They have frustrated us in many ways from making vain promises to send stock, in allowing us agency rights then actually wanting us to become the UK distributor which is a completely different thing and very expensive for us.
We can't work with that sort of company and without sample styles we had nowhere to go with it.
We send Antonella our best wishes for her lovely creations and if she has some change of heart on future agency requirements we may well pick this up again.
On the subject of lack of sample styles I must also say that lovely as Alejandro de Miguel's styles are, we just can't sell them from a lookbook and material swatches. It's like trying to sell a Lamborghini from a photo and paint chart.
No-one is going to commit to a purchase like that especially since this is a far pricier collection than most here in the UK.
So we have also decided to desist from offering this in the UK. The fact that we haven't actually sold any due to lack of samples to show retailers is a deciding factor.
Franc Sarabia is also close to a similar fate. They won't commit to more than 5 sample styles and a look-book and material swatches. This is a more useful collection for the UK as it embodies all that most special occasion shops would like to stock. They won't commit to any exhibitions here, except for at the White galleries in Battersea where they are showing the wedding gowns and a selection of special occasion styles. The wedding gowns department don't have a UK agent and any chance of making much progress in that particular market in the UK will be extremely difficult due to the large designer list they have to compete with.
Far better to promote the Special Occasion collection which is represented here by ourselves, show at MODA and gain a foothold in a market lacking much in the way of different styling. I think they are going about this the wrong way and I will need to assess the situation after the White Galleries exhibition to see whether or not it will be any use in going forward with it. What frustrates me more than anything though is that they are supposedly showing around 19 styles which are on our portfolio but they are then taking them back to Spain instead of leaving them with us to show retailers. OUCH.... That's a good slap in the face.
Now the good news
We are steadily building the Antonio D'Errico retail list. It has been a slow start as most shops had already fulfilled their buying requirements for the spring and summer before we got the collection. However we are finding that some shops are looking for something different and exciting. They are also looking for a collection where they don't have to commit to a large forward order which is what Antonio D'Errico is all about. Small orders and frequent top ups is the way to manage the budget and stock in shop.
In our contemplations for new areas to work in, we have found a new company to the UK; or at least to the UK mainland. It has already made inroads into Ireland, north and south.
The company has two collections. The first is Moncho Heredia. This is the higher end fashion collection but the prices are still very reasonable and compare favourably to other brands such as the Carla Ruiz.
The 2nd is Casting Collection. Both are made in Spain and the main difference is in the cost due to the higher specification material used in the Moncho Heredia.
While the summer disappoints in the very changeable weather conditions we understand that most shops will be cautious in taking new collections. They will also be wary of the fact the season is reportedly very slow so stand a chance of being left with stock in a larger quantity than usual.
However, we find that most potential shop customers do the rounds. they go from one shop to the next. They spend hours of your time looking at the same styles they had already seen in the last shop, or will see in the next one they go to.
Something new is bound to get a good reception. We have found that the Antonio D'Errico collection is just the job to take sales from "the usual suspects".
The shops who placed early orders have now got experience of the admiration for these beautiful styles.
With Easter very close, I wish all of our visitors to this blog, as well as our customers, a very happy and relaxing (rewarding maybe?) Easter.
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