A collection to keep your purchasing costs under control

We are now involved with 3 collections, each of which are full year productions. That is, they do a single production run each year rather than 2 seasonal ones.

The reasoning behind such an idea is that most of the mother of the bride & groom outfits are sold in the early part of the year leading up to a significant slow-down in the latter half. Purchasing a 2nd collection for the autumn and early winter is over the top, especially as styles don't change much anyway but perhaps some darker colours may be introduced.

Each of the collections we now do are available in different colour options which can be used for later purchases therefore giving you fresh looks for the autumn.

The most significant advantage of a full year collection is that shops don't have to buy a large stock. They work on the same basis as a bridal shop does selling the wedding dresses. A decent selection of styles in a variety of mixed sizes across the styles chosen make it an easy job to work from and take ongoing repeat orders.

Doing it that way means you buy little stock, get left with very little and don't have to go into sale with the ones left as they are still in production for up to a couple or 3 years afterwards anyway.

There isn't a collection anywhere that gives you a sale or return offer but this is as close as you can get.

The Franc Sarabia styles have done particularly well this year. There have been numerous repeat orders from shops who bought only small orders; which sort of proves my point.

The F3554 shown below has been an outright winner but several other styles have all sold well. The latest order for the F3554 is in red rather than the blush pink, so that again shows the flexibility of the styles.

 

Although the 2017 collection pictures are with me, I am still getting lots of interest (and sales) for the 2016 styles from shops who are just taking the range for the 1st time. 2017 styles will be bought as and when I get the samples to show. Some pictures below though.

  

The 2017 Madison collection is absolutely exquisite. This is the 1st year we have worked with them from a brief introduction last year. The styles are so lovely. They do a full range of lovely top design dresses, suits for mother of the bride and special occasion as well as long styles some with jackets.

The pictures at the top of the post are a selection and the ones below are others we particularly like too.

  

Antonio D'Errico has the largest collection I have ever come across. There are as many as 140 styles, each of which can be made in up to 20 different colours. The outfits are sold separately as a dress and jacket/coat/bolero meaning you can mix and match from different styles and order in most any colour and material you prefer.

This is a true couture collection and has many styles within it from top quality mother of the bride and special occasion styles through dresses, evening-wear and now onto wedding gowns.

I now wish to raise an important warning to ladies who buy online from an unverified source.

We all know of the Chinese rip-off society. We all know that purchasing from one of the many companies who show you actual official designer pictures is a bit of a gamble, but hey; the prices are far better aren't they?

One of our customers (Norma & June Fashions) sold a Franc Sarabia outfit to a lady in Massachusetts recently. The lady took delivery and emailed back how much she loved it and top use her as a reference to others who wish to purchase from the USA.

Then 3 days later June had another email headed "Fake suit".

Of course such a heading gave immediate concern as she knows full well the outfit sent was the real deal.

On opening the email it was immediately apparent that the customer had also ordered another Franc Sarabia style from E-Bay sometime previously but as it was late coming and with only 2 weeks before the wedding had also placed the order for the Tirano from the current collection.

Now, the order she placed on E-bay arrived afterwards and it was the next best thing to a bin liner.

Chinese copies aren't even copies. It's a mish mash of cheap material, badly put together and looks nothing at all like the genuine article.

The first picure is the style the lady thought she was buying and is the very picture shown on E-bay. The second picture is what she got and finally the outfit she bought from June is shown.

So this is what she saw on E-bay and bought.

 And this is what she got:

And this is the Tirano she bought from Norma & June's

Franc Sarabia steals the show

Well ladies, Xmas is knocking on the door and shops are more or less finished their buying for next spring and summer. If you're a shop owner yourself, you'll know that the last season has been tough going.

Most shops are wary of new labels they have no experience of so are often reluctant to take them on. Franc Sarabia has met with the same sort of reaction.

The number of enquiries we get for this label are exceptional.  Ladies from all parts of the UK and Ireland are asking us about stockists. We have taken to sending out sample styles from our own stock so that they can look at them personally and in every case it's resulted in a sale.

At present, due to very few retailers throughout the rest of the UK we have passed these sales to Norma & June Fashions but want to spread the collection to other shops.

The styles most commonly asked for, and bought sometimes from the pictures only, are below.

1st style F3554 is the best seller so far

2nd is the F3556 which is a winner for ladies wanting something light to wear overseas in hot climates.

Then we come onto the coat and dress combinations. This one is absolutely knockout. The detail on the dress is beyond comparison. This is called Tirano.

And finally for the best sellers the Trajano is in winning spot for coat and dress combinations. The lovely detailing on the dress is a real eye opener.

There are enquiries for other styles though showing the popularity of the collection overall.

