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.

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’.

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.

 

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.

Paris with my ‘The Brewer’ Holdall

Hit by the tough economic downturn as well as recent unrest there seems to be quite a big divide in opinion when it comes to Paris:     It’s beautiful- it’s dirty, it’s exciting- it’s dangerous, it’s cool- it’s run down, it’s delicious- it’s full of fast food

I Paris hop regularly and am never 100% sure how I feel about going these days, when the sun is shining I think ‘OK, it will be fine’ but when it rains I wonder ‘what on earth am I doing going there in the first place?’

For my most recent mid-April trip I left Kings Cross International ‘armed’ with my lovely ‘The Brewer’ travel holdall, now that on its own (I confess) is enough to put me in a good mood.

A couple of hours later I arrive ,Paris is kind and greets me with sunny skies. I set off on my mad schedule, I certainly know how to pack in a full day’s work made easier by the fact that I’ve been so many times that making a B line from the station to my favourite haunts is second nature.

Say what you will, there is always something new and exciting to discover here and that is what really makes Paris so unique.

So a quick run-down of what excited me this time:

An amazing cheese shop caught my eye, the large milk urns leading to the door and the outdoor cooled fridge packed with cheeses .Even though I didn’t buy or try any it was just spectacular.

It’s asparagus and strawberry season and all the green grocers have them out on display, they just look so good and they display them so beautifully

Lunch break for me and my bag ….

 

In a little corner café I take the ‘dish of the day’  which turns out to be the most delicious home-made ravioli and green salad.  I just love it that in France it is completely cool to wipe clean the sauce on your plate with your bread, how good is that!

 

The flats in Central Paris, especially the buildings that taper into a corner are beautiful.

The independent clothing boutiques are the best I have seen anywhere, absolutely and without a doubt.  But even the larger Dept stores embrace fashion in the grandest of manner. So Spring has hit Printemps and you just can’t miss the buzz, large floral rabbits included.

As I step out of Printemps the heavens open, hailstones the size of golf balls followed by a heavy downpour. I head on back into Printemps and the quiet oasis which is the Cojean café in the lower ground floor. White and silver minimalism, healthy alternative snacks and salads, vegan cakes and lots of lovely teas. My tray looks great on the table top and my The Brewer holdall looks even better hanging from its under table bag hanger- how thoughtful of them to do this.   Any bag designer and bag lover reading this blog will totally get this,surely this is what life is all about.

Back at the Gare du Nord I regroup my thoughts, the intention was to go to Paris armed solely with my Brewer travel holdall which is very spacious and to fill it up with a few bits and pieces bought on the way and that’s it.

Did I stick to my plan? Why of course not, too many things to buy in Paris!!

So where do you want your tea served? The Hallway? The Parlour or possibly the toilet?

After a challenging couple of months, I finally got to fully relax this past weekend. Sunday brought with it London spring sunshine, glorious! I headed straight out to my winter battered garden, time to clear up, discover what survived the cold winter and get the garden ready for planting new arrivals.

But the real, REAL treat was Afternoon Tea at Edith’s House. I guess in some ways this newest arrival to North London’s Crouch End is simply bonkers but in fact it is absolutely perfect.

Step in through the front door, back in time, into your Auntie or grandma’s  house, kitsch galore, melamine furniture in abundance, lace, wallpaper and bygone knick-knacks.

SO WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE YOUR TEA SERVED?

The dining room or the parlour?

Sat on the bed in the bedroom or perhaps in the hallway?

No tables left? How about the toilet then?

Décor aside (and that was pretty good) the scones are top notch, hot, fresh ,tasty, different and the tea and coffee are Superb ( I opted for the Cinnamon scone, yum!)

Last but not least, the house pooch Roux, trying to convince you to share some of your food…

 

One thing I know for sure is that I’m most definitely coming back!

Elections, elections or things to do before, during and after…

After months of political wrangling, campaigning and endless pledges, Election Day finally arrived. A serious affair by all accounts, some shall we say took it more seriously than others whilst many of us in the fashion industry saw it as the perfect excuse to party. So this is how we dealt with the elections at Nadia Minkoff London HQ:

1) Tuesday May 6th, pre-election party at Wolf & Badger Notting-Hill. So who will get the vote will it be Wolf or will it be Badger?

