Mulberry - oh how we love thee

God how we love this brand! Mulberry has hit the press in the last week with story after story, detailing just how good this company does. They’ve just bagged Guillion, Herme’s chief executive. They’ve created the Alexa bag which over the last year has propelled Mulberry’s sales up 62%. Growth in the first half of September was the same as in the entire year to March 2010. Internationally, sales more than doubled (driven by demand from Asia) and profits in the first half rose 231 per cent (£15.6 million, up from £4.7 million in Q1+Q2 2010). Despite the fact that most people are feeling (and being) very gloomy about the market, Mulberry is see quite the opposite, especially in China and Brazil (where the European debt crisis hasn’t affected Mulberry’s sales). And they've just recievd a £2.5 million grant from the government to help them fund a new factory in Somerset which will create 300 new jobs!

Founded: 1971
Who: A British company who’s backbone is an extensive line of luxury fashion bags. In addition to leather goods, Mulberry’s range includes womenswear, accessories and footwear.
Where: originally from rural Somerset England
Creative Director: The infamous Emma Hill who joined in 2008
Mulberry’s orginal products: chockers and belts (the bags of the 1970s and 80s), quilted fishing bags, poacher bags and jackets inspired by country pursuits
The Bayswater: the start of the 21st century saw the birth of this style icon
Handbags and Accessories: Make up 77% of Mulberry’s sales
Ready-to-wear clothing: category’s sales are growing the fastest (and we understand why, we love those mulberry scarves)
Factory: Has defeated the laws of globalisation. Their manufacturing is based in The Rookery in Somerset (it’s one of the last of its kind in the UK). Everyone is a local craftsman and in 2006 they launched a training scheme for eight young apprentices to qualify in leather goods manufacturing every year. Mulbs has just received a government grant of £2.5million to open a new factory in the same area, creating 300 jobs!
Total UK stores: 44 (26 department shop-in-shop and 18 individual stores)
Total International stores: 48 (18 department shop-in-shop and 30 individual stores)

The Hunter Welly Boot

The consortium that manages the Hunter Boot has sold a majority stake to American private equity firm Searchlight Capital Partners, taking funding state side to help its push into the lucrative Chinese market. The simple welly has morphed from a farmers commodity foot wear into a cool luxury boot at £75-£225 a pair. As a brand the Hunter boot is British, premium and should, theoretically, be hotly desired by Chinese consumers

Whether you’re planning on doing a big muddy walk on boxing day, or have perhaps asked for a pair of these bad boys for Christmas, or simply have some stored away for the summer festivals these simple Wellington boots have turned themselves into one of the decades ‘must have’ pieces of footwear.

Founded over 50 years ago the Hunter wellington boot was a countryside staple. By the 1980s they started to grow in popularity as Lady Diana Spencer was regularly seen sporting a pair and for the sloaney wealthy upper-middle class country crowd the Hunter (along with the Barber) morphed into much more of a style item and status symbol than a green rubber boot. But it was in 2005 that the boot entered into a stage of its own when Kate Moss was seen wearing a pair at Glastonbury. Almost immediately the boot turned into a festival go-ers ‘must have’. The company expanded its product range to provide an array of stylish, wacky and cool boots penetrating this niche. But its success did not stop there, the wellington boot, now stamped with Moss’ approval, was strongly desired by the fashion world and soon wellington designed boots for the fashionista’s city life were being produced (we loved the patent black ones!)

