This week’s discovery is Johnny Cupcakes, a brand most people have probably never heard of due to its still fairly unique distribution method: online-only selling.  Johnny’s brand story is one of the best I have read in a while, which is why I want to share it with you.

According to Johnny, the brand began as a joke.  Whilst working in a comic store called ‘Newbury Comics’ he earned several nicknames, from ‘Johnny Pancakes’ to ‘Johnny Cupcakes’.  One fine day in 2001 he decided to make his own t-shirt to make fun of this nickname.  He decided to turn a skull and crossbones into a cupcake and crossbones and he wore the t-shirt to work as a joke.  Almost instantly his fledgling t-shirt business was born, when customers and colleagues began asking if they could buy a t-shirt.  Johnny began sneaking out of work to sell the t-shirts from the back of his beat up ’89 Toyota Camry.  At the time, he and many of his customers were in bands and the word began to spread about Johnny Cupcakes’ t-shirts as those musicians wore his t-shirts on tour.  As the company began to take off, he decided to focus on the business full-time.

Having traveled to various shows and taken orders from large department stores from Urban Outfitters to Nordstroms, Hot Topic, Macy’s and Metropark, Johnny suddenly had an epiphany. He actually didn’t want his t-shirts to be available everywhere.    Instead, he wanted to keep them limited and exclusive and keep the prices down, avoiding the huge retail mark-ups retail stores add to the cost of a product.

Johnny’s first retail store opened in 2005 in his hometown of Hull, Massachusetts.  His next store opened on “Boston’s Rodeo drive”– 279 Newbury Street. This is the same street as stores like Marc Jacobs and Chanel. Johnny says on his website “Opening this store was a dream come true”.  In 2008 he was voted America’s #1 Young Entrepreneur of 2008 by BusinessWeek magazine.  He points out on his website that he also gives back, which we love

“I’ve lectured at big universities, small colleges, high schools, and at non-academic seminars all over the world. These lectures focus on how to start and maintain an original business without any startup money or other resources. I have a lot of generally useful advice– like how to use both the web and retail space effectively, the importance of art, graphic design, creative packaging and other often overlooked details, how to create a lot of word of mouth excitement behind your business, and brand longevity.   ut in these lectures I also cover less conventional dimensions of my brand– things that have made me stand out in the crowd. For example, how a drug-free lifestyle has really helped me develop my business, my own creative types of viral marketing, and my unique and carefully crafted shopping environments. My goal in these lectures is to inspire all sorts of people to persistently work toward their goals. Young or old, students or faculty, entrepreneurial types or not, I show what a simple idea (and a ton of hard work) can do. Teaching, inspiring, and motivating people in this way has become very important to me. It makes me feel like I’m doing more than just making t-shirts. “

I love everything about the Johnny cupcakes brand, from his rags to riches story and the fact that he employs his parents to the way he decided to break free from convention and go his own way, selling his t-shirts online to keep prices low and quality high.  More on that later.

Have a great day!

Jackie XXXX

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We discovered a new online website this weekend with a special concept.  The project is called ‘Honest By’.

This is how ‘Honest By’ describes itself on its website:

“HONEST BY IS A PIONEERING COMPANY LAUNCHED IN JANUARY 2012.THE COMPANY IS UNIQUE IN COMMUNICATING ABOUT THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF ITS PRODUCTS AND PRICING.

Bruno Pieters conceived Honest by during a sabbatical from the fashion industry in Southern India. An award-winning designer and art director, Pieters spent 2010 exploring the developing world, an experience that profoundly affected his personal philosophy and his thinking about fashion. Observing how native people wore clothes that were grown, woven and sewn from sources they could identify around them, he wondered if such transparency could be operated on an international scale when making designer products. On his return to Antwerp Pieters began to work on a radical new concept.

Honest by is the first company in the world to share the full cost breakdown of its products. The word Honest refers to the way in which the Honest by store operates, with a 100% transparency policy. The concept behind Honest by offers designers and brands a public platform to share their own design processes; utilizing the extensive research Honest by has already conducted on organic fabrics and suppliers. Those we collaborate with share their personal production information from yarn and button origin to fabric and manufacturing details; information which honest by then communicates to the client. Every part of the collaboration process is transparent including the store mark up calculations. In communicating all information regarding a garments production process; Honest by wants to shed light on the questions: where is it made and by whom.”

At the bottom of each product is a ‘Price Calculation’ explaining the margins – a €953 ($1246) Bruno Pieters jacket (which they explain is an online-only reduced rate) costs just €197 euros ($257) to produce.

