Little Fuchsia

2010-10-20T15:57:00.003+10:30

Diary of Agent Becc at Little Fuchsia

Day one: Attention Adelaide, Agent Becc has arrived!

8.30am: Welcome to Adelaide

As I enter Adelaide town I am immediately met with smiling faces, positive hellos and absolutely no peak hour traffic- despite my almost 9am departure from the airport. This was going to be a good day. One text from Little Fuchsia’s golden girl Simmie and a famous Cibo coffee later, I find myself cruising down a very peaceful Adelaide road to Orange studio at the very cute 1 Orange lane, Norwood.

9ish am: Little Fuchsia model shoot

Model in hair and make-up chair, check. Photographer, check. Rack of spring/summer samples, check. Little Fuchsia team (ironing), check. I instantly think- typical shoot layout but not your typical team- ‘family’ was more like it. Simmie, Robyn’s (THE Little Fuchsia) right hand woman quickly makes me feel at home taking me through the team and the layout of the day. I start by making myself familiar with the new collection, particularly admiring the brightly coloured summer dresses and sequined heart tees. I begin to feel an itch of excitement as the model dresses in look number one- the shoot is about to begin.

Between watching the lovely photographer Jacqui work her magic and getting to know the story behind the brand, Little Fuchsia herself, Robyn Ingerson , arrives. Slightly nervous, I put my hand forward to introduce myself as her Sydney publicist to which she instantly changes to a warm welcome hug. Nervousness gone. It is like I’ve known her since like forever.

A truly inspiring figure in the fashion industry, Robyn reveals everything about herself- from her beginning as a casual staff member at Sportsgirl right up to her present role as the creator/driver of smart casual women’s wear label LF. When asked what makes her and her brand one of the most successful labels in Adelaide (a part from its smart and easy style) she confidently discloses that it’s all about her relationships with all who are involved- from her hand-picked suppliers, staff to customers, Robyn knows all by name and appreciates the input of everyone around her, right down to an intern called Daisy. Each and every garment is inspired by and named after an important character in her life. One of my favourites, the SAM dress, is named after her 8year old son who painted the unique print of the dress- it seems the creative gene has been passed on!

After lunch pm: It’s a WRAP

Almost 3pm arrives and while Robyn is working with photo whizz Jacq to pick that one shot out of many, a very cute five year old called Sophie runs across the studio into the arms of her mummy. In Robyn’s world work may be important but family comes first and 3pm means Kids time. A quick goodbye with Sophie wrapped around her legs, Robyn is off to pick up her son and the shoot is done for today.

Day two: All about Little Fuchsia

9.30am: The beginning of an end

Waiting in hotel lobby thinking how great it was to get some extra sleep post my 5am start the previous morning, Robyn pulls out front ready to take me through round two of my LF journey. Back to orange lane we go, but this time for flat lay shots. While Robyn gets down to business right away, I spend my time getting to know work experience gem, Daisy. As we go through next seasons forecasts together, Daisy and I swap personal stories about family, friends and school (yes I didn’t graduate all that long ago- or at least I like to tell myself that!) until I finally ask what she thinks of Rob and LF. Not surprisingly she shares my exact thoughts: AMAZING. Rarely had we seen such passion, love and support behind a brand. Robyn is not only hands-on with all aspects of her business and family life but also makes time to mentor/inspire (and even make a cup of tea for) the beginners in the industry.

Noonish: Shop& stylin’ fun

Next stop, Tangent. On the outside, the what seems like a ‘tiny’ white building opens up to a large lifestyle store with loads of unique, one-off home wares, gifts and of course Little Fuchsia fashion! And with its own dedicated corner, it certainly stands out.

Rob goes on to do her thing with merchandising, colour coding the racks, making it easier for the Little Fuchsia customer to self style. As I stand there in admiration, Rob says it’s my turn to get styled/spoilt with LF! Eyes light up, excitement boils, but I must. remain. calm. Dress ups? Squeal.

1x maxi dress in my favourite colour, 1x black must have tunic, 2x shirts, 1x pant and 1x velvety red blazer later, I am back in the car with the very generous Rob on the way to our next stop.