2) Wed May 7th, Election day. OK OK, so I did vote, nice and early despite the fact there was no party that I really wanted to vote for but there were a couple I didn’t want to see voted in.Voting was swiftly followed by a coffee in Le Sable D’or and yet another vote- will it be Croissant or will it be Pain au Chocolat?

3) May 7^th, post election and our designer Luca heads off for yet another fashion party in Trendy Dalston and the re-opening of LN-CC shop, minimalist and oh so trendy.

So what did we vote? we voted Black and Orange together with our Kensington clutch. Best result of the day we think!

The perfect bag for a Diva

HAPPINESS IS… seeing the beautiful  AILYN PEREZ with her red ‘The Cut’ clutch bag!The fast rising star of the Opera world, Soprano Ailyn Perez  Currently Violetta in The Royal Opera House production of La Traviata and promoting the release of her much awaited duet album with husband Stephen Costello.  Talented, beautiful and sweet she even took a few minutes of time out to pose with her new clutch, our red, Nadia Minkoff London  The Cut/SE1 … thank you, made my day!

Dana’s Blog: Day 5

Hello everyone!

Hope you all had a nice weekend (we had a long one here in the UK!)

Today I revised the magazine contact list again. It seems like everyone in the fashion journalism industry changes jobs every fortnight, as the contact info I’ve found is usually outdated.

Nadia helped me edit my press release as well. As I said, it was my first attempt at it so it needed quite a bit of help, especially in targeting it to the intended audience. My version sounded a little too descriptive and wasn’t selling the bag as much it should have, whilst the edited one makes you want to run out and buy it (which you should all do anyway). I’m doing another one this week though so I’ll be sure to let you know how that’s going.

Check out some pictures from the weekend on Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter, and let me know what you think in the comments below (please actually do it so I don’t end up like this meme):

Also, Nadia blogged yesterday about this cute little library she spotted, it’s worth a look!

Have a great afternoon!

My Weekly Top Nine

This week my Top nine is a selection of photos of my top 9 moments during our London Fashion Week catwalk, held in Central London on Sept 14th.

WIN tickets for our London Fashion Week catwalk!

If you love fashion and are in London on Sept 14th 2013, here’s your chance to win a ticket for you and a friend to see our London Fashion Week catwalk with Nico Didonna in central London. just email us at enquiries@nadiaminkoff.com or tweet us @NadiaMinkoff and let us know your names. You’ve got till midday Wed Sept 11th to enter so hurry, hurry!

The joys of an Indian summer

I know us Brits talk about the weather… somewhat endlessly. But given that it is 30c today, early Sept and that we have had the most reliable summer I’ve know for years, well- it’s not at all surprising .  So  here are three things I’ve enjoyed over the past couple of days of Indian summer:

Fitzroy Square in central London ( W1) is the only Georgian square in London’s town centre, nestled between Warren St and Charlotte St, the houses have stone facades and were designed during the late 18th century with the aristocracy in mind. They have not lost their grandeur or splendor and the garden in the center of the square is an absolute oasis on a hot sunny London day.

Both Warren St and Charlotte St boast a plethora of restaurants, a global culinary village. At times it’s almost hard to believe that you are actually in central London and not on a Mediterranean holiday . I was fortunate enough to get a table in the 20 seat Honey & Co in Warren St, the food was out of this world and I can’t recommend the ‘cauliflower Shawarma’ enough ( and yes, for the vegetarians among you, of which I am one, this is a vegetarian Shawarma)

And finally, my urban vegetable patch is  ‘enjoying’ this Indian summer as much as me. My butternut squash plants have burst into the most beautiful milky yellow blooms and my runner beans are literally ‘killing’ each other in the race to grow taller and bigger!

Love London

Summer hols are gone, it’s back to work but London is still sunny and that makes London a happy place. We are trying to ease the hols back to work week by posting new and lovely one-off’s in our asos marketplace boutique every day this week and today we are loving this ‘London’ Swarovski crystal necklace.