I haven't been blogging it up lately, and a lot has changed. I am now in the US focusing on sales. I finished working on my samples in Peru in December and came back to do my first trade show in Chicago. It was an amazing experience. I tried to do research so I could know what to expect, but I guess it is something you have to experience. I was lucky enough to have my sister, Amanda, and our friend, Katherine come along to help out. I was very excited to be in Chicago for the first time, but really had only a few hours to explore in my whole week there thanks to a missed flight. I had amazing booth neighbors who all got excited for each other's sales and shared their experiences in the biz. I don't know if that is common, but it certainly made the experience much more pleasant. There were some stressful moments, especially when a critical package got caught up in customs and did not make it for the majority of the show. It had some beautiful samples and the gigantic posters for my booth, but luckily I was with some creative ladies and we were able to make the booth look pretty warm and welcoming.
After a successful show, Emilime will now be in the Denver Merchandise Mart show from Feb. 5th through 8th. I actually designed a really amazing Spring collection, but it is pretty small, so I decided to focus on my fall/winter collection more. I am going to present the spring collection to a select group to see how people like it and do a small batch production of pima cotton scarves, boleros, hats, and arm warmers. I will also be selling some pieces on the website.
Here is a little taste.....