The first two styles shown are amazing choices for wearing to events such as a wedding in Cyprus or other hot places. In fact the last one sold was for a lady going to her daughters wedding in Thailand, She bought the green on, style F3556.                              
We thank Jenny at Jenny's Boutique for her recent order, the first Irish retailer for the collection. She has chosen some of these and we look forward to a fruitful relationship.

We hope you like like the styles shown but point you to our website where the full collection is shown, including their amazing evening wear collection and wedding gowns. Just visit www.northern-fashion-agency.co.uk

You may also like the look of the Antonio D'Errico that Jenny is also considering. Just give her a call if you are in Ireland and she can advise better.
Examples:

Ladies, if you're looking for that exclusive style for your own special occasion then believe me you will find it among these two collections. A mother of the bride outfit from either of these two labels will be as exclusive as you'll get with true Haute Couture written all over them. 2016 is fast approaching so if you're becoming anxious on what to choose for your own daughter or son's look no further 

Wedding gowns of distinction

After a reasonable start with the Franc Sarabia 2016 mother of the bride and evening-wear styles we have also been awarded agency rights for their amazing wedding gowns.

While this is a new direction for us, we have already seen the wedding gowns at London Battersea White Gallery exhibition in May this year.

We attended the exhibition to assist on the stand and were knocked out at the quality and styling of them.

As with most other collections, the gowns are made to your personal preferences such as the addition or removal of items, length preferences etc. 

The initial order for the collection is for 5 pieces then single piece repeats from that time on during the current season. After that it reduces to a minimum of 3 pieces.

The prices are much the same as lesser collections but do reflect the workmanship and styling of the individual gown. Anyone needing prices are advised to contact me directly.

The company continues with production to order for styles from previous years as there are always some favourites that are worth repeating.

The full collection is available to see on our own website or at that of Franc Sarabia itself

Apart from the styles from Franc Sarabia we also have the new styles from Antonio D'Errico. This is a new introduction to Antonio and the styles we have seen are very good. Once more, if you are interested just let us know.

A case of inward contemplation

Isn't life funny?
I mean, there are times when you have to scratch your head and ponder on things to make sense of something and still reach no sensible answer.
Well we did a lot of head scratching ourselves over the MODA exhibition last weekend.

Antonio D'Errico had a large stand. He had a selection of his 2016 styles displayed and very few people actually visited the stand. That in itself was damned alarming as it's at such events that the majority of buying for next season takes place so it's likely not going to be a good year for Antonio over here. The problem was that the whole exhibition was poorly attended possibly with shop-keepers wary of buying much stock for next year due to poor sales this year.

What is more head scratchingly frustrating though is that the buyers who did visit the stand were drawn on by the superb styling, the imaginative colours (and collars) of the collection and the vast number of styles you can mix and match between. They admired the artisan attention to detail and the superb quality of the styles then looked at the price ticket and groaned.

This collection is more expensive than most. We make no bones about it. It encompasses the use of a lot more material in the production of the styles. For instance, the amount of material in a single coat is enough to make 3 boleros you can find in any other collection. So if, for instance, you compare the price of an outfit from any other quality couture collection you can't be comparing like for like on a cost basis.

The material is made under collaboration with a friend of Antonio who produces especially for him and uses only the finest materials. I am told that some material costs as much as £40 per metre. This is certainly not cheap Chinese imported stuff which may well prove problematic in production and even while wearing later on.

The unique styling of Antonio is paramount in his general public profile. Those shops looking to stock something quite exclusive and of the finest Italian heritage have it in this collection. The associated retail prices of a true couture collection cannot be avoided.

You cannot get a Dior gown at M & S prices, or one from Antonio D'Errico at Primark prices. Simple.

Pricing will possibly remain an issue for some shops. I accept that, however the cost between one of Antonio's styles and one from another quality company is explained by the use of more material for the coats against the boleros. Remember too that it isn't the price of any style that you splash out on. It's only the difference in the prices between any other styles of similar quality and design.

While not everyone will feel the need to splash out on expensive styles, those who do are generally far better placed to re-visit for other items. Where cost is no problem you get a very valuable clientele.

For what it's worth the two styles shown below are going out to Judith of Wanstead today for one of her customers. Price is no object and I am told the same lady customer bought styles worth £5000 yesterday.
Wouldn't we all love a customer like that?

Well done to Judith of Wanstead on her wonderful taste.

Happy and sad at the same time

Following our visit to Milan to Sposa Italia exhibition to choose our sample styles for Antonio D'Errico, they have arrived with us and we are very pleased with our choice.

There's something for everyone in this collection. The use of a lot of softer material opens up the styles to those shops that don't do well with the sheen silk material. They incorporate a fair bit of lace detailing amongh the styles that has done very well this year already so we expect a good take up on these.

