I have to admit, that is very slack. I have had a baby since then and we had a crazy busy Summer period so I guess that is my excuse but still, it's a pretty poor effort!
So much has happened to us at Kaftans HQ in the last year. We have been featured by big name bloggers like Mrs Woog & Fat Mum Slim who are just amazing women, and you should all be following their blogs! I am really a complete amateur when it comes to blogging, but these women have inspired me to write, so here I am!
Another thing that has happened in the last year is that we have started designing our own fabrics! Since we first started in 2011, buying fabric in small amounts from retail stores, we have always dreamed about designing our own fabrics. As we slowly worked our way up the food chain, we always found it so difficult even at fabric wholesalers/importers to find what we really wanted. As you may know, our look is big, bold unique prints, which isn't easy to find!
So, late last year, we worked with a graphic designer, giving her examples of what we wanted and our ideas kept going back and forth with her until she had created something we wanted. Next step was to send it off to the fabric mills and a few weeks later, rolls and rolls of our newly designed fabric was on our doorstep! Here are a few that we designed:
Our 'Magic Garden' kaftan. A really feminine, floral design with watercolour artwork.
http://kaftansbyannalisa.com/magic-garden-kaftan-dress/
Our 'Rainbow' kaftan. A bold myriad of colour.
http://kaftansbyannalisa.com/rainbow-kaftan-dress/
We have a few more in the pipelines, so stay tuned!
The most recent event in our timeline is our new website!
http://kaftansbyannalisa.com
Same address but slightly new look.
I started our original website over a year ago, with no experience in web design, and a very small budget.
I did the best I could at the time, but it still wasn't great.
I finally decided it was time to take the next step and build a new website that was better looking and was easier to use.
I finished it last week, and it is now live. I would love some feedback if you have any!
So, we've achieved a fair bit in the last year. Annalisa and I both freaked out when we realised our business is still only 2 years old! All in all, we are really happy with our progress.
Over the coming months, we will be releasing a few new kaftans. Due to popular demand, we have started making long, silk kaftans, which we only used to make in tops and short dresses.
No.1 is called "Flower Shower". It is 100% satin silk.
As we did last winter, we will soon have online a limited range of capes & vests made from soft faux fur and other warm fabrics, so stay tuned for those!
Chloe
