A big part of our work as designers and producers of linen textiles is travelling around the world showing people our beautiful products. For something that's so important to our brand it's not a part of our work that we often talk about, so this week we thought we'd give you a behind-the-scenes look at life on the Trade Show circuit.
From Paris to Frankfurt via the USA, the last few weeks have been a busy whirl of meetings, shows, catching up with colleagues and other brands, and working on new product ranges. Here's a glimpse of what we did, what we saw and where we ate on our travels.
Travelling to Paris
Our first show this year was Maison & Objet in Paris. This was our 20th time exhibiting here and it's our most important show for our international business. This year the show was very busy and really successful. Over the ten years we've been going to the show we've secured the best position in the halls, and had 25 items displayed in the prestigious Trends section.
I usually rent an apartment through AirBnB. This time I stayed near Pantheon and spent my time after the show working in the stunning Sainte-Geneviève Library nearby. I also discovered a great new place for fantastic food: the Loulou diner. It had such a lovely, friendly ambience and the food was so good that I had dinner there three times!
On to Las Vegas
After Paris I flew on to Las Vegas, where I spent one day at the exhibition, and then did some sightseeing. You can't come this far and not explore a bit! When I travel I like to get a proper sense of where I am, and to try to balance the busyness of the shows with taking in some local sights and culture. On this trip I visited the Grand Canyon West Rim and spent a day in Los Angeles and Santa Monica.
New York, New York
I've brought our linen homewares to the NYNOW show in New York city 20 times now, and have a good feel for the city. Before the show I love to work in the National Library, and then spend a day preparing the displays and marketing materials. My favourite places for breakfast in New York are Le Pain Quotidien and the fabulous Rustic Table which sells healthy, delicious, fresh food and has a lovely inviting interior design.
Finally, Frankfurt
This trade show tour ended in Frankfurt, where we attended the Ambiente Show. This is a relatively new show for us but we managed to get 11 products on the Ambiente Trend Display, which was very exciting (see some of our table linen on the display, below). Hopefully we'll return and make even more great connections and show just how wonderful our linen textiles are.
Now, back to my desk and preparations for launching our new SS19 clothing collection. Check back in soon for more details!
Best,
Inga x