From inspiration to presentation

After months of preparation the first showing of our Spring/Summer 2017 collection kicked off during Scoop & the City, held at The Old Billingsgate Market mid-July.

Having drawn our inspiration from London, from nature and from living a life of handbags & jewellery, with a clear vision and complete conviction we finalised our range, instructed and waited for the samples to arrive.

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It was a painful wait, because the bulk of the samples just didn’t turn up and as the deadline drew closer… a week closer, 5 days closer, 3 days closer we were beginning to doubt our chances.

With 2 days to go, the samples arrived, last minute is far from ideal but it’s a whole lot better than a ‘no show’.

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I often wonder, once the stand is all set and the show opens its doors to buyers and press if anyone really knows the true trials from inspiration to presentation.

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It was a great show, the new collection was much admired, new orders, new contacts, old contacts renewed. Circle closed, now we go from presentation to new inspiration.

Move on Summer 2016, you’re so over…

Hate to harp about the British weather but this summer (can I call it summer? ), well ok, this summer 2016 has so far been cold, wet , grey and in general miserable.

I don’t mix my personal political views with my fashion and as such be it Remain or Leave, whatever you voted for it seems like the heavens have opened up in the UK and London in particular finds itself right in the eye of the storm.

Thankfully at NM HQ we’ve managed to ‘ease’ ourselves out of Summer 2016, secured Winter 2017 some months back and here we are, getting ready to ‘sign-off’ summer 2017. With less than a month to go before we show our new Summer 2017 collections to buyers and press at Scoop International, we are entering ‘final countdown’ stage.

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The four key trends we identified for Summer 2017 were based around the 4 key elements:

AIR– all calm and mindful inspired by a new global love of Yoga, Pilates and looking after our core

EARTH– A patchwork of what we are currently as a society, a vibrant mix of cultures- a mash-up of tribal with modern and upcycling with abstract

WATER– is all about clean and luxurious, it’s about reflections and  crisp vibrant colours

Last but not least, FIRE– which for summer 2017 evokes all that is glamorous, think Flamenco: the sound, the movement, the colour. All engaging and all consuming.

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My colleagues at work will be the first to tell you that for all my love of colour and my passion for brilliant, vibrant hues I am in fact the one who reigns it all and my ‘process of elimination’ during our final selection means we end up losing that Flamenco Va Va Voom and we end up with a pretty safe canvas of cream, tan ,grey, black, the occasional navy but not much more than that.  When times are tough- safe sells and as the captain of this ship I try and avoid uncharted waters.

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Well, all I can say is that for Summer 2017, given just how gloomy 2016 feels we will be creating our very own sunshine in the brightest of yellow, the most opalescent of whites and the earthiest of greens.

Not long to wait now before we can actually show you our new creations but for now, enjoy your summer wherever you are, sun or rain.

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One down and three to follow… life in the Fashion circuit

Months of preparation lead to 3 pinnacle days that more or less make or break a season. We may be well versed at the art of prepping for the Fashion shows but each time they seem to come around quicker than expected, each with their own set of problems, always equally nerve racking as they are exciting.

Scoop International at the Saatchi Gallery, our chosen London show, opened its doors to a select group of UK and International buyers on Sunday 31st Jan, offering buyers 3 days of previewing, shortlisting and buying AW2016 collections.

From stand ‘dress rehearsals’ at our studio to public showing, these images capture the essence of what we did, how we did it and what we anticipate to be our stand out ‘leaders’ for winter 2016.

Studio ‘dress rehearsal’ as we pre plan our stand display:

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The grand entrance at The Saatchi, red carpet and all, don’t see many like this one:

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Beautiful floral display at the registration desk:

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Our stand, after a day of pre-show dressing, ready for the opening day:

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Our brand new The Brixton back pack was a big favourite:

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Smart and right for the Monochrome set, our new The Putney , top handle bag

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Decisions, decisions- our new Kate Cocktail ring and cut crystal rings look so good together

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Smart and classy in black silk, Flamenco heals and our Cognac The richmond Midi tote

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Next up for Nadia Minkoff London? another show at London Fashion Week, an overseas show and INDX (Independent Dept store show). Fashion Circuit or treadmill? We’ll tell you the rest of the details as our season progresses and let you decide.

 

Running up that hill

Just a day left before the year is over and as I sit at my desk, reviewing 2015, the enormity of what we have done over the past 12 months is quite staggering. So much so that I am really not sure where to begin.

I guess I may as well start with the highlight of the year, which was winning the runner up Award for ‘Most Enterprising business’ from the Federation of Small Businesses.

