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Spotlight On... SugarLane
Focused On Fashion
Below: Bev Allen, fashion buying consultant at Joe Davies, wears the Bethany dress from SugarLane’s Spring/Summer collection.
As more and more gift retailers continue to invest in fashion, Joe Davies has stepped up to the plate with the launch of SugarLane, a brand new, exclusive capsule concept that made its successful - and very colourful - debut at Spring Fair. So who’s behind the brand, what’s sashaying down the SugarLane catwalk this season, and what’s in the pipeline for Autumn/Winter? SugarLane’s fashion supremo, Bev Allen, invited PG&H to take a front row seat. As people looked to treat themselves or a friend during the pandemic, fashion became an essential category for many independent gift retailers and lifestyle stores of all shapes and sizes. And with the demise of stores such as Debenhams, more and more people have been looking to independents, to include independent gift retailers, to fill the fashion gap. With that in mind, and with a finger on the pulse of what their customers want, Joe Davies took the decision to launch its own exclusive fashion brand, SugarLane, with Bev Allen appointed as fashion buying consultant. For Bev, it was a very exciting moment when the bold, colourful Spring/Summer collection, (available to order now from Joe Davies), was unveiled at Spring Fair. Reminiscent of the seaside and holidays think summer brights in strong yellows and vivid blues - there were striking patterns a plenty for dresses, pants, tops and kaftans, complemented with wardrobe basics to include summery white trousers, T-shirts, and much more besides. “It was great to be able to get involved right at the start of such an exciting
Below left: Ruby mini gingham print dress. Below right: Mia shirt dress in mango sorbet; Esme Atlantic cami with Persian palazzo pants.
project,” enthuses Bev, whose impressive fashion credentials include working with brands such as George at Asda and Bravissimo (for more curvy shapes). “Despite the challenge of having to work with the factories on Zoom, due to the pandemic and not being able to travel, we’ve put together a commercial collection of quality fashion garments, with two practical size solutions - S/M and M/L - which will fit most women,” she explains.
“Everything is designed in the UK and is exclusive and unique, created with the planet in mind.” (See Sustainably Speaking on page 49). Starting out with a full range of trend boards, Bev’s aim was to ensure that everything would fit together to create solutions, resulting in two core capsules Monotone Twist and Navy Zest enabling colours and prints to cohesively mix and match. She says that newer and first-time fashion buyers have been delighted with the ‘ready to go’ capsules, while more experienced fashion buyers have been enthusiastically purchasing across the range to add to their existing fashion offer. Of course, with space at a premium in many of the smaller independents, one concern has been whether there would be room in store to display and Progressive Gifts & Home Worldwide
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