Journal

The party season has officially arrived and what better way to celebrate than with an exclusive event at our Westbourne store? For one night only we were lucky enough to welcome the much loved scarf designer Emma Shipley and the fabulous Duffy New York team into our store for an evening full of inspirational chats, Christmas shopping and an abundance of champagne! Customers were able to get their first glimpse of all our stunning new Pre Spring 18 collections from Duffy, Chinti & Parker, Boutique Moschino, Emma Shipley and Not Shy whilst indulging in some mouth watering canapés courtesy of The Jetty Mudeford restaurant. With guests having travelled from both near and far to join us, the shop was soon bustling with glamorous customers and their lucky husbands. The evening began with a brief collection overview from Emma Shipley, who kindly talked us through the inspirations for her latest collection as well as her intricate production processes. After launching only 5 years ago in 2012 with a background in graphic design and fine drawing, Emma Shipley has become a firm Stanwells favourite thanks to her intricate, original and subversive pieces. Taking inspiration from fantastical myths and legends, Emma hand draws each design in pencil using elements of nature to capture the magic of her surroundings in each and every design she creates. These absolutely stunning designs are then translated onto the most luxurious silk and wool fabrics to create one of a kind pieces that are sure to be treasured for years to come. This instantly recognisable hand-drawn style is of course still present in Emma Shipley's SS18 collection, whilst an array of different creatures and colours have been used to infuse a new lease of life into this bold summery selection. Glorious giraffes, powerful peacock feathers and diagrammatic silverbacks give a modern twist to Emma's signature mythical inspirations, with a rainbow of colours suitable for every occasion available. Our lucky customers were fortunate enough to be able to pre-order these luxurious scarves and managed to get their hands on Emma's latest SS18 designs before anyone else could snap them up! After a quick champagne break, we were then treated to another Pre SS18 preview by the lovely ladies from the Duffy New York team. A long-running favourite with all of our customers, Duffy's super soft cashmere is a staple in any Stanwells shopper's wardrobe thanks to the flattering cuts, stunning colours and quirky details which are guaranteed season after season. After a quick chat about the new collection, customers were invited to try and buy the Pre SS18 selection which flew out the doors on the evening. The Duffy Pre SS18 collection is bursting with cool pastel colours and shoulder baring cuts which ooze Spring style and brightened up the store on a cold winter's evening. Our customers loved the Off the Shoulder Sweater in Sky Heather as well as the Two Tone Boat Neck Sweater and the Off the Shoulder Sweater in Champagne/Heather Grey, which you can see on our gorgeous models Millie and Mitch pictured above. For the ultimate luxurious combination, a few lucky customers purchased a fabulous combination of Duffy and Emma Shipley to start off their Spring wardrobe in style. After a flurry of spending and a lot of chatting, the evening drew to a close and our lovely customers were treated to one last surprise, a luxurious gift bag supplied by Neptune Bournemouth containing a fabulous tealight holder and their latest collection book as well as a few goodies from Rik Rak by Kit Kemp to top it all off. After an incredibly busy evening, the Stanwells team finally got to sample a few of the delicious canapés lovingly made by The Jetty, before tidying up and heading home for a well deserved glass of fizz.