2014 – A year in review
This morning, I spotted Patricia Zapata’s annual mosaic review on her blog, which inspired me to put together this review of our year at Skinny laMinx:
JANUARY saw us get inspired to grab the Cape Town World Design Capital by the scruff of its neck, and get the most out of it! We started by slapping an enormous yellow dot on the front of the shop, and put a call out for other Cape Town business owners to paint the town yellow too! We were just in time for ELLE Decoration France to do a lovely shoot with us for their WDC2014 feature
FEBRUARY had more press in the shop, with the team from Monocle magazine coming in to shoot their WDC2014 Cape Town feature. Watch it here.
MARCH was important for taking steps in the direction of creative renewal. After so many years of working at high intensity, I really needed some non-directed creative time in my life. Pearl was back from two years in Paris, which meant that some space was opening up in my working life, so I moved a desk and a chair into an empty studio in Salt River. Peace, quiet, and somewhere to think, which is why I call it the Think Tank. I also started ceramics classes. Hooray!
APRIL saw more ceramics in my life, as I got to work on an amazing tile collaboration. More about that here.
MAY was high, high energy, as I was shooting up a storm for our impending catalogue launch. It is also the month where my awesome design assistant Melissa really came into her own, as we shot and designed three catalogues and a Lookbook!! Thanks to Charl Edwards for his help, too. Whew!
JUNE was launch month for the Paradise is Here fabric collection, inspired by my 2013 trip to Tokyo. It was a bit of a gamble, releasing such a wild and crazy collection, but those prints sure are popular! We are thrilled to bits with the reception these prints have received.
JULY was when we released our new Stig tea towel design, and published our 2014/5 products catalogue too.
AUGUST gave me a big thrill when one of my style heroes Abigail Ahern featured us in the business section of her blog. I’m such a fan! So thrilled she noticed Skinny laMinx!
SEPTEMBER was when we really got into the swing of our #FanFridays hashtag, and our fabulous fans sent their pics of Skinny laMinx in their home. I think that Bob The Cat going crazy on a pile of Skinny laMinx cushion covers has to be get the #lookatmyskinny prize!
OCTOBER was a huge month for me, because I spent most of it in Jaipur, India with Ritchie Ace Camps, teaching and learning about block printing. What an experience! Read all about it here.
NOVEMBER was all about getting wholesale orders made up and posted off around the world, and Team Skinny laMinx did us proud! In the background, I was working in the studio, making lots more block prints (and having fun with the lino offcuts too!)
DECEMBER Busy, busy in the shop, and busy busy in the studio, working on ideas and prints for 2015.
And now all that’s left to do is to say goodbye to 2014, with huge thanks to our suppliers, our printers, our wonderful stockists, the Press for the incredible coverage… and most of all, to our incredible team, and to our awesome supporters and fans.
HAPPY 2015 to everyone from Skinny laMinx!
Charlotte
2014 is the year I discovered Skinny LaMinx! And I now have some beautiful fabric from your store (some I ordered on etsy and a couple of fat quarters that a friend brought to me after visiting your store in Capetown). I was wondering if you can help me with a question…with all new fabric, I typically wash/dry/press before sewing with it, but I’ve never sewn with the type of fabric I have from your store. Is it OK to do this? It looks like after I make something, the directions are to hand wash or wash on gentle and air dry. Sorry if the answer is obvious – I am still a beginning sewist so I have a lot to learn! Thanks!
skinnylaminx
Hi Charlotte
So glad you discovered Skinny laMinx, and I hope that 2015 gets you making lots of great things with our prints.
Our fabric doesn’t necessarily require pre-washing, but we do suggest that there may be a possibility of slight shrinkage, as natural fibres can be a little unpredictable. So just to be safe, why not give it a gentle cold wash and hang it up to dry. The reason we recommend hand washing is that the washing process of any screenprinted textile – especially those with a more textured surface – can rub away some of the print, just through friction.
Hope that helps, and that you have loads of fun making things with our fabric.
All the best,
Heather
Charlotte
Thanks so much! Very helpful….and I found out that my annual professional meeting is in Capetown this year, so I hope to visit your store. I’m so excited. It will be my first time in Capetown!
dojo
… and another HAPPY New Year to all at Skinny laMinx!
Patricia
I love it Heather! I’m glad to see what your year looked like—pretty amazing. I can’t wait to see what 2015 has in store for you. Happy 2015!