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Being nominated was exciting enough, celebrating on the night with my motley crew was great, winning felt like having my cake and eating it.  Before the night ended, changes were heading our way that are now forming the backbone for an interesting and new journey that we at Nadia Minkoff London have already begun.  Recognition for fashion from the financial sector is never easy to get, nor one to be taken lightly and I am very proud and excited that we have been given the opportunity to work and be mentored by none other than Grant Thornton. Who said number crunching, spreadsheets and forecasts aren’t creative? They are, very much so!

We’re also up for the Dot London Award, in the ‘best lifestyle’ category. The awards will be held at the new Savoy Place, hosted by Katie Derham.  River views all round, entrepreneurs, dragons and investors, at the ready.

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Thank you to all those who voted for us, votes close on Jan 8th and if you still want to vote for us pls do so by following this link , find us in the ‘Independent lifestyle retailer’ category.

 Some of our other highlights for 2015 have been:

  • With the help of stylist Charlene Campbell we made the Christmas issue of OK magazine

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  • The lovely Aizak Buyondo styled our jewellery as only Aizak could and made our day

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  • Beautiful Opera star Aylin Perez wore our Shard necklace for her Grand Finale at the Dallas Opera house and Nancy Dell’olio stepped out for her West-End stage debut wearing one of our ‘one-off’ necklaces

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  • We have partied, yes- a lot of parties, too many to attend all but we did quite well!

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  • We’ve exhibited at Scoop London and INDX and opened new doors across the UK

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  • We have had so much support from the Blogging community across the globe, all of which can be found on our website. Thank you Bloggers, we love you!

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We’ve held events at Liberty London and have seen our designs become best sellers at some of the leading UK multiples who we supply

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But most of all, we have loved it all, even if we are forever running up that hill!

Wishing you all a successful, healthy, happy and especially peaceful 2016, from us all at Nadia Minkoff London.

 

 

 

Who, what and wear

I can’t quite believe the last time I actually put pen to paper ( fingers to keyboard) and blogged was in July!

Wasn’t being lazy, just incredibly busy and it’s amazing how once you let time slip it snowballs before you know it.        So I am making my New year resolution now at the end of November, no point waiting, and it is to make sure that I no longer have such long lapses.

I guess first thing first, to get back into the swing of things, a quick recap of what we’ve been up to since July, and also what and wear??

In August we won the runners up award for Most innovative Business at the London FSB awards, what a night! what a surprise! we’ve not looked back since , it’s been a whirlwind.

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In Sept we updated our on-line shop with the new Winter 2015 lines. And our best-sellers?  Crystal skulls and midi totes

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October was show season again, we were back in full swing at Scoop London previewing our Summer 2016 collection

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November seems to have come and gone at the blink of an eye. So, SO much went on, so where do I start?

Soprano Aylin Perez, twitted photos of her with her Nadia Minkoff London delivery

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And a week later of her wearing her ‘delivery’, our Crystal Shard statement necklace  during her grand Finale at the Dallas Opera House

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Nancy Dell’olio stepped out onto the West End stage wearing her bespoke Nadia Minkoff London necklace for her One-Woman show

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And to top it all? we  found out we are up for another award! The Dot London award for Best London Lifestyle Indie retailer, woohoo!    And if you think we deserve it pls give us your vote, it takes 2 ticks, just follow this link put in your name and hit yes when you get the confirmation email.

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Will be back soon, x Nadia

 

Challenging works of art, catwalk living and Blogger madness…how we do the things we do…

There is always a lot of interest about what goes on when it comes to the creative industries: how we party, where we party, what we wear, who we met, where we went, what’s new? What’s in? What’s out?
And with show season upon us- Oscars, Brits and London Fashion Week all back to back, there is a lot going on and a lot to follow.

So how did we at Nadia Minkoff London do the things we do??

Our season kicked off on Feb 1st with the first preview of our AW2015 collection @Scoop International in the Saatchi Galleries at the heart of London’s Kings Rd. The chosen 100+ brands who get to exhibit, get to have sole access to the gallery which is closed to the public for the duration of the show and open only to designers and registered buyers. It really is a case of art meets fashion as the gallery exhibit stays put and we, the designers, have our collections ‘slotted’ around the art.
Expect the unexpected- last season there was a whole exhibit on the theme of death, yup I’m not kidding here, it was pretty heavy going.And this season? Well, all in all it was a fairly tame affair but there were some, how shall I say, rather alternative works of art to be managed…

Making a grand entrance at the Saatchi Gallery

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Inside to a beautiful floral welcome

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Hello cow…

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Next London Fashion Week was here before we even managed to pause for a breather, the volume of fashionistas this show attracts these days is quite phenomenal, mental in fact as Central London turns into a catwalk on the official runways and also on the sidewalks. Friday Feb 20th was kick-off day with endless parties to attend. Us lucky girls from NM HQ celebrated with the lovely, quirky lot at Wolf & Badger, in London’s uber trendy Dover Street Mayfair. Beautiful clothes, beautiful people, great music, and a special choice of drinks

Party, party, Wolf & badger celebrating 5 years in business and London Fashion Week

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and what will you drink?  an Arbikie vodka cocktail

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Or raw pressed juice? how about coconut water with charcoal???