In December 2010, Hunter reported a profit of £16 million on sales of £56 million (a 28% profit margin) in more than 20 countries. In order to move into Asia the British company (who have seen radical growth) now need to expand their knowledge pool which is where Searchlight (along with their funding) will come into play

What the world's biggest sites looked like at launch

We've been playing around with Facebook's timeline and looking at photos from five six years ago, oh how young we looked. In keeping with this spirit, Mashable have recently posted what the world's largest sites looked like at launch. http://mashable.com/2011/12/11/old-web-design/

We think its pretty cool, if not.... retro

Yahoo; founded 1995

Amazon; founded 1995

New York Times; founded 1996

Google; founded 1998

Myspace; founded 2003

Facebook; founded 2004

Youtube; founded 2005

Twitter; founded 2006

The Faberge Egg nests itself in London

Tiny, gorgeous and intricate. The Faberge egg is a coveted item, and its history dates back to Russia 1842 . So, we’re so excited to hear that the Faberge brand is opening a new store in London. It is the first time in nearly a century that Faberge has had a store in London. Due to the repatriation of Russian goods at the beginning of World War I, the last Faberge store in London closed in 1915. Its first store had opened in 1906 on Dover Street (in London’s Mayfair), moving to 173 Bond Street in 1910.

New ownership of Faberge has meant the company has begun to expand internationally again after nearly a hundred years of solitude

Facts about Faberge

Founded: 1842 by Gustav Faberge, who moved from France to Russia in the 1830s to train as a Goldsmith

Famous for: Imperial Faberge Eggs, the Rothschild egg recently sold at auction by Chrisities for $19.5 million!

Russian Revolution: put a stop to the House of Faberge in 1917. The company was nationalised and all production closed down. By the time of the Revolution Faberge had produced more than 155,000 items spanning jewellery, objects, tableware and accessories

Purchased in 2007: by Pallinghurst Resources (a London based private equity group), from… Unilever

The Faberge Family: In the 1950s the family was stripped of the rights to use the Faberge name as a US company forced the Faberge’s to relinquish them for a mere $25,000. Pallinghurst has reunited the brand with the family who now sit on the Faberge Heritage Council to guide the trademark to its original values, philosophy and spirit.

Bobbi Brown - beauty isn't about looking perfect

According to Bobbi Brown beauty is “a strong brow, bedroom eyes, a bump on the nose – these are the features that inspire… beauty isn’t about looking perfect”. We love this outlook!

Bobbi’s view, at the time of launching the renowned Bobbi Brown range was unconventional and went against every rule in the cosmetic industry’s book. But this outlook paid off and the understanding that “makeup is a way for a woman to look and feel like herself, only prettier and more confident” is central to the brand.

Bobbi Brown, an American by birth, was a graduate in theatrical make-up. Starting in NYC as a typical make-up artist she built up a credible portfolio earning her gigs with top magazines, photographers, and models.

Ten years into her career Bobbi was frustrated that it was so hard to find and use cosmetics that created a natural look. It was by chance that she met a chemist on a shoot who changed everything. Giving the chemist a set of unprecedented lipstick specifications (no smell, not dry and not greasy that looked like lips, but better), Bobbi was presented with a pink/brown-based smooth lipstick, and it was from there that the birth of her natural lipstick range began. In 1991, Bobbi with $10,000 to back her business debuted the lipsticks and expecting to sell 100 in a month, sold 100 in the first day. The range expanded quickly as magazine editors got behind Bobbi and her small brand. Soon Bobbi launched foundations that were yellow-based, not pink - a first in the industry. By 1995, only four years after Bobbi started the company, Estee Lauder bought the firm. She’s had two major offers already, but Estee Lauder offered her the chance to retain creative control and so, to this day she still does.

Sales at Estee Lauder were initially flat so Bobbi addressed this by taking the brand out of the standard shop and office building and into a cool downtown New York loft putting her head of marketing as president under the instructions to completely change and open out the culture. Products became fun and fresh and her adverts more magazine like - Bobbi was one of the first companies to do smashed and smeared lipstick shots and to regularly use black or Asian models. Numbers improved and by 2006 hit half a billion. Bobbi continues to expand her range and still retains absolute control over the company. Still based in a loft, she sits on the same floor as her team to work

E-commerce... State Side

Excuse us? $6 billion? For the second consecutive week, online sales in the US hit $5.9 billion with seasonal growth rates at 15% according to comscore. So while the highstreet is quiet, online is clearly thriving. Since Comscore started recording US e-commerce in 2001, seven individual shopping days have surpassed the $1 billion mark, six of these days occured this year.

