Monday 31 October 2011

Tartan and Pink

Last weekend, my business partner and dear friend Denny and I went out in the streets of Fitzrovia  - i.e. just behind my flat - to shoot our latest product, our long dark blue and green tartan wool scarf. 



This scarf is a rare find; I dug it out of the corner of a fantastic little shop in the cool and trendy area of Garuso-gil in Seoul. What I immediately loved about this scarf was its dark tartan print, which wouldn’t look out of place in a posh, all-boy boarding school in the middle of Scotland; yet its size - it is long and wide - gives it a bohemian and effortless twist, and creates interesting proportions in an outfit. You can wrap your otherwise scantily-clad body in it, and make everything look (weather) appropriate. On my photoshoot, I teamed it with our  bright pink wool tailored mini shift dress, thereby creating my all-time favourite fashion contrast, i.e. the tomboyish-but-still-feminine beauty. I also threw on Denny's blue French Connection cardigan, which I believe looks much better on me, when used as an oversized boyfriend jacket, which I wore both opened - to stay in the androgynous theme - or tied at the waist for a more feminine and offbeat look. I finished off my outfit with my favourite Korean, 'combat' ankle boots.








Tuesday 11 October 2011

Our Journey as Fashion Entrepreneurs: First Range Review - Part 2

Continuing on my previous post - which highlighted the successes of our first collection, I thought it’d be interesting to reflect on the areas that have proved more difficult with regards to sales and product marketing.

- Accessories! We have sold very few accessories so far, which we think is partly due to the difficulty of producing photographs of jewelry that do the products justice. This is quite frustrating as we bought a truly stunning and affordable range in Asia. We favoured a ‘bourgeois-boheme’ look, with delicate long gold-plated chains and quirky pendants - from a crystal-encrusted disco ball pendant on a long metal chain,to a rougher looking, minimalist metal baguette. We also selected great choker-length necklaces, so that you can layer different lengths for a subtly striking look; our unique coral necklace adds a stunning dash of colour to an outfit, while our gold-plated choker with crystal pendant is both cool and elegant. We have a couple of bracelets, which also looked perfect worn together, our double-stranded gold-plated bracelet and our red thread and gold chain bracelet. Finally, we fell in love with a unique and very edgy pair of drop earrings, with black metal cubes.
Black Metal Cube Earrings and Urban Baguette Pendant Necklace


Red Thread and Gold Chain Bracelet


 Red High-Waisted Wool Short
- We bought beautiful, high-waisted wool belted shorts from New York Blues - the designer based in Seoul that did our popular quirky polka dot jumper. It comes in two highly fashionable colours, bright red and camel. For me, they are one of the most covetable pieces of our collection, as they both look unique and effortless – a very powerful combination. We’ve had a lot of interest on ebay for this product, but it seems that online shoppers are always more wary of buying bottoms online - especially tailored ones. Though I perfectly understand this fear, these shorts are very well cut: the high-waist shape is flattering, but they are quite fitted so our only size will fit a size 8 and below. You can wear them with or without the slim wool belt that comes with them ; they also look great worn with a vintage scarf and a simple fitted cream jumper.
Camel High-Waisted Belted Wool Shorts


 All in all though, our store has been a quiet, qualified success so far; we’re learning everyday and more importantly, enjoying ourselves immensely.

Don’t forget to shop our collection on our ebay store!