How do you feel? Does the transparency inspire you to buy, or make you feel a little cheated when you hear how high store margins can be?

Please share your thoughts below.

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Raf Simons, the 44-year-old Belgian designer is the new artistic director of luxury brand Christian Dior.

As the Creative Director of Belen Echandia, I thought it might be interesting to discuss the topic of what the role of a creative director involves, as I am often asked.  The ‘artistic director’ of a fashion brand works as both a marketer and a designer. It is often more of a business role than the name would first imply.

My role as creative director of Belen Echandia not only involves designing handbags and accessories but also formulating the messages we want customers to take away with them when they visit our website, blog or Facebook page or interact with us via email.  For bigger brands this might also include the brand’s Vogue advertising campaign or the style of its corporate headquarters.  At Dior, Raf Simons will almost certainly be the chief marketing officer.

The results of having a talented creative at the helm of a company can be astounding, particularly when the brand owners and its creative director share a creative vision.  A couple of good examples are Stuart Vevers for Mulberry and Christopher Bailey for Burberry. I didn’t think Burberry would ever recover from the chav-bashing it took a few years back, but Mr Bailey has truly managed to turn the brand around with edgy designs and a sophisticated appeal which clearly talk to its target audience.

The question is, can Simons do the same for Christian Dior? Simons has quite a different aesthetic from the current brand, which under previous creative director John Galliano was at the most haute end of haute couture.

Galliano was an outrageous creative director in more ways than one. He stunned clientele with his fairytale designs, positioning Dior and fashion itself as a fantasy, a wonderful escape from everyday reality. By contrast Simons’ work at Jil Sander involved pared-back  designs.  Is Dior going for a more elegant approach, as Christian Dior himself once did?  This could be wonderful for Dior, but it may also be difficult to make it work for Dior’s current core customer.

This will be a very interesting story in 2012, something which we can all watch unfold.  I for one am not a big fan of Galliano’s Dior – Simons’ aesthetic appeals to me far more, but it remains to be seen whether the convergence of a brand with the vision of a creative director whose approach and appeal are so different will be a success.

Jackie x

For more articles and fashion inspiration visit our Facebook page.

To read reviews of our bags and more about the background behind our brand as well as fashion and more, visit our Online Magazine.

For more of my thoughts and opinions on a variety of subjects, please subscribe to my updates – Jackie Cawthra.

We’ve had a recent flurry of interest in our ability to source different leathers than the ones we have in stock.  As you all know, we are utterly committed to providing the most individual service we possibly can and we will continue to do so.  However, this incurs substantial extra costs for us, which we have not taken into account with our current pricing.

Ordering a special leather for a customer incurs extra costs in sourcing, buying and transporting a small quantity of leather (smaller quantities are more expensive to buy and ship), as well as leftovers, which are costly.  In order to continue to offer this fantastic and unique service, we have decided to ask customers to contribute an extra 30 GBP/40 USD to partially cover these extra costs of this unique bespoke service.  This cost will be waived if the customer wishes to order a second bag in the remaining leather.  For goatskin orders this is lowered to an extra 15 GBP/25 USD as goatskins are very small and we have fewer leftovers.  Where possible we buy small skins, so where we can (if a skin is small and we don’t have any leftovers) we will waive the leftovers charge and charge the lower amount.

Please note that we will continue to pay this for our Platinum and Diamond customers for one and two orders per year respectively as part of our loyalty program.

We thank you for your support and understanding as we do our best to continue providing the very best service and experience that we possibly can.

The Belen Echandia Team

XXX

Inspired by chic Scandinavian ladies wearing sporty backpacks with their high heels and smart coats, the Copenhagen is Belen Echandia’s very first backpack style bag and is designed to give those who need or prefer to wear a bag on both shoulders a chic alternative to black nylon. The first sample was almost perfect, but to make it even more comfortable to carry, we’ve added padded folded handles with no painted edges to both the back straps and the top handle. We have also widened the back straps a little to add extra comfort.

The clasp on the Copenhagen backpack is designed to make it more secure on your back than other backpacks, as it is impossible to undo it without you noticing. At the same time it is very easy and convenient to open with a quick squeeze once the bag is off your back.

Here are a few pictures of the original version in plain canvas with tan accents. As soon as we have photographs of the new version we will upload them:

RIO is Belen Echandia’s slouchy bag for the SS12 season.  Simple yet detailed, comfortable to wear and also extremely practical and wearable, Rio is just like its namesake city: stylish, carefree, vibrant and happy.  This bag can be worn across the body or on the shoulder. The easy access and secure front pocket is great for storing your phone, keys or wallet or your bus pass – anything you need to access quickly.  This new clasp is very chic.  The slightly padded detail on the top of the flap matches the details on some of our other new styles, like the Barcelona and the Copenhagen backpack. This bag can be worn on one shoulder or across the body.