I will be posting a full set of photo's shortly and in the meantime I have a pdf of pictures with colour charts for the collection already for those who want me to send it on to them.

Now, You may have seen the link to our Moncho Heredia collection on the website previously.
We were anticipating this to be w winner among the less expensive collections but we were so disappointed with them when they arrived.
We thought long and hard about them and decided that we must stand by our comittment to quality and to send them back.

It's a shame as we were hopeful that they would fill a niche for those shops who want low priced styles but we wouldn't have slept well selling them to honest shop owners.

While in Milan we saw the Silva Ernesti collections and have started a dialogue for taking these instead. These are a decent mid priced range that should have something for those who want to hold prices down while still offering quality and style.

As negotiations conclude I will update the blog and post pictures of 2016 styles for ordering anytime from the date of posting.
Ciao... Oops. Already speaking the language as well.....

Franc Sarabia 2016 collection

Following our appearance at London White Gallery Exhibition I have now got the full set of style pictures for next year. 
I say next year but I believe that orders placed early will be delivered towards the back of September. 
The styles are superb in looks and quality. These aren't cheap fashions, they are top quality, made from exquisite materials and compete with other top couture collections. They would be at home in any shop where quality and style are the keywords. Too many shops are selling the same sort of things from the usual suppliers and end up being caught in a price war. Competition is cruel when you have a shop full of stock all bought on forward order the previous year.

I must remind you that Franc Sarabia, as well as other collections we sell, are available on a low order value initially then just topped up as the season progresses. You keep control of the business finances easier as a result.

Anyway, without further ado here we go with pictures.
If you prefer to see actual pictures rather than the slide show just go to my website at northern-fashion-agency.co.uk

A day at Battersea with Franc Sarabia

As promised I'm updating the news on the Franc Sarabia collection. 
Battersea White Galleries Exhibition is more of a bridal exhibition than anything else. No-one else had a stand that showed any mother of the bride or evening wear styles so the Sarabia stand was unique in that way.
While they also had the most fantastic collection of wedding gowns on show, it was the mother of the bride and evening wear that we are agents for. 
So on attending the stand it was apparent that a good lot of imagination and careful design had been put into their offerings.

The collection is pretty much half and half from long dresses, evening gown styles and the shorter styles more akin to the mother of the bride market.

I hesitate to put some of the pictures I took from their lookbook on this post as I'm terrible at doing photo'[s on a mobile phone and the lighting was poor with shadows, light glare on the pages et al.

However, I think it important to at least give a flavour of the styles showing. Some are better quality photo's than the others as well so you may be able to get a decent idea from them.

My personal favourite is the one below:

The delicate pink, almost a pale coral, is delightful and the dress is overlaid with the most intricate of lace detail. For the lady who doesn't want boobs on show, the bustline to the lower neck is covered by the lace for a modesty covering. This is a really gorgeous style and the most expensive in the collection, I believe anyway. However price apart, any lady looking for class will be sure to drawn to it. This will be a real winner.

Closely following that is this one.

The colours aren't really showing well on these photos and you can see the glare from the overhead lights as well but if you click on the pictures you'll be able to see the fine detailing of the style.

I'll add one word on the lengths though. The model was on the stand at the white gallery and she must be a good 6'3" so the dress length is very much knee or lower on a normal woman.

Next is this style:

For women wanting cover on the arms this is an ideal dress. The same attention to detail is given on the fine lace. Oh, some of the styles are in different colours as well as those shown and you can often take a jacket from one style to put with another to make up an outfit with your own personal touches.

Talking of delicate and different aren't those just lovely too. Once again there's upper bustline cover, long detailed sleeves with a superbly styled bottom to the dress for a different look to the more formal fit.


I'll just add others and leave you to consider each of them for how they look to you.

The next one has a pretty, well..... shite picture as it's taken at an angle and doesn't give a true proportional representation. The colour is out of this world though.

The sweet little bolero type of short jacket goes extremely well with this style. It can also be used to go with other styles such as dresses depicted without a coat or jacket.

Those are just a few styles from the shorter ones but then you have the long evening wear that are equally as well designed and using the same sort of quality materials. I won't bore you with details on them but show just a couple here for you.

I'm going to leave it at that for now but as soon as I get the proper pictures from a disc I'll be back to place them in another gallery.

I hope these have caught your imagination in the meantime and if there's any you need information on such as when they can seen, where they can be bought from (if you happen to be an end customer) please let me know.

Franc Sarabia is going to be BIG here and now is a good time to get aboard this collection before territorial areas are set.

Apart from existing retailers there will be no shop nearer than 20 miles from any other allowed to have the collection as this is a really exclusive collection with a high price point. Even that distance may be greater if the situation demands.