The Fair Isle Knit

It’s about this time of year that the thick woolly jumpers come out to cosy up in. The fair isle knit – everyone’s favourite Christmas woolly – named after a tiny island in the north of Scotland, is one we seriously feel deserves some rightful recognition and what better way to do so than through the popular company Jack Wills who stock some epic xmas knits

Jack Wills

Also known as the sloane’s wardrobe haven, Jack Wills (and its older brother Aubin & Wills) stock plenty of fair isle knit jumpers at this time of year. It was founded in 1999 in Salcombe, Devon producing British heritage-inspired goods aimed at the university crowd – so lots of hoodies and trackies. It was started by Peter William and Robert Shaw who concocted the idea of an ultimate clean – living, attractively bookish yet sporty brand with flirtation at its core. Having expanded overseas to the US and with 30 stores plus in the UK, 2007 witnessed a stake of the company be sold to a private equity firm , 2009 saw it double its profits to £42m and its product range has now expanded to include homeware and makeup! Our favourite knit of the moment? We lurve the Frensham Jumper… and the Dunsford… and those cute red and white knitted scarf and gloves…oh and not forgetting the Aldrich, the Elmswell cardi and the Earlswood….

Facts about the Fair Isle knit:

Traditional knitting technique used to make patterns with multiple colours

Comes all the way from a teeny island in Scotland (one of remotest off shore island communities in the UK, there are only 70 or so islanders!)

It was made popular in 1921 when the then Prince of Wales wore fair isle tank top in public

Tea, Cake and Snow

This weekend if you're hitting the Christmas shopping, on a romantic date or just out and about enjoying the attractions (you'll find us in Hyde Park's winter wonderland), then why not also grab a warm cup of tea and a tasty slice of stolen (or a mince pie too) in a cosy bolt hole?

We're definitely going to do that, and if we were up in the North of England we'd head straight to Betty's.With grand chocolate tortes, petit fours, chocolate panforte, spiced panetone, advent cakes, chocolate orange biscuits and more to catch your eye, package up to take home or just devour, Betty's is the ultimate winter tea house. Being one of the most famous tea shops in a country famous for its high tea, the first shop was opened in 1919 by a Swiss orphan, Frederick Belmont. He'd arrived in London and asked to go to a town that sounded like "Bratwurst" , he luckily ended up in Bradford and it was there that the idea of Betty's was created. Belmont served up mouth-watering Swiss confectionary within a warm Yorkshire atmosphere which has remained central to the company since. Betty's is famous for its tea, which should come as no surprise as the company purchased the tea blenders Taylors of Harrogate in 1962, which soon became one of the UK's most popular tea companies by selling the hotly demanded Yorkshire Tea. Now Betty's has 6 cafes, a bakery school and revenues of £88.7 million (2010).

One enchanting thing is that to this day the identity of Betty remains a family mystery.

Spotify

Have you got the Holiday playlists up?

Spotify is adjusting itself to become more than just a music service, but become a music platform by offering apps that are imbedded into it, such as the Rolling Stone music magazine, Tunewiki, Song Kick and the internet radio last f.m. Great news for die hard music lovers.

This comes after the recent and, arguably successful, Spotify and Facebook partnership. The reason why Spotify integrated into the social networking site, they say is very clear. Tying up with social networks and devices so that listener can share their music is the only way to stop piracy and save the music industry. UK music was down 11.4% in October this year compared to the same time last year.