I snapped this picture recently whilst in Beijing, thinking that you would all like to see how it looks when worn across the body. We’ll be adding a slider to the strap for production, so you will be able to make it even longer. There was no time for a costume change, so I’m wearing the exact same outfit as in the previous picture.  Sorbet looks just as great with a neutral/off-white top and a pair of blue jeans as with a light pair of pants for summer and a leather biker jacket in the winter.

Here’s a view of the interior. This gives a better idea of the colour:

The front pocket is easy to open and close and is a generous size – the perfect size to keep a medium-sized wallet and/or phone.

This bag was designed (in black) for one of the fashion editors of Grazia, one of Belen Echandia’s “Inspirational Women”. We met her in London and chatted about the features she finds useful in a bag for her job as fashion editor/general stylish girlie at large.

Pre-order yours on the Belen Echandia website, here.

After my blog post yesterday, I received an email asking me if we had decided to do away with professional models this season and use me as the model instead.  The customer who asked and I had a good chuckle over this after I explained that no, I wouldn’t be modelling the bags for our website but rather, as I explained in the post, these are informal images for my personal blog.  We always get requests for more images of the bags really early in the season before our modelled shots are done.  So although these images aren’t very professional, hopefully you can get a better idea about each style this way.

Today’s model for that matter isn’t me!

In case you didn’t see it yesterday, here is the link to the full line sheet of available styles and colours for the spring summer 2012 season: http://www.youblisher.com/p/209746-BELEN-ECHANDIA-SS2012/

Today I was going to show you the mini Cannes bag, but I had so many requests about the Barcelona Satchel that I’ve decided to do an in-depth review of the Barcelona instead.  This bag was a favourite of both buyers and press at our press day in November.

So here is the Barcelona Satchel, in a variety of colour ways.   Here is one of Marco’s assistants modelling the Barcelona in mint.

It is very comfortable to hold in your hand.

Here’s the Barcelona in whiskey chevre – we hung it on a door handle to show a profile view so you get a better idea of the depth. It’s a lovely depth – deep enough to fit all your items, but shallow enough to mould beautifully to your body.

On the inside of this bag there is a central zipped compartment, where you can store valuables. It also has an easy access slip pocket on the back, as you can see from the spin shot on our website. Here is the mint bag with fuchsia lining (the central compartment got a bit pushed to one side in this picture):

The real beauty of this bag is that it is designed to fold over in the middle, so that you can wear it crossbody.  Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of it worn that way, but it is extremely comfortable.  Here is a picture of it in grey chevre, folded over so you can see how great it looks.

Pre-order the Barcelona in Whiskey new matte or Black velvet matte calfskin, here.

Pre-order the Barcelona in Mint or Whiskey Chevre, here.

Last month we became part of an Italian organization which seeks to help Italian fashion companies and brands that produce using artisans in Italy.  One of the first projects we will participate in with their – albeit small – support is the Chinese buyer trip next week.  On Monday, Marco had the first meeting with the other companies from the organization, but there was so much to discuss that the meeting is to be continued on Wednesday.  We’re eagerly awaiting the outcome and round-up of that meeting! I have always been surprised that there isn’t more EU support for Italian ateliers, being a dying breed that really must be preserved, so this was an exciting start to the week that I thought you would all like to hear about.

People often ask me what I do every day and there’s so much I never know where to start. I usually start the day by checking and replying to emails since the BE team members are all on different time zones.  Then my son wakes up far earlier than I would like him to and of course when his father is still sound asleep.  He generally wakes up and shrieks until I pick him up and bundle him into our room, where we spend at least half an hour reading books and looking at animals on the iphone until eventually he says “Mamma?, mamma? mamma! mat!” (Swedish for food) and points at his mouth.  This happens like clockwork virtually every day, so we get up and make breakfast together before daddy drops him at daycare.  After that I do some exercise and then start work around 9am if I don’t have a meeting.

Today I’ve been planning our China trip, checking on the delivery of the bags (they are already cleared for delivery and in Hong Kong, yay!), applying for our visas at the Chinese Embassy, checking trend reports for the coming seasons, finalising our SS12 line sheets and swatch books, writing a few SS12 trend blog posts and starting on AW12.  I finished off with a trip to a farm/park and then dinner with the family and finally had to tuck both Theo AND his favourite ball up in bed before getting back to work this evening.  It’s been a really fun day, some of the SS12 trends are really amazing, especially the prints I found at the Milan show.  Here’s one of my favourites:

Now it’s time for bed. Hope you’ve had a great day too!