1ish pm: Little Fuchsia Flagship

And I thought Tangent was incredible. Hello Little Fuchsia on King William, Hyde Park! The store was everything I imagined plus more. Neat racks, luxe changing rooms and a homely sitting area. With a Victorian feel, I can see how the store successfully makes all feel welcome, comfortable and at home- representing what LF is all about.

Not long into my drooling session, Rob drags me out of the store (please don’t make me leave!) to introduce me to a place called Melt, Adelaide’s hot spot for pizza. Yum.

Almost 3pm: Au revoir Adelaide!

Almost time for Rob to get to her kids and for me to fly home. We quickly wrap up our chat session and get back on the road to pick up my luggage as sadly my LF time has almost come to an end. One big hug and many thank yous later, I find myself sitting at Adelaide airport waiting to be called to a Sydney gate feeling inspired, passionate and very very spoiled.

Becc xx

2010-10-18T11:23:00.012+10:30

August 17th Blog

Well finally I hear you all saying - I know – I am the worst blogger, in fact I can’t even call myself a Blogger, it’s embarrassing, anyway I promise I am going to improve!
It has been so long since I wrote that I thought it would be best to start from now and work back.

Currently I am in Delhi for a few days with my great friend Susie Wong, my preferred travelling companion (no offense JD).

God do we laugh – it’s like an illness – I completely lost it in the airport yesterday trying to recount a story from our last trip to LA, couldn’t breathe, tears running down my face, people staring, thinking to themselves, should we help this girl, is she ok? Then realising I am just laughing joyfully!

Anyway – this photo is one of the reason’s I laugh so much with Sue – this device is what she has bought for us (one each thank goodness, some things you just shouldn’t share!) in case we come across a dodgy loo in the next week – I mean, it’s called the Whiz! Who sits down and thinks, then designs, then manufactures these things – I want to meet these people! Will tell you later how I go with the Whiz!!

The Whiz!

Sue and I are here in India to see my main factory to check on production as well as to find inspiration for Sue’s jewellery range. We have been friends for 25 years and laugh about the fact that we need to fly all the way to Delhi to catch up – but that’s life! How lucky are we that we can do it I say. Sue's currently painting in my hotel room while I am writing this blog – what a talent, I am in awe!

The past few weeks have been so busy. We have appointed a brilliant PR company in Sydney called Agent 25 and have the lovely Becc Naumovski as our PR girl who is going to be spreading the joy of Little Fuchsia all around Aust in the coming months. Becc came and spent a few days with us along with the very clever and gorgeous Daisy Wellington, local Adelaide girl who we luckily offered work experience too. Hopefully Daisy will come and help us with more styling and design imput in the coming months, a very talented girl indeed!

Daisy and Becc at the Photoshoot

Our Summer Shoot went brilliantly which you will all enjoy in the coming weeks by seeing Sara in shots of our new season range

Sara is such a joy to work with, so professional and talented as a model in front of the camera, it’s extraordinary watching her work. Sara also looks so relaxed in the range and to me epitomises the LF customer. Let alone the brilliant Jacqui Way, genius photographer – we have such a love and respect for each other and always share a good giggle! Days like this make me just love having my own business and confirm that I really have “followed my bliss” I know it sounds wanky but it’s true. I have so few days that I am stressed because I love what I do. I absolutely love working with both these girls as well as the rest of the team – Cherie on make up, Simmie on styling, Miss Jane on the iron, me – well making tea!

Group photo from the shoot Robyn and Jacqui Way

The week prior we had the Adelaide Magazine Shoot which you will all get to see in a few weeks. What I do want to share is the dress I am wearing is a stunning silk v neck dress with a flower print screened down the side – this was painted by my son Sam. I am very proud to be able to involve my children in the design process of the ranges – Sophe has also painted a gorgeous heart that we have screened onto a t-shirt – all coming in September.

The week prior we had the Reach Ball in Melbourne – the biggest fund raiser for the year – what a great night, it was an 80’s Prom theme – I totally embraced it, in fact JD even thought I looked good – think he might be blinded! Lucky me, I had my close girlfriends there to share the 80’s theme with – Abi drove 5 hours from the South East of SA just because she too like me was desperate to wear taffeta again and have big hair. I was a cross between Madonna and Joan Collins from Dynasty!

