At SHERENE MELINDA, it’s become tradition to summarise our experiences at the end of each year in our blog. 2016 saw the release of our latest collection, developments in the trade market, a showcase at London Fashion Week and more events than any other year.
The beginning of the year was like the calm before the storm, as we finalised the designs of our New Collection and prepared ourselves for an eventful summer and rest of the year. We kicked off proceedings with a welcomed invitation to the Queen’s 90th Birthday, a special perk for exhibiting at The Royal Windsor Horse Show.
After the first samples arrived for the New Collection, we visited the picturesque area of Notting Hill for a lifestyle shoot. This was the first photoshoot we had done in the city, which made it really special. There was a great team having fun on location in the busy streets of Portobello Market on a hot summers day. It took many hours to complete the shoot with the patience of our photographer, model and even two men walking by who agreed to showcase the unisex backpack. We got some fantastic photos!
These images were first used in the lookbook in preparation for the trade show Scoop in the City, which took place at the historical Old Billingsgate Market. Scoop was the first time we showcased the New Collection to an audience and was an important stepping-stone for growing our trade enquiries.
After the trade show, we sensed a growing anticipation amongst our retail customers for the New Collection. We wrote this blog, which released the first details of the collection and explained more about the ideas behind each handbag.
Following a successful debut at 2015's Africa Fashion Week London, we knew that we had to go back with a New Collection and leave an impact on the catwalk once again. The handbags looked stunning against the backdrop of the runway and paired beautifully with the coloured kikois that the models wore. The last little additional touches were some handcrafted springbok hair-on-hide foot wraps that decorated the feet of the models in true style.
One catwalk show was not enough for SHERENE MELINDA! The New Collection deserved more exposure and we had the opportunity to collaborate with Éthologie for the showcase of their newest collection at November's London Fashion Week 2016. The design of the runway was stunning and the outfits of Éthologie were a great accompaniment to our handbags. The models had to walk along a catwalk layered with sand and pebbles, which they managed to do faultlessly, even in their towering heels!
As the summer drew to a close there were still events to attend alongside focusing on the release of the New Collection. This proved to be demanding as we spent long weekends at shows around the country. It has proved to be worthwhile as there has been an increasing interest and many orders for our new handbags. Our Black Friday sale was a wonderful finish to the year.
In 2016, SHERENE MELINDA has grown our collection, team and the trade side of our business. It has been a successful year, where all have worked hard and we want to say thank you to everyone involved.
We already have big plans for 2017 – in March we will be jetting to Los Angeles for our first US-based trade show as well as showcasing the brand at the prestigious Premiere Classe Tuileres, Paris. Looking back on the year reviews from 2014 and 2015 shows us just how far we’ve come and we know that this brand has the potential for even greater growth. We appreciate the on-going support we receive from our customers and we want to say thank you for that. The positive feedback we often receive is a great encouragement. We wish you all the best for 2017.
To stay up-to-date with all the news from 2017, follow us on social media using the links below.
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Glorious love has been a part of SHERENE MELINDA right from its inception. Whilst a beautiful physical gift 👜👟 is no doubt appreciated, this is not the only way to give and receive love. ❤️ The "languages of love" concept was popularized by Dr. Gary Chapman in his book "The Five Love Languages". Here he talks about five love languages.
