Hello Showcase
Phew, so as you may know, we attended Showcase, Irelands largest creative expo, earlier in January. We were lucky enough to be supported by our Local Enterprise Office, which involved intensive training workshops over the space of 3 months. Our mentor was Meabh Ring, and boy does she know her stuff. Our training included everything from preparing our stand, prospecting potential retailers, media training, pricing products for wholesale markets and display of products. Yes, it was exhausting but fantastic. We learned so much and without it, I really feel it wouldn’t have been as successful for us.
Having a stand at Showcase, Irelands largest creative expo was something Ive wanted to do since the beginning of Wear We Wander in 2014 and this year I finally did it. Attracting over 5000 buyers from all over the world, it connects Irish designs with international buyers and showcases the very best in Irelands creative sector. Being part of that was a truly incredible experience. Building the stand, meeting buyers and fellow craft people gave me such a thrill, so much creativity under one roof. Ireland is truly a gifted Island. We should be so proud of what we have to offer. Its made me really think about supporting Irish and wearing Irish from now on.
Upstairs in the LEO section the standard of products was incredibly high, it was hard to believe these were all new business and showing their products for the first time. My personal favourites were Findings Jewellery and My Name is Ted – both incredible businesses with great stories, do check them out.
Designing the Stand!
One of the hardest things for me was the stand design, I changed my mind, drew and re-drew it over and over and in the end I went of a very simple design using nature to decorate. I used a branch from an ash tree to hang the clothing, natural hemp rope, wooden hangers that I white washed and added hemp rope to the hooks to give them a more organic look. And, of course my precious plants had to feature too. I got my branding printed locally by the great guys at Rhino Print in Kinsale and it finished the look perfectly.
The most popular Wear We Wander product by a long shot was our Natures Bride Maxi Dress which is perfect for summer adventures, beach weddings or balmy cocktail evenings. You will be able to shop it in some very cool boutiques over the coming weeks, but thats another blog post…
Happy Friday. Love & Light
Bon x
Adding a little plant power to my stand
Great signage from Rhino