Getting Ready for the 80's!

The week prior, in the whirl wind of a 3 week school holiday I decided to move house! It is fantastic, thanks again to my trusty handy man Ben – and no he is not available yet – still a few jobs to finish – I feel like I am Ben’s PA – everyone wants him – I may have to change my mobile number just to screen calls for Ben the best handyman in the world! The best thing about the new house is I now have a dressing room – a whole room for my clothes which I have set up like a shop – I have a going out section dominated by sequins, black and fur! A black and stone section, neutrals accented with pink and soft greys and a nautical rack – every girls dream!

The Wardrobe!!

The week prior I spent in HKong at a trade fair and working on next winter. The handsome Ben Smith, women’s designer for Fletcher Jones joined me as we spent some time at retail together, visited factorties and for me did 3 hours of fittings for Fletcher Jones one Saturday afternoon.

Rob and Ben Smith in HKong

While in HKong I spent hours at Sham Shi Po the fabric and trim market, collecting ribbon references, buttons and sourcing all my fabrics for Winter 2011 – this is my most favourite part of what I do – the beginning of a new season, finding inspiration from colour, fabrics, people, past ranges that I have designed or been around. Next Winter for me is remembering one of my favourite collections that a dear friend Leanne Follet designed for Ellie B – this was a diffusion line for Sportsgirl – I loved it. Leanne was a very talented designer, strong in tailoring and sourcing beautiful prints and suiting’s from Italy. This was the time when Stella McCartney was just a new girl on the block designing for Chloe. She was the one that made us all wear suits again with soft silk shirts underneath -and guess what – we are ALL going to be wearing suits next winter – watch this space, I can’t wait! I am perfecting the slouch manstyle pant as we speak!

Hong Kong Fabric and Ribbon Markets

OK, over and out – will give full report from India next week – I promise!!

Happy Shopping Always

New York Trip

2010-10-06T10:13:00.006+10:30

Well I have never been so wet in my entire life – it poured the whole 4 days I was in NYC. Refer to my April Adelaide Matters article for a full low down.

Despite the weather I still had an inspiring time away – it is always brilliant to be able to see what all the key stores are up to – on this trip I worked out more what I didn’t want to do and feel really confident that Little Fuchsia’s range will continue in our own individual hand writing that is being followed lovingly by many of you. I will continue with our theme of great white detailed shirts, leather vests and beautiful silk items. There will be many surprises for Summer so you will need to wait and see!

I have included some shots of my favourite store Anthropolgie – it is such a stunning retail experience for clothing, accessories and homeware – if you are ever in LA or New York – check them out

Anthropologie

My most exciting event when in NY was meeting Gillian Leigh – ex “Neighbour’s” actress. She was conducting a Trunk Show of her amazing range of silk/cotton scarves in Bergdorf’s one wet Sunday afternoon when we got chatting. Her business partner Susan and Gillian were both really interested in LF and didn’t have an Australian stockist – heeeellllo! Sorted immediately. We now have these exclusively in Australia. I am wearing mine as I write this – in fact I have barely taken it off, such is my love for it. Check out their site and see all the celebs who are also getting so much joy from their Leigh & Luca scarves – http://www.leighluca.com/

Leigh Luca Scarves

Adelaide Launch Event – 24th April

2010-10-06T09:53:00.007+10:30

We had our launch event in Adelaide at Tony Bond’s fantastic gallery 139 on March 24th – it was stinking hot again, 250 of our favourite Adelaide chicks turned up to be treated with fantastic food by Emma Reeves, champagne and a brilliant parade styled by one of our very own LF girls, the very clever Mia Gambranos. It was a fun night, the parade ending with an array of gorgeous young girls ( Sophe my daughter being the youngest) to me – being the oldest! Check out Facebook for the photo Gallery.

little fuchsia winter 10 fashion parade

Little Fuchsia Winter 10 Fashion Parade , Sara looking gorgeous in our velvet vest and silk strapless dress

little fuchsia girls and Robbie dressed in the stunning silk strapless maxi dresses

Melbourne – 27th March Winter Launch

2010-10-06T09:39:00.007+10:30

Last night was such a special night in the history of Little Fuchsia – we launched our Winter 10 range in our new Hawksburn store ( 566 Malvern Road) It was a fantastic turn out of over 150 friends, family and LF customers. The very funny Bridg Duclos mc’d for me and did a sterling job, reminding of the early days of LF when I crashed at our friend Krissy’s house on Sunday night with a whole pile of samples for the girls to all try on - seems such a long time ago – so much has happened – I love that so many of my friends have been involved in the evolution of the business.

