Bubble London is an amazing
kids trade show that allows retailers to meet exhibitors who showcase
their products for everything in a kids world. From children's
clothing, footwear, toys, accessories and much much more!
It is held at the Business
Design Centre in Angel, Islington twice a year. In January and in
June to highlight the Autumn/Winter Season and the Spring/Summer
Season.
As this was my first ever
trade show, I had no idea what to expect! I attended hoping to see
what trends were being introduced at the moment and to get an idea of
how big the Children's fashion industry is. I also wanted to check if
there were any companies who were producing the same type of clothing
that Mini Men UK will be producing and I am very happy to say that
there is not. I now feel that I have a place in the Market for great
boys clothing and it is full steam ahead for my clothing line!
There were over 60
exhibitors in the trade show from all over the globe representing for
their countries and excited to be able to show off their designs.
On arrival I was blown away
by the sheer magnitude of people, colours, designs and happy smiling
faces.
The first exhibit stand that
grabbed my attention was for Red Urchin.
Red Urchin was founded by
Beth Bourrelly and has been trading for a year. Beth decided to
create Red Urchin after taking some time out to from her career as an Architect, to have her third child.
She designed clothes for her children, Maia, Theo and Zachy who all
had their own input into the beautiful clothing she has produced.
Red Urchin clothing is made
from organic cotton and is made in Turkey. The company is very
eco-friendly and believes in looking after the planet as well as
providing great clothing for children.
The beautiful clothing is
stocked in boutiques in the UK and also Northern Europe. It is a very
popular brand and I was completely taken with the exquisite great
quality clothing.
You can take a look at the
collection at www.redurchin.co.uk
The next exhibit stand I
visited was Fabric Flavours.
Fabric Flavours has been
trading for 5 years and specialises in superhero and best loved childhood characters on their children's
clothing.
The clothing showcases
bubble print, applique, embroidery and foil designs on their 100%
cotton t-shirts and baby grows. It has a vintage style wash to some
of it's garments and also speckled cotton fabrics to show the
diversity of the collection.
Fabric flavours clothing is
stocked in Harrods and Harvey Nichols and they also have a showroom
in Hampstead.
I really loved the
packaging. It was bright and bold just like the clothing and my son
loved the Batman and Spiderman t-shirts. Really beautiful!
You can take a look at the
collection at www.fabricflavours.com
I was so overwhelmed by all
the beautiful clothing, I did not know where to look. So much colour,
texture, fabric and boldness was bestowed upon me. I was literally
like a kid in a candy shop! My son Elijah was the star of the show of
course. Showing everyone is great style with his sunglasses on which
he refused to take off. He was photographed by the lovely gentlemen I met
at the Tito & Teo exhibit stand. Mr Giovanni Rabitti
Tito & Teo is an Italian clothing line just for boys aged 2-14 years old. All the clothing is cotton or linen, organic and made in Italy. The collection is really trendy, showcasing rough edges , soft cottons on some garments such as t-shirts and tops and stiffer cottons on jackets and coats.
I really loved this clothing
line because it is just for boys and really shows that boys clothing
can be trendy!
I also liked the innovative style of the 'Jersey Game' It is a t-shirt that combines fun with fashion. You order the 100% cotton soft jersey tee and cut the t-shirt following the unusual layout to create a vintage style tee.
Tito & Teo have a store
in Italy and has stockists in Europe and the Middle East. It is a
multi brand company that is owned by Camac, Italia.
Giovanni definitely took a shine
to Elijah and I offered his modelling services should they ever need
a cute little boy who has very long eyelashes, a great smile and a
great sense of style!
You can take a look at the
collection at www.titoeteo.it
So, now the trade show was
starting to get really interesting as I was able to see that there is
some fashion conscious collections out there for boys. I then
stumbled upon a beautiful set of ladies at the Tom and Drew exhibit
stand.
Tom and Drew was created by Alexia Panzia.
The company has been trading
for two years and has become a huge success! The clothing specialises
in clothing for boys with age brackets of 12-18months, 18-24months,
24-36months upto the age of 8 years old. It quirky, stylish and
really beautiful! I was absolutely in awe of the colours and styling
that has been used for this collection. The use of cottons, linen and
even Japanese denim was just exquisite!
It has a great celebrity
following with Sandra Bullock's son Louie and Kourtney Kardashians
son, Mason frequently papped wearing her clothing.
Tom and Drew is stocked in
150 stores in the USA, Japan, Iceland , Loos Loos in Essex,
AlexandAlexa and Bubbleboutique. All the clothing is made in China.
It is a global phenomenon
and this is definitely where I aspire to be myself with Mini Men UK
in 2-5 years time!
