Meet Team Skinny
We have been insanely busy behind the scenes at the studio lately, cutting and stitching and wrapping and packing for all we’re worth. We’ve been prepping for the usual end-of-year retail frenzy, for wholesale orders, as well as for two major retail events: Kamersvol at Lourensford Estate (starting on Sunday), and for Food Wine Design (in Joburg, in November) too.
Despite the crazy, the studio is a nice place to be, because the people doing all this work are just so awesome, and it’s high time they got a round of applause:
First up, meet Marcia Marcus. If you’ve bought something from Skinny laMinx, chances are it has been lovingly and faultlessly stitched by the hands of Marcia, who has been Skinny laMinx’s seamstress for quite some time now. A standing ovation for Marcia, please!
Before Marcia gets stuck in with her needles and threads, Nadieya Titus does her bit, wielding a pair of scissors and a cutting machine like no other. Round of applause for Nadieya!
Once things have been cut and made, they are packed and readied for sale by studio manager, Belinda Mayambela (and there’s been so much to do lately, that Maleeka Jattiem, who works in the shop on Saturdays, has been helping out too). Woo! Go Belinda!
Jess Suter looks after the shop, and gets stuck in behind the scenes whenever there’s a moment to spare. Three cheers for Jess!
And then while Pearl Thompson manages the business side of things, Julie Gibson is juggling the printing production as well as wholesale order management, and all manner of other production related issues with ease and elegance. Give it up for Pearl & Julie!
So next time you visit the Skinny laMinx store & studio at 201 Bree St, pop your head into the back and give Team Skinny a cheer, won’t you? They deserve it like mad.
Marian
SO lovely to meet the Skinny team – have often wondered about who does your sewing, for example, so it’s great to put a face to a name/job!
Kate Brennan Hall
Silly me, I wondered how you managed to be five places at once! :<) Lucky you to have such a great crew!
skinnylaminx
Funnily enough, even with my fab team, I STILL have to be in 5 places at once 🙂
xx
arounna
oh my heather a team indeed,
I’ve got to get it together, I need a team like this 🙂
MzTallulah
I had no idea there were so many of you on team Skinny! I would love to work in such a creative and colourful environment, and with such an ace team!
arianek
Yay for team Skinny!
I love that you posted this – it’s so easy to assume that someone like you is magically and mysteriously doing this all on your own… It’s really wonderful to see how much support you have and what it actually takes to have a business like this. It makes it all seem a bit less daunting to an aspiring creative businessperson. 😉
I also saw this video about Donna Wilson yesterday https://vimeo.com/50887164 and was amazed the same way to find that she’s got an entire staff of people making this happen! I wish more business owners would demystify how they do it all like this, it’s wonderful and inspiring!
skinnylaminx
Thanks so much for your lovely comment, and for the link to that great video about Donna Wilson. It’s funny, even though I have my great team, I also found myself assuming that she did it all herself, so the mystery continues. xx
arianek
Hah, that is funny indeed. I think we all tend to feel like others who are successful are magic and superheroes… it’s nice to be reminded that they’re really real people who work hard and have help!
Dolly Ahern
Great to see the behind the scenes team!
The pace you all work at seems so fast, just back from NYC and teaching camp, into holiday production and two big shows!!! Amazing.
marie
I loved this post! I had no idea there were so many people involved in the skinnylaminx brand – so interesting to meet them all. And I agree with Arianek, that knowing this, really does make starting up your own creative business slightly less scary! x
skinnylaminx
Heh. Paying everyone is kind of scary! 🙂
marie
Yes, I suppose that’s a whole other level of scary! 🙂
Casey
Really enjoyed this. The A Team indeed!
Kate
I love that you’re introducing the team; wish more businesses would do this.
Fine & Sunny
We’ll give them a cheer from here – GO TEAM SKINNY WOO HOO!
Jane Barrell Yadav
Hi,
Wanted to give a shout out to “other” Marcia Marcus. My mother, Marcia Marcus is a painter (b. 1928-) from New York, NY. You can find her work here http://www.marciamarcus.com or just google her name. So hello!! Love finding other women with this name since it is unique! I do research on her art work so this doesn’t happen often.
Hope you are staying safe and healthy during these hard times. I’ve been sewing masks and figure you are doing the same.
Take care from a silly daughter, Jane
skinnylaminx
Hi Jane
You’re hilarious! I’ll definitely be sending your note about the ‘other’ Marcia Marcus to ‘our’ Marcia Marcus, and she’ll no doubt be tickled pink! And yes, Marcia has been sewing up masks for us lately, being the superstar she really is.
x Heather
skinnylaminx
Oh gosh, I sent a reply before I’d even looked at your mom’s work. It’s totally spectacular! My husband is an artist too, and he looked over my shoulder as I viewed her website, and was saying things like Alex Katz and Giorgioni, while I was loving the colours and composition… and the patterns, of course.
While we’re sharing our family websites, you might as well look at my husband’s, at http://www.pauledmunds.co.za. He’s had a solo in NYC, and even has a work in the MoMA collection, and who knows, maybe your postman’s name is Paul Edmunds and we have a full house Bingo going on here!
Have a great weekend,
Heather