretty Little Thing, and Zara. She calls herself a “quality control freak” because she wants people to receive the perfect piece, stating, “If there’s like one bit of wool that’s like a tiny bit sticking out, I’m not going to send it out.” The level of care is something one can’t find from a fast fashion brand.
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