Hi! I am Jo Pretyman, the Founder of Re-Model Universe. Welcome and thank you for exploring with us. I’ve worked across the globe in fashion, music and human rights. I’ve experienced the heart-opening joy that fashion and music can bring through colour, sound and community; and the heart-aching pain of war zones fuelled by fear, greed and toxic power structures. 

I’ve worked with some of the most violent people on the planet. Fortunately, many of them are now reformed. In my formative years I visited people in maximum security prisons. Those who took one step in the wrong direction and paid the price, like all too many young people. Seeing some of them go on to live beautiful, heartfelt lives, contributing positively day after day to a better society has been a huge inspiration. Reformation is a concept I’ve always passionately believed in.

Fashion and music are powerful platforms to drive global conversations – for good or for bad. And it’s these global conversations that impact so many of our societal issues. The intersection between the worlds of fashion, music and politics is undeniable and a collective voice that we believe hasn’t yet realised it’s full potential to drive positive social change. 

#nomoreviolence is our way of creating a new alternative to the conversation around violence and its impact on all our lives. Our mission is to humanise the subject of violence that has become so highly politicised we’ve forgotten to ask the question: WHY are people violent in the first place? At our core, humans are love. In its simplest form, it is fractures in our society—our social support system and cultural vernacular—that lead to fear and hate. 

#nomoreviolence is our call to action, inviting the fashion and music industries, to come together with tech and governments to have new conversations. To ask the tough questions but imagine colourful, joy-driven new solutions. To bravely leave behind sensationalist headlines like “we have a zero tolerance policy on extremism”, which ultimately drive more fear and division. We must open our hearts to the human stories behind the perpetrators and look in the mirror and ask ourselves tough questions: what are the levers in our society driving fear, hate, and division? How can we all pick up the mop and work together to clean the mess? To bring together world leaders and people on the ground, to unify global ideas, philosophies, knowledge and importantly, street smarts, to work together to understand how seeming opposites can collaborate to drive meaningful change. 

I can’t wait to share with you a series of initiatives and conversations that will bring life to our movement #nomoreviolence. 

Jo xx