Our holiday mix tape:

Such a Night Elvis Presley

Winter Winds Mumford & Sons

Happy Holiday Bing Crosby

Homeward Bound Simon & Garfunkle

Goin’ Home Dan Auerbach

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas The Carpenters

Pata Pata Miriam Makeba

Home for the holidays Perry Como

Lifestyle

At this point in the year girls, it’s the perfect time to make the house festive, dress up and add a bit of sparkle and glitz to our lives. Queen of how to achieve this comes from none other than Lauren Conrad, star of hit tv series The Hills (remember Spedi?). Lauren Conrad’s new website thebeautydepartment.com is to die for and her other site laurenconrad.com not only features her own fashion range but also offers stylish tips on decorating, dining and etiquette.

Following her time on The Hills, LC founded the lifestyle company, Lauren Conrad Inc., and while doing so kept a column of her entrepreneurial experiences for Forbes.com. Openly admitting that she’s made mistakes along the way by having “taken chances, broken rules and cut corners” she has also learnt from these slipups. Her key advice is to “do something you love, surround yourself with people you trust, learn from your mistakes, work hard and don’t let other people’s opinions of you become your limitations’ .

A beautydepartment.com style tip: Bejewel yourself

1. Create an off-centre part and braid one side back… loose waves with hoop earrings create a modern boho vibe
2. Braid your hair back off your face and add a pair of small studs or stone earrings (they can become overwhelmed by too much hair, so best keep it simple). Wear a lipstick that will make the colour of the stone pop.

Our fav LC recipe: Pilgrim Punch

1. Combine 250 ml apple juice with 250ml of sugar-free cranberry juice
2. Pour in 65 ml of your favourite vodka with 185ml of ginger ale and stir
3. Serve chilled and garnish with a sprig of rosemary.
4. Enjoy! x

http://www.thebeautydepartment.com/

http://www.laurenconrad.com/

Ebay Pop-up

Ebay has announced that it plans to create a physical pop up store in London's west end. Experimental in nature, there wil be no tills. Shoppers will use their Smartphone’s to scan a code which directs the phone to the online ebay payment section, driving traffic to the website. The store is set to open for five days from the 1st of December stocking the website's 200 best shops. According to the guardian Ebay are taking advantage of the growing popularity of smartphones. They estimate that around 25% of adults and 47% of teenagers use their smartphones to sense test prices and stockists while shopping.

Breakfast skippers wear bigger knickers

We think nothing can beat a good warm healthy breakfast with a steamy cup of coffee on a dark winters morning! That’s why we HAD to introduce Moma!

If you’re like us, mornings are a hazy uncomfortable blur. Up-showered-dressed and out in fifteen minutes, maybe grabbing a Pret croissant on the way in. But the crew at MOMA is on “a mission to revolutionise breakfast on the go”. The team of 30 offer oat based breakfasts for city workers on the run (neat!). Jumbo Oats are at the core of their products as they’re rich in fibre, low in GI and release energy slowly, plus, turned into a yoghurt, porridge or smoothie they taste great! They’re served up by the Moma girls; “sparky young fireworks” who understand that getting from “bed-head to business-brain can be a challenge” at that hour. With big smiles, they can be found at stalls around the centre of London selling breakfast to busy commuters.

Moma was started by Tom Mercer, a young management consultant at Bain & Co. Seeing that management consultancy wasn’t going to be a lifelong career choice and knowing he always wanted to run his own business Tom pounced on the idea to create a city-workers go-to breakfast stall. He tested his idea at Waterloo station using 200 emptied Tesco water bottles having (devotedly) stuck on new labels. With market research in motion Tom left Bain and spent months developing the idea. In their first year they turned over £250,000. By summer 2008 he had 9 stalls, a “beefed” up management team and by 2009 Tom secured contracts with Waitrose, Ocado and Virgin Atlantic flights. At the end of the year he re-branded to help his products better stand out and communicate his mission. Since launching the funky new Moma brand in 2010, the company have seen sales increase by over 100%!