Robbie and Bridge at the Melbourne Launch

The parade was the best we have done, a big thanks to Sim and Skye for orchestrating and for our “Liv’ for modeling. Pauline Abordi, an old friend from my CR days captured the event brilliantly – check out Facebook for all the photos and make sure to check out paulineabordiphotography.com.au if you are ever needing wedding, family shots taken – she is a genius – mind you she needed to take a lot of shots of me to get a keeper! Oh Well, one day I’ll nail the “blue steel” look!

The Little Fuchsia Parade in Melbourne

Of course with the group of staff I have around me – the night ended with us all lying on my bed, drinking champagne and eating the best chicken sandwiches ever made by Chrissy Japp, totally saved us from serious head aches this morning!

Just on the Hawksburn store a big thank you to Tanjent – the best homeware store in the world – I am serious! – (1A Margaret Street, Norwood, SA – 088 3329161) for providing all the Tables, cushions, marble tea lights – Jane Price – SA artist extraordinaire – for being the creator of the beautiful paintings we have hanging in the store, Lyn Gardner, Albert park, for the stunning domes and for Libby Thornton Interiors, Melbourne for organizing the ottoman and spot cushions – it’s all come together and I love it!

Now back to what else has been happening

Robbie xx

Trip to Bali

2009-12-09T13:11:00.010+10:30

I have the greatest job ever! Yes I have been back to Bali again to work on my Winter 10 range for Little Fuchsia. I travelled this time with my friend Jonathan who managed to keep up with the pace pretty well and was fantastic technical and photographic support! As some of you know I have a missing link when it comes to technology – I’m a pen and paper kind of girl – so talk to me about facebook, twitter, hard drives, blab bla – I glaze over – talk to me about textiles, garment construction and movies and I’m with you 100%!

Having lunch at a great cafe in Bali with Jonathon and friend

We jumped off the plane and went straight to work with my lovely friend Elaine on my boots and bags for winter – see pics – it was sooo hot, no electricity and I’m trying on boots! Nearly melted but they look hot- charcoal and navy metallic’s – I can barely wait myself!

Working on our new leather boots and bag winter range

Also while there I spent time sourcing stunning new silk prints from my friend Marilena – see pics - for the drawstring kaftans that we have had great success with – these I am able to buy in small quantities so you don’t need to fear too many people wearing the same print. Also for those of you that have loved the strapless silk dresses – before Xmas we have a delivery of Dark Ink, Silver and Turquoise! Great NYE party dress.

Recently I have encouraged one of my best friends, Sue to follow her bliss and design her own jewellery line. Something she has wanted to do for some time – it’s all about timing! We travelled together to LA in September where Sue gathered some great references as well as pulling from her vast personal jewellery collection. She has been working with silver smiths in Hong Kong and I have also visited a work shop in Bali on her behalf – see pics - to start putting the range together. We hope to have the “Sparticles” collection launched exclusively in Little Fuchsia pre Xmas – will keep you posted.

For those of you travelling to Bali over the next few months check out the following hot spots
Accomodation in Ubud – Uma Ubud - you won’t find a more beautiful hotel, amazing value, the best food, rooms, spa, lovely staff – a must go

Cornerstore in Bali

Restaurants/Bars

Sardine Seminyak – stunning restaurant set among the rice fields
La Lucciaola – Seminyak beach, great for a sunset drink, lunch or dinner
Ku De Ta – coolest 70’s inspired beach club – hands down favourite place in Seminyak – great for any time of the day or night
The Cornerstore – local hang out in Seminyak owned by my crazy friend Sean Cosgrove – best Salad Nicoise and coffee in Bali!

