This week at Godiva Boutique!

This week at Godiva Boutique has been a busy one! I feel bad to have neglected my weekly blogging, twitters and shop duties but here is some evidence of what I have been doing instead. It has been 5 years this month since I got the keys for 9 West Port to create the new shop, proud times however the shop has not been painted since! The walls were looking a little tired so I decided this was the week to close for a couple of days and give Godiva a facelift! It has been quite a week and absolutely exhausting! these walls are big! but its done and we are back in business with some lovely shiny and clean shop! Just in time for the month of March which is gonna be a great one!
Here are some quick dates for your diary so far..........

This weekend is the end of the vintage and designer sale!! so get down to the shop before 1st March to get some last minute bargains! We will then be restocking the entire vintage backroom with lots of lovely spring/summer vintage!

Saturday 5th March I will be at Judy’s Affordable Vintage fair at the Drill Hall

Lovers of vintage would be foolish to miss this!!! The best market I have been too and taken part in. We will have a stall and expect to find vintage seller for all over the country. Start 11am until 4pm.

Also don't miss our 1st customer evening on 2011!! Thursday 10th March at Godiva shop starting at the earlier time of 5pm until 8pm, new vintage, introducing new jewellery and independent designers and of course new collections for our favourites like Rowanjoy, Fifi and Lost Forward. We will also be relaunching the Reworked Rail!! This promises to be a great evening at Godiva for all you lovely regulars and followers of Godiva.
I need to rush off as my epic week has not ended as I am about to take a quick trip to Bratislava to see some friends and do a bit of vintage shopping!
Have a good one! x
x

Baba Ganoush this Spring!

Katherine Robert-Wood designer behind the newcomer label Baba Ganoush had record breaking sales last Winter. Her beautifully craft and imaginative one-off shoulder pieces were hugely admired and nearly sold out in the month. Godiva had been waiting for someone like Baba Ganoush to come along to complete the showroom.
The showroom will be full of new S/S11 beginning of March and here is a sneak preview of the next installment from Baba Ganoush! We think these will accompany and finish off that wedding outfit this season or just add a bit of glamour to that jeans and t-shirt.
These shoulder pieces will be available March. If you wish to pre-order call Godiva shop. xx

Berlin: Selection of Showrooms and Concept Stores

During Fashion Week, Berlin turned into the city of Concept Stores, Pop-up shops and Showrooms. At least a few have a long term base, but I would always keep an eye on upcoming ones. Torstrasse turned into a popular location for exploration and also the famous Oranienstrasse in Kreuzberg seems to be a target for new edgy stores.

Recommendable is the Edged Showroom | Pop-up Store which had its presence on Torstrasse. It seems to have closed there by now, but I have the feeling it could reopen there again. Check news and the designer portfolio of Edged here.


Also one of a kind was the Happy Shop on Torstrasse. This is a permanent shop with exciting new designers and a very colourful selection of clothes. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take pictures from the inside, because it looked like no other shop, I have ever seen. You can see some pictures on their homepage. I was told by the owner that an extension to the sides and the top is planned, so that the shop can be explored like a cube.

Nokia presented the Smartstyles Showroom which was created embedded in a competition for Young Designers from Germany. Parts of their collections appear in the new campaign of the C7 Nokia Smartphone. Read more here.

However, my favourite store was, the Voo Store in Kreuzberg. They have just opened and have an amazing interior with a lot of wood and an industrial feeling. They offer a range of scandinavian brands like Stine Goya, Henrik Vibskov and Cheap Monday, also some young designers and the most delicious aromatic candles I have ever smelled by Astier de Villatte. You can a good impression of the interior and an interview of the creative director Ingrid Junker here (sorry that it is only in German).


After exploring all the showrooms and stores, I went to a book launch of my favourite and also most successful German fashion blog Les Mads. It took place in the beautiful decorated department store Cabinet. Their selection of collections is really good, so whenever you are in Berlin, you should visit this store. I was more excited about the interview with the two girls of Les Mads, but luckily a friend of mine took some photos of the store.

|Lara|

Vintage treasures to make a quirky pirate weep

On Monday I began the first of my vintage jewellery buying trips. It really is one of my favourite jobs running Godiva. Here is a little sneak preview of the type of pieces I found, me thinks a quirky Long John Silver would be jealous.......note the Zebracorn find! I might just have to keep him. x

The science of 'Up To Much'

Up To Much describes itself as, "a very small Edinburgh company all about intriguing designer made in small volume using the democratising power of modern industrial magic". We are extremely excited and pleased to introduced this cleverly designed work into the showroom for this Spring/Summer.
There is a science to this work and here is it in the designers own words.........
"These 3D Plyoptic pendant & rings has been made using a cutting edge 3D printing process: It isn't cast, or constructed, it is laid down in the form of hundreds of layers of stainless steel powder bonded together, then finally infused with molten brass to make it solid and strong. The colour varies from a silver grey to a subtle champagne and is very attractive. The surface is not polished, but shows some of the layers of the process - it's quite wonderfully honest in that way."

We at Godiva are really impressed with this really different approach to accessory design and these pieces are unisex.
We are waiting for the brightly coloured Polyoptic Nylon pieces to arrive soon too so keep watching this space!
This collection is limited edition but can be made to order and we will be selling this collection on the online store!

MBFW Berlin: Premium Exhibitions

Premium Exhibitions is the one of the trade fairs in Berlin, taking place during Fashion Week. In contrast to Bread and Butter, it is more focused on premium brands. I love the location which is an old post station. It has been lovely renovated, but still keeps the industrial character. I loved to see what will enter the shops in the next Autumn/Winter season and think I have spotted the trend of clogs shoes converted into winter boots, like those here. I also saw a lots of Scandinavian brands with their minimalistic style with a twist. Most impressive was the designer Burkhardt Möllmann, who converted the fabric of car seats into amazing and surprisingly wearable garments. Here a some impressions of the fair.

It's February, It's Valentines

So pleased that January is over! It is never a fun month for shops, what with tax returns and the slump after Christmas! It's has not all been bad, we have had some great stock the Sale and made a lot of folk happy. The designer and vintage sale runs for another week or so.
I was also really pleased and excited to have got such an amazing response from students and keen sewers for the reworking vintage project! The idea being that Godiva supplies sewers with unsold vintage clothing and then these skilled and creative people go away and either rework in subtle or ways of completely deconstruct and create a new piece to then bring back for the rail in the shop for selling! We love to recycle!
So now it is February we have been collecting new designers to launch into the showroom!! so things are getting exciting even braved to trip to Ikea on Saturday past to buy another cabinet for Jewellery! On the February vibe here are are few Valentine's inspired pieces for you. Sterling Silver pieces are from newcomer Lindsay MacDowall. So cute and very affordable! The Tiny Diamond is from one of our favourites from last year, Stolen Thunder.