All I can say is, love,
love, love!
You can take a look at the
collection at www.tomanddrewboys.com
Another very trendy clothing
line is Name it.
Name It has been trading for
25 years and is a global company from Denmark.
The clothing is made from
cotton, its colourful, trendy, stylish and organic. All the clothing
is made in Turkey and Bangladesh.
The collection is stocked in
Department stores and boutiques and again this company is global.
You can take a look at the
collection at www.nameit.com
Thinking that things could
not get any better, I came across four more great clothing lines!
Mini Morocc
Mini Morocc are a new
company and it was their debut at the Bubble London trade show.
The clothing is bright,
vibrant and has great attention to detail with the braiding detail on
it. The Kaftan influenced clothing uses fabric that is printed and is
sourced from the UK and India. The wonderful ladies are going to be
stocking this beautiful collection in boutiques and all garments will
be made in Morocco.
I really liked the clothing
because of the bright colours and it embodied the Moroccan feel. All
garments are organic and made to a very high quality!
Check out the garments at
www.minimorocc.com
Immink
Immink is an organic
clothing company owned by husband and wife, Ben and Emma Johnson.
The company had been trading
for two years and originates from Norfolk.
All the clothing is for both
girls and boys, soft, plain, bright and manufactured in house. A
made in England stamp is very clear on the company logo and both Ben
and Emma are very proud that they are able to control how their
clothing is produced! Because the clothing is plain, it gives the
potential to be able to layer it. The age range is 0-5 years
old and the clothing is stocked in boutiques and department stores.
An eco-friendly company that
is self sufficient and affordable. What more could you ask for?
The fact they are able to
manufacture their own clothing is something I really admire. This is
a great USP to have and I hope to one day be able to do this myself!
I think Ben and Elijah had a little bromance which I thought was quite cute and I happily offered his modelling services! He would have a great time with their three children.
Take a look at the clothing
at www.imminkkids.com
Ava&&Luc
Janice Rokita and Vicki
Leaver are the owners of this beautifully organic clothing line. The
clothing specialises in brightly coloured tops, playsuits and pyjamas
that have appliqued animals on them.
The company has been trading
since 2010 and is another global phenomenon stocking its garments in
6 different countries, 45 different stores and boutiques and will be
introducing an adult range in October 12 by popular demand!
Phewww,
that is a great achievement in less than two years of trading!
The age range for the
clothing is 6months to adult and showcases a wrap around applique
detail on organic cotton that is brightly coloured and soft on the
skin.
This is another eco-friendly
company who also use bio-degradeable plastic for their packaging.
Ava&&Luc is
definitely a great success!
See what I mean at
www.avaandluc.com
So by now I had been at
Bubble London for nearly 4 hours and Elijah was getting quite
restless. So we decided to have some lunch and sit in one of the
seminars that was running.
How to build an exceptional
Sales and Customer Service plan was being presented by Dennis Reid,
the Chairman of Retail Performance Specialist www.rps-global.com
Dennis talked about
analysing the business by keeping up to date records of retail
numbers. Knowing my conversion rate, how many items are being sold
per sale, total number of sales per week, sales per hour and how many
items does each customer purchase.
I learnt that I need to get
my foundations right and think about what exactly it is I want to
achieve? And I need to go out and purchase a book called 'Why
customers buy' by Paco Underhill as well as downloading some of the
worksheets shown at the seminar from the website.
I did find this seminar
beneficial although I think I will use it more when I have launched
the company.
At the end of my first trade
show experience, I was able to meet Lauren Levy from Magnificent
Baby!
Such a lovely lady who
showed me a great new baby grow that is magnetic which means you can
dress your baby in seconds!
The clothing is made with
100% cotton with great patterns and has reversible accessories. All
clothing is made in China and shipped to New York City, USA.
They only have one store in
London but will be expanding.
See the clothing at
www.magnificentbaby.myshopify.com
And last but not least, Mini
ZZZ Pjs
Mini ZZZ Pjs is an
Australian company that has been running since 2006 specialising in
Pyjamas and soft slippers.
A great sleepwear company
that stocks its garments in boutiques and department stores. Gift
packs are available to purchase and these items would make a great
gift for a child.
I really like the prints on
the pyjamas and they were very soft to touch. They even had super
soft robes to match the pyjamas! Beautiful!
Check out there items on
www.minizzz.com.au
I have had an amazing time
at Bubble London and will be attending the Autumn/Winter 2013 show.
If you are interested in
attending, go to www.bubblelondon.com
and apply for a ticket. It is free!!!
Definitely going to apply to
become an exhibitor for the Spring/Summer 2013 show.
Great day! Thank you Bubble
London
