Top left & right: Christ Church and Spitalfields market; Bottom left & right: Another Christmas market and street art outside of the Old Truman Brewery.
This year was our third consecutive year to be showing at the East London Design Show, and the venue had changed from Shoreditch town hall to the hipper, bigger and much cooler ( temperature wise) Old Truman Brewery. It was freezing when we were setting up and on the first day of trading, and so on the following day, all of us were geared up with snow boots, cashmere and thermo underwear!
Top left: entrance on Hanbury Street; top right: a more spacious venue than the Shoreditch town hall; Main and bottom: to coincide with our new ‘PLAY’ theme, our stand this year focused more on the colourful and fun aspects of the products
Although it was physically exhausting to do the 4-day show, it was also lovely to see return customers, make new designer friends and catch up with designer friends from the previous shows. I was also touched by friends who came to support throughout the four days, especially friends whom I have not seen for a long time!
Overall, the show was a success for us, the new season’s merchandise sold particularly well, and sales were higher than the last 2 years. However, we will be focusing more on trade distribution next year, and so have decided to take a break from the show next year. We may still pop up occasionally in town at other venues/ shows, so do keep an eye out for our next pop up.
Top left: Poppy Porter and her jewellery; Top right: Layla Chelache and her knitwear; Middle left: Melissa McArthur and her jewellery; middle and bottom right: Sarah Hamilton and her prints; Middle right: Keunhye Lee and her jewellery; Bottom left: Edit Juhasz ceramics
Over the four days at the show, I took snapshots of my new and ‘old’ show friends and would like to share their links here:
Poppy Porter: Poppy had a stand next to mine and so we ended up chatting a lot over the 4 days. Surprisingly, it was Formula 1 racing cars that inspired her to start her jewellery collection, and she uses a special photo-inlay technique in her creation, so all her pieces are one of a kind. I especially like her new Japanese collection inspired by British Museum’s current Shunga exhibition ( an exhibition not to be missed).
Chelache knitwear: I met Layla last year at the show and bought a lovely hand-knitted scarf from her. I have very sensitive skin and so I am very picky when it comes to knitwear, but Layla‘s knitwear certainly passed my skin test!
Melissa McArthur: Interestingly, our stand was next to two jewellers, and Melissa was one of them. Her jewellery style is delicate and versatile, and it appeared to attract many female shoppers at the show. Apparently, her jewellery is selling very well in Japan, and so she gets to travel there for work, lucky her!
Sarah Hamilton prints: Another show friend from last year, Sarah is a very warm and experienced designer who has been in business for 12 years. Her prints are nature-inspired and has a retro feel to them. This year, she has added a new mug collection, lovely!
K.N.O.T.: Young Korean designer, Keunghye Lee contacted me last year asking if I was interested in stocking her table mats. Although the deal didn’t happen, I met her for a coffee and chatted about design and business. I was glad to see her selling her new jewellery collection at the show this year, I especially like her chunky hand-knitted necklaces.
Edit Juhasz ceramics: Edit is camera-shy and so she is not featured next to her wonderful handmade ceramics. Edit’s ceramics are earthy, simple and practical, so they are great for everyday use.
Top left: Paul Wayne Gregory and his chocolates; top right: the eco-friendly Wrinkle cork products; Second row: Wolfram Lohr and his leather accessories; third row: Angela Fung and her origami-inspired jewellery; Bottom row: YiYing Wang, her assistants and her Noodoll collection
Paul Wayne Gregory: Discovering Paul‘s chocolate stand was ‘fatal’ for my waistline, but I could not resist the temptation! My favourites after the tasting were passionfruit ( sold out after the second day) and salted caramel. I bought a few packets and got some freebies from Paul too, but most importantly, I found out where to go once the supply is finished!
Wrinkle cork products: Sometimes it’s hard to find presents for those who have everything, but mobile phone/ tablet covers made from 100% natural and sustainable cork may work for gadget lovers. I love the fact that each sleeve/ cover has different patterns and colours, and their prices are reasonable too, so they are great as Christmas gifts.
Wolfram Lohr: I met Wolfram for the first time at the show 2 years ago and since then, we would ‘bump’ into each other at various shows. And every year, we would swap products at the end of the show! He is an eccentric and fun guy, but best of all, he is passionate about his work and produces high quality and durable products.
Angela Fung: Angela and I share one common passion which is origami. While I sell many origami products, she makes jewellery inspired by origami and forms. I think her square folding bracelets and rings are very cool.
Noodoll: Before my first show, I was a bit hesitant as I had just launched the business and was completely clueless about doing these shows. I decided to cold-call ( not something that I would normally do) a few designers to ask them about their show experiences. Taiwanese/ London-based designer, YiYing ( the founder and designer) was kind and patient with me, and she encouraged me to go ahead and sign up for the show. Now two years on, YiYang was weeks away from her due date and so she was not spending much time at the show this year. It is great to see an Asian designer doing so well outside of Asia, and with all her fun stuff, I am sure her child will never run out of toys or get bored!