Jackie XX

The humble wellington boot has come a long way  since I was a child and wearing wellies really wasn’t considered cool.  Fast forward 25 years and the boot is a style symbol,  worn and styled by celebrities with a pair of leather shorts or skinny jeans and available in masses of colours, from turquoise to bright red.  Even Jimmy Choo, the company known for its sky-high heels and super delicate shoes has introduced a range of wellingtons.  There are surely those who think wearing wellingtons is sloppy, but you only have to look at Hunter’s latest “Styled By” Campaign (on their Facebook page) to see how stylish these boots can be.

The question is, which brand to buy?  I trawled the internet and narrowed my selection down to 3 of the most stylish brands and now I want you to help me decide.  I’m going towards the Hunter right now as they seem to be the best fit for me and available in lots of colours and styles.  But I can’t make my mind up so I would love your opinion. Here is the short list:

Ilse Jacobsen

Ilse Jacobsen is a Scandinavian brand founded by its namesake in 1993.  Like me, Ilse Jacobsen wasn’t a fashion designer when she started her fashion brand and like me, she wanted to do something different to the mainstream.  Ilse focuses sharply on quality and simplicity in her design.  I love the vintage look of the lace-up boots, the focus on natural materials and innovation and the fact that just like BE bags they cannot be found everywhere and on everyone. But I’m not so sure about the laces.  On the one hand they are different, but on the other hand I am not that tall and I have thin legs and I think a streamlined silhouette might be better (?).

Two other style options from the Ilse Jacobsen line: this gorgeous pair of grey snakeprint plain boots and the plain pink ones. Perhaps not in pink.  Somehow though, these just do not have the cool factor the IJ lace-up boots have and they are not as refined as my next two options.

Hunter

Hunter is probably the oldest brand of wellingtons there is, founded as it was in 1857 in Glasgow, of all places.  Before its international jet-setting days of celebrity superstardom, Hunter also made such things as tyres, golf balls and rubber flooring.  I LOVE these boots because they are simple and recognizable, although I do see them everywhere and I usually prefer to avoid things that everybody else is wearing. But – they are stylish, good quality, I have lots of different colours to choose from and their fun approach to collaborations really does appeal to me. I also love their latest Facebook campaign, “styled by” in which they have asked style icons to style their favourite Hunter boots in their own way.

My biggest dilemma with Hunter is which style and colour to choose. Should I go for the Classic or the Regent? Tall or short? Matte or gloss? Black or bright purple… do you own a pair of Hunter and have an opinion to share?

Le Chameau

Worn by the Duchess of Cambridge and her sister Pippa, the Le Chameau brand is a much more conservative look than I would usually go for, but they are reported to be more slender than the other boot brands and they are made by master bootmakers using natural materials, in the same way they were 80 years ago.  It is very important to me to respect and support this kind of craftsmanship, because I have a big fear of fast-food and fast-fashion taking over the world and bad quality becoming the norm.  So I would love to buy them, but this brand reminds me a little of Mulberry before its move to Far-Eastern production and international sales.  In a couple of years they will probably also sell red, purple and blue wellingtons, but for now my choice is a little more limited and the brand less fashionable, much as I would like to support them.

Here are the choices I have narrowed it down to:

So please tell me, what do you think? Should I get the vintage, cool lace-up Ilse Jacobsen, the super stylish celebrity-crazed Hunters or the refined Le Chameau? What would you do?

I actually LOVE the autumn and winter seasons. I love big coats, I love leather bags, I love boots (especially my black fur Muks Mukluks), I love cosy winter nights by the fire and outdoor candles sitting in the snow outside candlelit restaurants.  There are a few things that make winter extra special for me, so I thought you might like to share them.

1. Try some bright red nail varnish

This could actually be “bright pink nail varnish” or any colour that takes your fancy. I just love bright nail varnish against cool winter skin.  I also love bright lipsticks, although they don’t suit me.  There is something so sexy and wintry about bright red lips and bright red nails. A sophisticated red, of course.

                                                                                                 Image courtesy of rednailart.com

My favourite blog about nail varnish is Sara’s Daily Polish.