Love and Smiles
Robyn
Little Fuchsiaxxx

Little Fuchsia's 1st Birthday and my trip to Bali

2009-12-04T08:56:00.028+10:30

Sara and I at the Little Fuchsia first birthday party

What an amazing past year it has been for me - Little Fuchsia’s first birthday was on the 1st October - it was such an incredible personal mile stone for me. I know I have a lot of energy but even I have amazed myself with what we have all managed to pull off so quickly. If someone had said that we would have opened 4 stores in the first year I would never have believed it!

I am totally blessed with all the girls in the Little Fuchsia family that have made this all happen. Over the coming months you will get to meet the Little Fuchsia crew via our new “Interview” section that will be introduced soon in the Newsroom section of the website – stay tuned!

So a big thankyou to all my staff members at Little Fuchsia and to all the amazing suppliers that have supported me and made some wonderful garments. I am constantly gaining great feedback from our customers on the quality that we provide. This is very important to me in regards to designing a sustainable product. This is an “it” word at the moment and I would like to explain my take on it. My intention is to design beautiful quality garments that are sustainable and effectively last. They are timeless pieces that are not only driven by trend, but are garments that you can love and have in your wardrobe forever. By achieving this I will do my bit in reducing landfill. I also find it very important to build relationships with my suppliers who all follow ethical standards. Each supplier supports Fair Trade practice, pay their factory workers the award rate or above and where possible support their local community.

Visiting the factory in Bali when some of Little Fuchsia shirts are hand made. All the women looked beautiful dressed in their colourful saris.

Working on the Little Fuchsia winter boot range- stay tuned!!

Over the coming year it has also been my intention to support either an orphanage or a school in each region that we are producing garments in. This business is much more than selling clothes – it is allowing all of us to be involved in giving to those that are less fortunate and bringing joy into others lives, particularly children.

Ella, my accountant Leanne and I at the Edwards Marshall Fashion Parade

Recently we held an event in conjunction with my Accountant’s firm, Edwards Marshall – www.edwardsmarshall.com.au whereby we managed to raise close to $5000 in support of Kidman Park Primary to purchase a “Liberty Swing” for the special needs kids that attend this school. It was a wonderful night and a great cause.

Little Fuchsia has already been actively supporting many charities from Reach, Kids Safe, Catherine House, local primary schools, Seymour College SA, Scotch College SA, Gardenvale Primary School Vic, High Gate Primary School SA - we will continue to support in whatever way possible when approached by local charities and schools.

In the past year we have been involved with Magnolia Square in Melbourne and Sydney. These markets have been a great success for Little Fuchsia allowing us to not only establish the brand in Melbourne and Sydney but also be amongst other talented Australian designers and artists. We received a great response from the market and will be sure to enrol next year- will keep you updated!See www.magnoliasquare.com.au for further details.

So as you can see – there is always a lot going on at Little Fuchsia. I am committed to writing more regularly than of late to fill you in on what we are all up to, our travels and interesting things we find along the way. You can also read my monthly column in Adelaide Matters magazine by clicking on the link.

Happy Shopping as always!!

X Robyn

Perth Trunkshow

2009-06-24T07:25:00.003+09:30

Sam with Daisy and Kitty

The sale in Perth was fantastic - my friend Kate and her daughter Kitty ( who is the namesake of our best selling shirt so far!!) were absolutely brilliant on sales, allowing me to have some much needed one on one time with my son Sam. We pretty much covered everything possible in Perth – movies, the zoo, scootering, Sci-tech, the playground, hot chips, ice creams, milkshakes and of course the mandatory trip to the fairy shop to make sure we returned home with that much required wand for Sophe ( Sam’s younger sister).

Through the sale we have extended the WA data base and look forward to planning a Summer Trunk Show there in October – more on that later.

This was also a great time for me to hang out with old friends with whom I had worked with back in the late 80’s for Reebok – then a new brand on the block, but boy did we sell some shoes!

I also had time with great friends Peter and Ann Hector who own WA’s premier dairy company www.mundella.com.au – they have again won in 2009 best natural greek yoghurt – finally we can buy these yoghurts and soft cheeses in SA at all IGA stores.

The most exciting work part of my trip was spending time with Chris Hoffmann owner of WA women’s clothing line Flower www.flowerclothing.com, I have known Chris for 20 years and he very kindly has given me some much needed advice in how to best grow my business and areas to focus on. So – look out – anything could happen with my newly inspired strategic vision!