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Finally, on Tuesday 24th it was time to wrap up, not before a Bloggers Love session in trendy Shoreditch. To say that we were mobbed is no exaggeration, turn out was definitely larger than anticipated, in fact there was a serious bottle neck which lasted the best part of an hour if not longer just to get from the front door to the main room. Hats off to all the lovely bloggers who braved the swarm and kept smiling and to the celebs who didn’t let it put them off.

The beautiful Jess Impiazzi of Towie and MTV fame seals the show for us with our new season Kensington clutch bag! happy, happy 🙂

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All together now…all together now

Today, The Beatles song ‘All together now’ is permanently stuck in my head because today is the last day before we set up our show at Scoop International, in London’s Saatchi Gallery. Today is the day when months of planning and development come together and when we have one last look to see if our bag and jewellery range are really working together.

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Today is also the day when we pack it all, ready to be collected and delivered tomorrow

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From inspiration to realisation

Way back in October 2014 I posted a blog called ‘The stillness within’ all about my day at the Swarovski trend and presentation launch.  I did decide there and then what my Autumn/Winter 2015 range was going to focus on and having reviewed my notes, the images I took as a reminder, my new bag collection (which I’d already made a head start on )I felt my first inspiration was still the one I was drawn to.

Like a child who gets offered a large box of sweets and is then told they’re only allowed to pick 3, the final decision making process is a tough one and also, it’s vital to feel you’ve chosen your favourites.

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Might sound odd but even the simplest pair of earrings requires much thought and preparation- settings need to be made, plating colours need to be chosen, chains need to  selected, co-ordinated styles need to be thought of and there is always the issue of affordability, will this sell or is it too costly?

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In October’s blog I outlined my vision for this collection to be as follows:

The keywords being:  retreat, escape, unplug, simplify, tranquillity.

The colour pallete- right up my street- neutrals, opalescent whites, hints of blue and shards of grey. Frosty but sparkly.

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When I looked at it all laid out today, I felt satisfied- inspiration realised.

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And the winner is….

During our last show (Sept 2014) we previewed a new clutch for Summer 2015. We called it ‘The Hoxton’ simply because the inspiration came from Hoxton, a district in London’s East End , considered by many to be the trendiest district of London. A place where bankers and city workers meet artists and skinny jeans trendies.

Seems our Hoxton, with its smaller proportions and versatile use, was set to become our new winner. So, we’ve continued with it for our Winter 2015 collection and it will be available in what we think is going to be the biggest colour for winter 2015- Cognac.

It makes a perfectly proportioned clutch

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A perfect hand held mini shopper

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And for those on the go, it also comes hands-free, yes it has its own detachable strap-cross body or shoulder bag is entirely up to you

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So good it even made it to our show invite

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Oh, and I just thought I should say that as of Winter 2015 it now has a sister, The Shoreditch

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wonder which one of these two will come out tops???

 

New Year, new season, new workspace

Some 10 days before Christmas I decided (or should I say the impulsive side in me decided) to take the plunge and get the ground floor of my office building refurbished. I’ve been wanting to do so for ages but having never had luck with London builders, I kept putting it off.

So happens that this festive season I had a window of opportunity to get some work done when the office was closed, a 10 day break between Christmas and the New Year. On the other side of this break I knew I had a 4 week countdown to our first show of the season at London’s Scoop International. I also had a builder willing to work over the holidays who assured me the work would be completed and on time.  So I agreed, the day before Christmas Eve work commenced at 13:00, by the time I left the carpet downstairs had been taken out, as had the shelving units and cupboards, my office had morphed into a complete building site at the blink of an eye.  Next morning, Christmas Eve I was already wondering what I had let myself into with the realisation of what a big job it really was: a partition wall to take down, a floor to lift and then redo, doors to remove, windows to remove, a breakfast bar to build, a lot of painting work, shelving, re-wiring and all other ‘hidden’ pleasures that come out of the woodwork as soon as you strip the top layer.

No sooner was Boxing day over I spent my time tooing and frowing to the office, progress was on schedule but it still was a complete building site ,not to mention the state of our upstairs offices which had become a store room for the downstairs contents.

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The building work was completed on time, a day early in fact, when we returned to work on Jan 5th all was in order. And our new working space? Well it’s bright, comfortable, functional and as for the breakfast bar?  It now has a coffee machine- best thing if you ask me apart from the  fact that we are now eating too many biscuits and drinking too many coffees.

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Our new collection is inspired by our new space,  less than a week to go before the show begins, we’re on schedule!

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