So, fear not, next time you find yourself cold, miserable and half asleep at the station wanting someone to hold you and tell you everything is going to be alright, Moma stalls are at hand to help you get up and go. http://www.momafoods.co.uk/about/video

Britain's favorite nosh

As the days get shorter, the autumn leaves fall, the Xmas party hangovers kick in and snuggling under the sofa with a bottle of wine + epic film becomes more appealing, we thought we’d share Britain’s favourite foods. After all its winter and there is nothing better than some hearty comfort food to keep those winter chills at bay.

Here’s what the Britt’s favorite homely brands were in 2010 (according to nielson)

10. Robinson Fruit Shoot, 2010 revenues £314.8m

9. Andrex, 2010 revenues £353.7m

8 Lucozade, 2010 revenues £370.1m

7. Nescafe gold, 2010 revenues £384.9m

6. Kingsmill, 2010 revenues £389.9m

5 Cadbury Dairy Milk, 2010 revenues £418.3m

4 Hovis, 2010 revenues £426.1m

3 Walkers, 2010 revenues £590.9m

2 Warburtons, 2010 revenues £752.4m

1. Coca cola, 2010 revenues £1.09bn

Holidays are coming.

Have you seen the Coca Cola advert yet? We have! So, technically can we say Xmas has started, even if it is still November?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX7YJ56K-NI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Coca Cola’s Christmas adverts are legendry and their impact has actually shaped much of our perception of what Christmas should ‘look like’. Father Christmas we know traditionally as being big fat and with a red suit, but it was Coca Cola who spread that image of him. Coca Cola started their Christmas advertising in the 1920s and before the red Santa, who was produced in 1931, Santa ranged from big, small, skinny fat – even elf like at times!

Coca Cola sales rose to almost £1.1bn in the UK last year, and is not only the Brits’ most loved brand (according to Nielson), it is the number one brand worldwide (according to Interbrand). It was first produced by a Mr John Pemberton in Jacob’s Pharmacy, Atlanta in 1886. It sold for a mere 5 cents a glass! In 1988 John Pemberton died never realising the full potential of his drink. It was an Atlanta businessman, Asa Griggs Candler, who bought the rights to the business for $2300 and by 1895 was distributing it nationwide with syrup plants in Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles. Coca Cola could only be served from soda fountains and despite the fountains’ success, two lawyers, Benjamin F Thomas and Joseph B Whitehead, secured exclusive rights off Candler to bottle the beverage. In 1912 Coca Cola opened its first bottling plant in Asia, in 1919 it expanded to Europe. The contour bottle was created in 1916 as a way to authenticate and distinguish itself from competitors, and it remains its signature bottle today. The six pack arrived in 1923 and over the next 70 years the company expanded its portfolio (Fanta in the 50’s, Sprite in 1961 and more recently Minute Maid) to 500 brands and 3,000 beverages!

This one's for the boys...

Thinking about plans for the weekend? What better a way to see London town's christmas lights than on the back of a bright red Vespa. We're thinking pair of aviators, leather jacket and chunky wall knit scarf plus a hot totty to go. Zip around London’s coolest sites, stop for a spot of shopping at Selfridges, grab some brunch in Exmouth market or take a ride out to a country pub for a hearty Sunday roast. We love the Vespa!

In 1943 Enrico Piaggio had the phenomenal idea of building a product which could provide a mass low cost transport solution to Rome’s busy streets. After two years of building, testing and branding the Vespa was born. Unlike motorbikes the Vespa was unique in design and style with an engine placed on the rear wheel, a totally original concept. The first 50 were built in a small factory in Pontedera, April 1946 and shortly afterwards, Enrico presented the iconic scooter for the first time to the general public in a Roman Golf Club. The Vespa was an immediate success, gaining intense media interest and sparking public curiosity.

As a timeless and iconic classic the Vespa denotes the image of young couples zipping through cosmopolitan streets, but things haven’t always been so picture pefect for the company. During the 1990s the company went through several management changes, had pushed through more cash than they could afford on different plans and products, and still retained its original outdated factory in Pontedera. Faced with mounting costs, disgruntled staff, burdened with debt and a string of failed joint ventures, the firm, by 2003, was close to bankruptcy.