Being away and actually having time to take in retail I have to say some favourites were Kookai – they have released a new sleepwear line – it’s gorgeous, check it out in store – not showing on their site yet as it has just arrived. Also at Zomp – www.zomp.com.au , the most enormous range of boots – seriously if you can’t find a pair here – give up! Scanlan and Theodore are still my favourite store to really appreciate beautifully designed garments - the fabrics they use are devine and the quality is still the best in their market by a mile.

My absolute, hands down favourite shopping experience however goes to the Boatshed Fresh Market in Cottesloe – please go to the site www.boatshedfresh.com.au - it is a gourmet delight – I could lose hours in there, wandering aimlessly among the best produce, fresh flowers, and smallgoods you’ve ever seen– aahhhh! Heaven! Subsequently I did quite a bit of cooking for my friends in Perth – an excuse to keep going back there!

Well, this week is all about our morning tea in the new Melbourne store, Wednesday 24th June, 10am to 12pm - stay tuned!

XX Little Fuchsia

Perth

2009-06-16T21:22:00.002+09:30

Go west young girl I was told this morning! – and that is exactly what I am doing, accompanied by my beautiful son Sammy (5 1/2 years old, already a great travelling companion!)

We are heading over for a big sale in Perth with one of my fellow fashion warriors Perette Creighton owner of the stunning womenswear label Lola Australia.

We are having a sale event at Shop 21 (upstairs next to Country Road Homeware) Bayview Centre , 303 Stirling Highway Claremont – starting Thursday 18th – Saturday 20th June from 10am to 5pm.

Hope to see you all there. We have lots of great winter and summer specials .

The beauty of my business is the ability to travel and catch up with all my friends around Australia.

Having lived in Perth for 4 years when I was 18 – a distant memory! I have some fantastic friends there and look forward to catching up. Also while I am here it is a plan to find a great retail outlet in Perth that can hopefully show case Little Fuchsia. We already have one stockist in WA – a great friend Kelly Murphy who has a store down south in Busselton.

So - stay tuned – more on the Perth sale later, interesting stores and restaurants/café’s Sammy and I find in our travels – we’ll let you know.

X Rob

Melbourne Short Trip

2009-06-12T19:29:00.001+09:30

What an amazing day getting over to Melbourne for summer fittings and a visit to the new Albert Park Store. The new summer range is shaping up to be gorgeous. Robyn fitted newly arrived sample pieces with the lovely girls from Sourcing Studio.

This was my first exposure to fittings and I was awed by the level of detail that goes into considering the fit of each garment. They puzzled for ages over design decisions like cm under the arm, length of sleeves, position of neckline, contrast of stitches, attachment of hardware, height of belt loops and feel of fabric. Robyn gives allot of thought to ensure women get a flattering fit with lots of care taken when shaping the garment to curves.

I can't give too many spoilers on the summer range but I can say there is an amazing vest inspired by the leather ruffle vest in a beautiful Grey linen. A perfect transition piece that will be in my wardrobe as soon as the Summer Range lands!

We had just enough time to get over to Albert Park to see the new store. I met Simi Maddock (who makes the amazing jewellery shown on the site and found in Little Fuchsia stores) and Alexis from Tiddles and Chich, the children's wear label that shares the store. Amazing chicks with obvious passion and humour. The new store looks great and was full of cute kids and mums browsing and chatting. It has a great vibe and has been an instant hit in spite of some super chilly weather. The $50 knits are flying out the door.

I had to take a photo of this cute pooch enjoying our sign as her owner browsed the store. Doris is a natural 'model' and could very well end up with a shirt named after her!
Best,
xKaryn

Melbourne Store Opens

2009-06-11T21:04:00.000+09:30

Alexis, Freyr, Lu & myself

Well what a fantastic week. If anyone had said to me a year ago that I would be opening a store in Melbourne I would have said – well I suppose anything is possible, but you’ve got to be kidding!

So within a week of collecting the keys we managed through the brilliant co-ordination of my builder brother Anthony, Alexis from Tiddles&Chich, Artistic Signs, and Libby Thornton from Libby Thornton Design we managed to re paint and fit out the store. See for yourself but we think it looks great !