2. Invest in the most expensive winter coat that you can afford

A well-fitted winter coat is essential.  Depending on your location, you’ll likely spend at least 140 days wearing it and hopefully you will choose wisely and wear it for years to come.  A bright, wearable coat can be just as classic as a smart black one. Buy the most expensive one you can afford, since along with your shoes and handbag your coat is the item you will wear the most and is one of the most on-display items in your wardrobe.  I never thought I would write “love” and Versace in the same sentence, but I love Versace’s Military Wool Coat:

3. Invest in a pair of stylish leather boots/fur boots

My favourite boots are made by Muks. I have two pairs from last winter (grey and black) and I wore them almost every snow day we had.  They are comfortable yet chic and both look and feel very warm and cosy as well as stylish and fashionable.  The new soles can be comfortably worn in the snow without becoming wet.  I almost can’t wait for the really cold days to come so that I can break them out again.

4. Invest in some stylish leg warmers

I love wearing skinny jeans and leggings with my calf-high fur boots in the winter and stylish leg warmers are a must on really cold days.  If you’re handy with the knitting needles, you could even knit some.

5. Buy a stylish hat

I love hats. I have quite a small head, so I can’t carry off every style and unless you have the perfect hat head (you know who you are) it is worth trying on a few different ones to find out which one suits you the best.  My favourite on cold winter days is a sloppy knitted hat worn baggy on the sides with a scarf draped around my neck.  Whilst we’re looking at this picture, how amazing are Sienna’s red shoes!

Image Courtesy of La Vie Boston Blog.

6. Invest in a good skin lotion

My skin gets really dry and chapped in the winter so a good cream is a must. I use Avalon Organics lemon, rosemary or lavender lotion.  Thick and creamy but not sticky, this cream is absorbed easily into the skin, smells amazing and is natural to boot.

7. Invest in some key pieces of jewellery

A classic pair of pearls (mine have little diamonds on them) matches beautifully with the high-neck sweaters of autumn/winter. A beautiful ring takes the place of a necklace, which can no longer be seen under all those layers of clothing.  I love Monica Vinader’s beautiful nugget ring.

Invest in a good handbag

How could we forget this one!

From a handbag perspective, autumn/winter is clutch and shoulder bag season for me.  Although I never stop wearing my crossbody bags, I love to wear a big, stylish shoulder bag in the winter.  As for clutch bags, whilst summer means alfresco picnics and long evening walks, the darker autumn and winter seasons bring lots of parties, LBDs and cosy dinners with friends.  This season we’ve ordered some beautiful colours in our classic clutch.

Anthracite

Anthracite is a dark, semi-matte metallic gunmetal which is understated and chic, yet glamorous.  This colour matches with everything, particularly black for a chic Italian look.

 Buy Now

Leopard Pony Skin

Snow leopard is the trendiest material out there this season, but surprisingly it is also a classic. Trends come and go every few years – in case you haven’t noticed – and animal prints are touted as the hottest thing at least every couple of years.  For those who don’t watch trends as such, snowleopard is a very special material that works with lots of colours, from the obvious black to more surprising colour and print clashes, for those with more daring style taste.

Grey Snakeprint

Snakeprint is not for everyone, but I love it.  This snakeprint is super soft and luxurious, although very hardwearing.  The print adds just the right touch of glamour and the understated colour is lovely with chic black outfits but also matches many other colours.

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Hot pink

Last but not least, bright colours are probably the biggest trend this season, but a happy colour will never go out of fashion.  This delicious pink chevre is bright but wearable.  I would wear this with a cocktail dress, smart trousers and heels or even a smart jumpsuit.

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I’m so excited to tell you that I have co-launched a food blog!  Many of you know that before launching Belen Echandia, I had written a business plan for a healthy salad bar.  That venture did not go ahead for several reasons, but healthy food remains one of my passions – particularly making healthy food that tastes great.  Since my son was born I have been concocting all kinds of new dishes for him, including sneaking vegetables into everything from burgers to smoothies.  I’ve also taken up baking, but I only bake with almond and coconut flour – high protein and so good for you. I also make a lot more raw food than I used to.

After our sons began to eat, my friend Nina and I would swap recipes for wholesome baby food, feed each other’s children and just generally discuss baby food and the new dishes we had made up.  Lots of people asked for our baby food recipes, many suggested that we start a food blog.   So we did.

Little Foodies is great for those of you who have babies or children and need some inspiration for what to feed them, but it’s also great for those who don’t have children and just want to find some healthy recipes that are tasty and interesting.  Please send us your questions, recipe requests, feedback and/or comments.  We look forward to hearing from you!

English version: Little Foodies
Swedish version: Bra Barnmat

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Jackie & Nina