Oliver + S Wholesale Customer Newsletter
April, 2009, Vol. 9
Is it April already? March flew by at the studio withthe release of our Spring 2009 patterns and with early-stage design work for our next season of patterns due out this August. We’re keeping next Fall’s styles under wraps for the moment, but the new Spring patterns are as public as public can be by now. We’ve been shipping orders around the globe, and we’re starting to see the results of your customers’ sewing show up on their blogs and in our Flickr group.
We’ll highlight a few of their creations at the end of this newsletter, but first we want to share some other information with you.
Cheers,
Liesl
The Different Faces of Spring
During the last month as we’ve shipped outyourorders, we’ve also been having fun with the new patterns ourselves. On the Oliver + S blog we’re showcasing the great things you can do with the new Birthday Party Dress and the Sailboat Top, Skirt, and Pants patterns. We became intrigued with the notion that these two styles can express different personalities based on the fabrics selected, and we’ve highlighted those differences in a number of posts.
The Birthday Party Dress can be made to look charming and sweet for parties or play, formal enough for a role in a wedding, or even urban and edgy depending on the fabrics and finishes chosen.
The Sailboat top is an instant classic when done in conservative stripes but becomes a bit more sophisticated when sewn with an awning-stripe print. The fabric choice for the coordinating pants or skirt presents another set of opportunities for expression. The possibilities are endless. (Mattress ticking or felt buttons, anyone?)
Our patterns give you a great opportunity to discuss fabric and notion selection with your customers. And why not, when a customer has selected a pattern, suggest that she buy fabric to make a couple of garments from the same pattern? Educating her on the different personalities each pattern can express leads to increased fabric sales for you.
Quilt Market Preview
We’re deep into preparations for this season’s Quilt Market in Pittsburgh, and we’re hoping to see you there. Thanks to support from Brewer, we’ll be doing two School House presentations on Thursday, May 14.
- Capturing New Customers with Oliver + S: How you can use this fresh line of children’s clothing patterns to capture a new generation of customers—and keep them for a lifetime.
- Little Oliver + S Projects Lead to Big Sales: Small garment projects yield stunning results. See how this pattern line can easily work with a traditional quilting assortment for maximum profits.
More details, and an email invitation, will follow. Oliver + S will also be camping out in booth 2442 during the show, where we’ll have some surprises in store for you. Please stop by to say hello. We would love to chat with you!
Oliver + S in Sew Hip
Have you seen the new British magazine Sew Hip yet? Published since October 2008, it’s rapidly becoming a favorite among the younger generation of sewing enthusiasts.
The March issue of Sew Hip featured a long interview with Liesl about her background and design philosophy.
The May issue (on sale now) includes a simple Oliver + S popover sundress pattern designed especially for the magazine. Later this year, Sew Hip will be paying a visit to our Brooklyn studio to give its readers a peek behind the scenes at the Oliver + S home office.
Subscriptions to Sew Hip are available through its website. Individual copies are available at better newsstands and booksellers worldwide.
Spring/Summer Trunk Show Available
We’ve developed a new trunk show featuring our two Spring 2009 styles, and we still have dates available in the calendar for June, July, and August. (We’ve posted images of the garments in the show on the blog.)
Contact us at information@oliverands.com for information about scheduling the show for your shop.
Use the Free Lazy Days Skirt Pattern to Drive Fabric Sales
Little did we suspect, when we created our free, downloadable Lazy Days Skirt Pattern that it would have the lifespan that it has. After tens of thousands of downloads from our website, we’re still getting emails from customers, seeing photos of new skirts show up in the Flickr group, and hearing from retailers about interesting ways they are using it to drive sales in their shops.
Just this month, we received this note from Johanna Hertz , who owns Cloth & Bobbin in Narberth, PA. “I used your idea of the giveaway pattern for the Lazy Day Skirt, and it has worked really well. I made a skirt and printed some copies of the pattern with a big sign saying, ‘Free Pattern with Purchase of Fabric.’ Even reluctant sewers thought they might be able to handle the skirt, with coaxing by me of course.”
Have you considered doing the same? With warmer weather approaching, this free pattern is a great way to introduce your quilting customers to garment sewing. They do have a daughter, granddaughter, niece, grand-niece, or even a friend with a child for whom they could sew a skirt, don’t they? The simplicity and ease of the project will convince even the most timid of seamstresses that they can, indeed, sew a garment.
Blogroll
Every month we enjoy doing some Internet surfing to find great Oliver + S garments to highlight. Here’s this month’s selection.
- Leisure sewing feels good, and it looks good too. Check out the wonderful fabric combination on this Tea Party Playsuit.
- A sophisticated fabric selection and color combination give the Birthday Party Dress an understated, but chic, look. (And see how nicely it layers with a turtleneck for cooler weather.)
- We love big polka dots—especially white on blue with a big red bow. And matching red sandals would be just perfect for this summer.
- We’ve been seeing birds, birds, and more birds lately. And now we know why. Some small people think this dress is called the “Bird Day Party Dress”!
For More Information
Email: information@oliverands.com
Website: www.oliverands.com
Phone: (866) 231-9639