The condom business, monopolized by a handful of major players, is quite frankly stuck in its ways, but where many see male-centric, heteronormative branding and unoriginal cliches, longtime friends Whitney Geller and Yasemin Emory saw a gap in the market. That’s where Jems was born — a vegan, cruelty-free, gluten-free condom brand that has earned coverage everywhere from Forbes to Hypebae.
“We were between pregnancies, just before the pandemic, and found ourselves in the condom aisle. We were just taken aback at what we saw there,” says Geller. “It really looked like a dated aisle, like some bad iteration of toxic stereotypes from the 1950s. We instantly felt that it wasn’t speaking to us and understood that it wasn’t speaking to anyone that we knew.”
They found that the problem ran deeper than the antiquated messaging these legacy condom brands were putting out to consumers.
“Yasemin is a really conscious consumer. I’m celiac. We looked and couldn’t find ingredients anywhere on the package for the condoms,” says Geller. “We thought, what a bizarre thing — this is something that’s going into your body, near reproductive organs, and you don’t even know what’s in them.”
It was this thinking that led Geller and Emory to found Jems in April 2021. The gender-inclusive condom company is heavily focused on educating about safe sex and sexual wellness, be it through the company’s website and social media or strategic partnerships. And the messaging resonates.
“I would say our biggest triumph has been having the idea validated by not only consumers and the audience that we’re targeting, but specifically retailers,” says Emory. “It took very little explaining for people to really see what a big white space there truly is and how needed this change is.”
Although Geller and Emory came up with the idea for Jems later on in life, they agree their high school experiences at Northern Secondary School and Havergal College, respectively — and the way in which sex was talked about in the school setting — played a significant role in shaping their perspectives on sex education.
“I think accessing the emotions, the heightened emotions that you’re dealing with in high school, it’s something we try and think about quite often,” says Emory. “We want to be able to use that energy but find a way to channel it for a positive and informed way of learning.”
Recent posts on their website talk about everything from gender and sexuality to STIs to abortion. Their branding has a clear audience — with sans serif fonts; bright, simple packaging; and a sex education column named Uncut Jems, it’s a Gen Z dream.
Moving forward, the pair intend to remain committed to Jems as well as their Toronto-based design studio, Whitman Emorson, which has worked with brands such as H&M, the One of a Kind Show and the Museum of Contemporary Art.
“Jems is this self-initiated project, and it really allowed us to demonstrate what Whitman Emorson can do as a company,” says Emory. “We’re looking at it as: how do these two companies work together to support each other? And how does that help us grow in the future? We’re really excited.”
