#GodivaEdinburgh: our first blogger party!

A couple of weeks ago we invited some of our favourite Scottish fashion and lifestyle bloggers over to Godiva for a little party. It was the first time we'd done anything like this, and we wanted to show off the shop and our designers (as well as some other local businesses!) the best we could. This was also the first time I'd planned an event, so I was more than a little nervous to see how things would go... but I think everyone enjoyed themselves!

As the bloggers arrived I was finishing off the goodie bags downstairs, but Fleur and Edel did a fantastic job of welcoming them and making sure everyone was kept topped up with Pimm's! We had some delicious non-alcoholic juices on offer courtsey of Hula at the other end of the Grassmarket, and some very Instagram-worthy cakes and brownies from Lovecrumbs further up the West Port. Mary from Mary's Milk Bar just across the street from us came over with a tray full of hazelnut pralines - I couldn't resist sneaking back and gobbling up as many as I could!

Some of our designers came into the shop to chat with the bloggers, too. Laura from Prints of Paradise and Edinburgh illustrator Gen Ryan came through, and so did Rowan, fresh from her new studio over at Hill Street! Luis and Poppy from Runaway Fox brought along a rather disconcerting suitcase marked 'HUMAN TAXIDERMY' and gave a little talk and demonstration about their latest venture, life-casting. Four of our lucky guests were chosen to have their finger cast and made into a necklace - talk about unique! Runaway Fox have moved into the Hill Street Design House alongside Rowan; make sure to pay them a visit if you're interested in having yourself cast!

While this was all going on in the designer room, we had a customisation station set up in the vintage room. There were plates, bowls and baskets full of fabric, ribbon, sequins, jewels, charms, appliqués and more! Leyah customised her stripey satchel with a piece of contrasting floral material (love florals and stripes!), Paula went wild with the lace and bows, and Elaine revamped a vintage bag with some sweet birdies and green jewels. I also showed some of the girls how to make a camera strap out of a vintage scarf and found some adorable elephant charms that I couldn't resist adding to my own version.

And there was more! And Mary kindly donated a brilliant prize of a bangle, earrings and a necklace, which was won by Leyah - and Laura won a Godiva gift voucher! A huge thanks to all the designers and local businesses who helped us out with the event, and for the bloggers for coming along and taking so many beautiful pictures and writing so many beautiful words about Godiva!

Don't forget to check out the bloggers' posts about the event for more photos!:

Paula from The Brantastic Life
Laura from The Likely Lady
Gillian from Elevatormusik
Lynsay from Miss West End Girl
Farah from Faz Fashion Diary
Louise from Love From Lou Lou
Leyah from I Am Leyah Shanks
Kayleigh from Wonderchebs

And Lynne from Cocktails and Daydreams made a vlog about the event too!

New in at Godiva this fortnight

The weeks seem to fly by so quickly at Godiva and I'm here already with another update on all the new things that have hit the shop floor!

 Queenie Brown badger face, £9; Queenie Brown fox face, £9.

Naromode Koi tee, £40; Naromode Duck tee, £40; Naromode Bee tee, £40.

Queenie Browne and Runaway Fox are keeping us well-stocked in woodland animals. Queenie Browne's adorable lavender-scented fox and badger faces are always greeted with smiles, and I can't get enough of Runaway Fox's quirky 'Animal-Friendly Taxidermy' jewellery collection either. We've also had a new delivery of super-soft tees from Naromode, too: the Bee, Duck and Koi are flying (or swimming!) out fast!

Rowanjoy's been busy in her studio below the shop making so many lovely new things for us. How amazing is this cape?! It's been gracing our shop window all week, and never fails to bring a smile to my face!

There are also Rowanjoy's tartan dresses in the universally-flattering 'Jessie' style, and bold and beautiful skirts in two different styles, using some of her most popular fabrics! Which is your favourite?

Designer Q & A: Runaway Fox

 Poppy & Luis, the creative duo behind the Edinburgh based Jewellery label called Runaway Fox have taken the time to answer our 'Designer Q & A, here are their super sweet answers and a sneak preview pictures of their new Spring/Summer collection and some old favourite from last year. 

We are so pleased to continue to stock these really original and well crafted designs by Runaway Fox. 

Available in store now. 

Hello, we are:

Luis and Poppy, the creative partnership behind Runaway Fox.

We design:

Hand made laser cut jewellery.

When we are creating, our typical day involves:

There isn't really a typical day! Sometimes we might be at a craft fair, other days we could be up until the wee hours of the morning painting and glueing.

When we are not designing and creating, we are:

Collecting sheep skulls in the hills, performing comedy, drinking tea and eating cake, watching weird films by David Lynch and Lars Von Trier.

We get inspiration from:

All sorts: Finding out how people tick, a fascination with strange traditions, history, the natural world and how we interact with it. This is why Edinburgh was a great place for us to start Runaway Fox.

Being independent designers is important to us because:

As independent designers, we have autonomy. We can put real thought and emotion into our products, so for example we're currently designing for a local mental health charity- it's a cause we both believe in. Independent designers can put real character, personality and authenticity into their designs in a way that mass production can't ever match.

We knew we wanted to be designers when:

We never knew we wanted to be designers- we just pursued the projects we cared most about, and everyone else started calling us designers! Runaway Fox came about because we both wanted to go on an adventure and do something different and creative.

Our greatest achievement so far is:

There's no one particular achievement, just lots of things- like getting our first stockist, producing our first physical design, producing a complete collection and being welcomed into the design and fashion blogging community- there are so many lovely people around!

We cannot live without:

Cats. And tea. But mainly cats.

Our favourite things we have ever bought or found are:

The other day we found an amazing 1940s home knitting book, Luis particularly loved that- Poppy found a guitar floating down a river when she was young, that was pretty cool too!