AOW INSIDER: An Interview with Jenna Wilson and Cary Vaughan of Ace & Jig

September 2026

This month, I'm pleased to feature a conversation with Jenna Wilson and Cary Vaughan of Ace & Jig, the brand's designers and co-owners. I've long admired this brand for its tangible impact on artisans, strong brand identity, and product focus. Plus, it's fun and friendly, and it produces clothes that genuinely make you feel good.

Ace & Jig, based in Brooklyn, NY, and Portland, OR, is one of those brands that has withstood the ebbs and flows of the tumultuous market. They work with artisans in India to offer a fashionable, socially responsible line, with the people behind it all top of mind. Their fabrics are carefully designed and made from scratch by partners they have worked with since the beginning. Their pieces are vibrant, unique, colorful, and effortlessly wearable. While many brands simply source their fabrics, they design from the beginning, and I think that's their secret sauce.

I've always been impressed with how they go the extra mile to improve both quality and working conditions. Their pieces are Certified Fair Trade and made using organic cotton.

I see many brands enter this field with a vision, only to be easily distracted by many different product categories and countries. What Ace and Jig does so well is withstand those distractions with laser focus. It's very inspiring, and if I can offer one piece of advice to brands out there wanting to start an artisan brand, it's to focus on fewer product categories, go deeper, ultimately creating more impact for the artisans and leading to a strong business. Ace and Jig is a perfect example. So here we dive into their brand story, evolution, and how they have stood apart over the years.

Enjoy the full interview below!

Can you tell me a bit about that 'aha' moment when you both decided, 'Okay, it's time to start Ace and Jig'? And how has your original brand vision evolved?

Yes! We had both worked in fashion for many years, and felt there was a way to do things differently. After the birth of each of our firstborns, we decided it was time to branch out and start something new together.

Our vision at the time was to create something textile-driven, with quality and values we could stand behind. If you look at our textiles from 16 years ago to now, the story of our evolution tells itself! The designs have evolved, but our vision and brand identity remain the same as ever.

What is the inspiration behind your designs, and can you tell readers about the artisan partners with whom you work?

We draw inspiration from all over! Jenna lives in Portland, Oregon and Cary lives in Brooklyn, NY. Our environments provide endless color, texture, and pattern inspiration - sometimes inspiration comes from nature, or art, or our everyday lives (we once used the particular blue from a bottle cap as a reference for color).

Our Fair Trade Certified™ partners in Delhi, India are an experienced team of multi-generational weaving and textile experts. We work closely with them to create each of our custom textiles in a lengthy process that can take a year or more from start to finish. We are so lucky to have such a strong and long-standing partnership with them!

India has had such an immense impact on our designs! It’s impossible not to be inspired by their vibrant culture and rich textile history. We love how the practice of opening ourselves up to inspiration invites us to be present, and makes us appreciate our surroundings even more.

"The more we slow down and look to artisans to lead the way, the less our social media feeds will feel like a homogeneous scroll of mass-produced products."

With over 15 years of experience in India's artisan sector, you’ve seen major shifts—from social media growth and global exposure to more brands entering the field and generational changes among artisans. What are the main challenges artisans have faced recently? And what directions do you think the sector is taking?

We’ve seen a real uptick in interest in the process or making-of things. People, especially youth, want to know where their products come from, and how they are made. This excites us! We hope it’s a real opportunity for the artisan sector to get more visibility and appreciation. The more we slow down and look to artisans to lead the way, the less our social media feeds will feel like a homogeneous scroll of mass-produced products.

One of the primary challenges artisan brands face today is gaining visibility in a highly competitive marketplace. What investments have you made in the brand that have kept you ahead and competitive, and what has had the most measurable impact on your growth and visibility? What were 2-3 early marketing/ sales investment decisions that have made a lasting impact on your brand?

We’ve always marched to the beat of our own drum. We launched Ace & Jig with a focus on one medium - the woven cloth. While other brands had many categories and sourced their fabrics, we designed and made our own from scratch. Before it was a trend, sustainability was one of our central brand values.

During the pandemic, when brands were dialing back their sustainability commitments, we doubled down on sponsoring our partners to become Fair Trade Certified. These have all been investments in our values, and they have all paid off.

Ace and Jig have set a high standard as a sustainable leader among artisan brands. Do you have advice for others looking to build a sustainable artisan brand but unsure where to start? Could you share insights into your journey of selecting artisan partners and what you might change if you had to do it all again? What are your key strategies for finding the right artisan collaborations?

Additionally, Ace & Jig is frequently recognized for its sustainability efforts—how do you personally define sustainability for your brand?

Our advice for finding the right partner is to identify your brand values and goals and look for a partner (or partners) who share them.

We work entirely with one manufacturing partner. Our bond is very close; they are truly an extension of our team. This was keenly felt during the pandemic, where this relationship really revealed its strength. Despite the challenges, we worked together to sustain, innovate, and simultaneously flex for each other with compassion. We’re proud of how we came together during this time, and the goals we were able to accomplish (Fair Trade Certification being one!) by partnering together. After years of working together, we became their sole sponsor in becoming Fair Trade Certified; a longtime mutual goal of ours.

We care deeply about the way ace&jig garments and textiles are made, the people who make them, and the impact they have on the earth. Our aim is to ensure the safety, equitable treatment, and empowerment of those contributing to the creation of our textiles & products, while limiting our environmental footprint wherever possible. This work is ongoing and ever-changing, and we are committed to improving and learning.

Your customer community seems incredibly loyal and engaged. Was building such a strong community or tribe an intentional part of your brand strategy from the beginning, or did it develop more organically over time?

While it was certainly a hope from the start that we would find people who would love and appreciate our brand, we never could have imagined the amazing community that would spring up organically from our business!

This has been one of the most rewarding aspects of running a business. We love seeing the many ways our community connects - strong and meaningful friendships have emerged both online and in person over a shared love of ace&jig! People in different states or even countries have found ways to connect and share our clothing (sometimes literally!). This brings us so much joy.

For those interested in starting an artisan brand, what are three pieces of advice you wish you had known when you started?

Follow your instincts; if it doesn’t feel good, it likely won’t be good.

Find the right people - your team is your superpower.

Make sure you believe in the product you are making, and can stand behind how it is made.

Is there a story/ project or aspect of your business that you are particularly proud of, which you would like to share? Perhaps an element of your brand ethos that is often overlooked?

Last Spring, we collaborated with Projecthrive to create a limited run of styles featuring hand-crocheted details!

Each style in this collection features thoughtfully handmade crochet created by female artisans in Purdah. Crochet is traditional to these communities, and each crochet piece is unique.

Projecthrive is an initiative to mobilize fashion supply chains to have far-reaching social and environmental impacts. We partner with Projecthrive regularly to create unique products that have tangible social and environmental impacts.

It was so fun to reimagine our collection and work with the crochet medium, since we’ve worked solely with the woven medium for the last 16 years. We’re so happy with how this artisan collaboration turned out!