We had so much fun setting up the store, Lex painted an old table we found in Hawksburn, curtains from Ikea, ladders from a second hand store in Adelaide, racking from Mei & Picci – you really don’t need to spend a lot to get a great result.

It was certainly very helpful having a handy brother who could fix everything – note to self, next partner needs to be handy!! Thanks a lot Ant. Mind you I think he quite liked hanging out with the crazy chicks for a week!

With my brother Ant

We had some informal drinks with friends on the eve of our first big day and what a day. For me it was such a moment – a lot of my great friends from the fashion industry called in to show support and say hi – of course some couldn’t help but tell me what changes I needed to make immediately! – thanks Bobbie! Addressed instantly –who said I don’t listen to anyone!

My first customer in Melbourne was Penny Pinkster – great name! – who followed me into the shop and before I even had time to turn the lights on had purchased a shirt, scarf and placed an order for her store in Seminyak, Bali – my first overseas stockist of Little Fuchsia!

We have gorgeous staff in the Melbourne store. Simi Maddock I have known for 15 years, back in the hazy days of Sportsgirl and am thrilled Sim is going to be my main girl in the store. We also have Liv, and Nicole, what a team! Also come in to check out Simi’s range of beautiful jewellery that she is hand making – in her spare time! You can see some of the jewellery featured on the website.

With Simi Maddock

We have decided to have a morning tea at the Albert Park store - 65 Cardigan Place, on Wednesday 24th June from 10am – 12pm, so if you are free please come and join us for coffee and cake.

Speak soon
Best wishes,
Rob
xx

crazy 8 month ride

2009-06-09T16:58:00.009+09:30

Far out! What a crazy 8 month ride it has been since launching Little Fuchsia in Adelaide on 1st October. Now on the eve of opening our first Melbourne store in Albert Park the excitement is reaching an all time high!

View Larger Map

We have an amazing Little Fuchsia family who have made the ride so much fun and possible for me to achieve this as well as have the time to be a mum to my gorgeous Sam and Sophe.

I don’t even know where to start to explain what has happened since the inception of this business – now a year ago. The thought came to me when having a week long retreat at Gwingana in Queensland where I met a fantastic nutritionist who told me to “Follow my Bliss” – well I picked that up and ran with it!

Through many years of experience in the fashion industry I have managed to source great suppliers in Melbourne, China, India, Korea and Bali to bring my ideas to life. What fun it has been pulling the ranges together, travelling to Hong Kong, Bali and my favourite Melbourne extensively to work with my extended family. Everyone that I work with has such integrity, passion and most importantly a great sense of humour!

The range has had the most amazing response – I have been blown away with the incredible support and love for the brand so quickly. I think because there is so much fun, passion and true understanding of what women of all ages want to wear behind it – it has such broad appeal – girls from 15 to 65 are loving it. How rewarding as a fashion designer to have this following.

The almost cult following of the scarves has been hilarious, let alone the obsession with the leather ruffle vest. I love it.

To create a buzz again, when life can sometimes be so hard is a wonderful thing.

What I am most passionate about in this business is inspiring others to also follow their bliss and already have achieved this with my beautiful friend Simi Maddock in Melbourne who I have known for 10 years back in my Sportsgirl days, and is now designing the most stunning jewellery which you can see on the site and is available in all stores.

Rhi Clohesy was a customer who came in one Sunday to the King William Road store with a girlfriend. In talking her friend mentioned to me that Rhi is a great artist and within days I had viewed Rhi’s incredible artwork and put it immediately into the store. My passion for her work, gave Rhi the confidence to put herself out there, start a website – and off she goes. How great is that!

Now on the eve of opening our 3rd store but our first Melbourne one in Albert Park, my old stomping ground is seriously a dream come true for me. I have so many angels around me, all working so hard, keeping me up right! The girls in the Little Fuchsia family I will introduce to you every week. I could not do what I am doing without them.

I want to say a big thanks to Freyr, Lu and Alexis from Tiddles and Chich for agreeing to go halves in the Melbourne store. These girls are crazy, fun, hard working and do a fantastic product for kids – , check it out or come to our store – 65 Cardigan Place, Albert Park

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See you soon, stay tuned!
XX Rob