But then came along Roberto Colannino. “Roberto who?” we hear you ask. Roberto Coliannino, an Italian business man, saw that the strength of the Vespa brand was still strong and could be played upon. He consequently invested 100 million Euros for a controlling stake of the company. Under his direction tthe factory was quickly updated and modelled on the slick Japanese assembly lines. All bonuses for blue collar workers and management were based upon the same criteria. Air conditioning was installed throughout the firm. Not a single worker was or would be fired and he gave the company’s de-motivated engineers (they’d been sitting twiddling their thumbs with nothing to do due to bad the balance sheet in recent years) sharp deadlines. Roberto breathed life back into the fading Italian company.

The company having returned to growth have now strategically entered Asia in the hope of offsetting sluggish growth in the European markets. Despite high barriers to entry (China’s motorcycle industry for example is heavily dominated by global incumbents and accounts for more than 40% of motorcycles and scooters sold worldwide [WSJ]), Vespa has seen sales rise in the region. In order to appeal to the different regions in Asia Vespa has been adapting its model. In 2010 the scooter was redesigned in India for Indian women who typically ride side saddle to accommodate their floor length saries. We think that’s Neat!

The very first Vespa... 1946

- Engine: single cylinder two stroke. Horizontal cylinder head with cast iron bearing alloy

- Bore: 50mm

- Stroke: 50m

- Capacity: 98cc

- Maximum speed: 60 km / h

- Suspension: spring, spring steel spiral for the front wheel with rubber pads for the rear wheel and Engine

- Brakes: Drum

- Tyres: 3.50-8''

Chocolate

Who doesn't love good chocolate?...

Rocco Chocolates: Founded in 1983 by Chantal Coady, a graduate in textile design with an MSc in Small Business. Driven by a passion for chocolate she opened a small shop on Chelsea's Kings Road crafting handmade chocolates beautifully packaged. 26 years on from opening her doors Chantal has embarked on a joint venture with the Grenada Chocolate Co. (purchasing a small cocoa farm in 2007), set up the Chocolate Soicety, campaigned for change among Britain's big industrial manufacturers, has three stores, written 3 books and distributes her chocolate in John Lewis and Waitrose. Rocco and the Grenada Chocolate Co. have been breaking the mould on Fairtrade chocolate; the GCC is a small co-operative with over 150 acres of land and perform every aspect of the chocolate making process. According to Coady, Fairtrade companies still process the product "in the first world with raw material that they import from the equatorial belt where Cocoa grows. In that way even the fairtrade system perpetuates a cycle" that the Grenada Chocolate Co. try to avoid by making sure everyone on the Cocoa farm and in GCC is involved in the whole process. Cocoa is grown totally organically and processed on machines from the 1990's which, believe it or not, are solar powered (!).

Our favourite chocolates? It has to be the Rocco Drinking Chocolate, to die for.

A strategic re-think; Mydeco.com

Mydeco has announced a strategic re-think so that it will now be possible to buy products directly from the site. Until now Mydeco has acted more like a search engine for interiors, helping customers search for products from more than 1,500 furniture retailers. Because the business model ensures that the final transaction is completed on another site, Mydeco only receive a small fee in return and, “unable to exploit this marketing potential”, need to pay for its own advertising and search engine optimisation according to The Times. It’s essentially a search engine in a search engine and profit margins have been slim. With a £2million investment from eVenture Capital Partners, the firm will feature more than 7,000 products to buy from around 40 retailers and 50 designers in a similar vein to notonthehighstreet.com. However partners include fashionable interior firms such as Sleep Room, Bodie& Fou, and India Jane.

Founder: Brent Hoberman (founder of lastminute.com)
Founded: 2007
Investor backing: £10 million since 2007
Based: Notting Hill, London
Cool thing about mydeco: They have a 3D ‘build you own room’ app on their site, so you can see what a product looks like in your ‘virtual’ room