"Below the surface of the Ocean"

It is already end of December, and in a few weeks time the summer 2012 collection will be in the stores. This one is called 'Below the surface of the Ocean' (and that theme was chosen before I ever even thought of going to Egypt to see dolphins in the Red Sea)

All LoFff collections have a name, because they are based on an idea, a book, an atmosphere, a picture, etc. And they are always personal and dear to me.

As long as I remember I have loved the sea and the ocean. Being on a beach, hearing the waves and enjoying this immense feeling of freedom.

As a kid, endlessly looking for shells and strange things the sea would wash on the shore. Finding sea-urchins and boiling them to get rid of the stench, picking of the needles and finding out what amazing colours and patterns appear from underneath that prickly outside.



Orca Dress



When I was a student one summer I went to Crete, and lived on a beach there for a month. It was a very happy time. Swimming out into the open sea  is incomparable to any pool, however beautiful. Feeling the strength of your own body, the shore getting smaller and smaller the further you are out. Very good for your perspective on life.

Diving under water and seeing this parallel world is a miracle. Feeling the weightlessness, the ease of movement. The beauty of plants and life there, the colours, the freckles of sunlight, the sudden warm streams you find sometimes, the muted sounds.  Then I have a daughter who is totally besotted with all cetaceans, and she is an expert on all types of dolphins and killer whales. I learnt a lot from her too.



Jellyfish Dress





All this I have been trying to capture in this collection. The inspiration is translated in various ways, as always. There are obvious references like an orca embroidery, sea horse print, and a sea star fabric. Then there is a jellyfish dress (THE party dress of the collection) and it is called that because the movement of the skirt resembles the way a certain type of jellyfish moves through the sea.



  

Sea Urchin top



Then there is sea-urchin top and bolero, where the decoration resembles a small cluster of sea urchins. The sea anemone skirt has lots of little wisps of netting, making the movement in this skirt like a sea anemone swaying with the tide. “Waves at my hem” and ‘wave skirt’ speak for themselves when you see them.

The foto shoot which we did in June last year was a lot of fun as you can see in the video which we made and which is posted on You Tube. Click here to see it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2QbU9O_TeY  

 We have found 2 new models (Sunitha, the dark haired one, and Doutsen, the blond haired one) because I felt that we needed to show LoFff on younger girls too. It does look very good on Sterre and Yerus, who now both are 7, but it looks different on a 4-year old. So, they are there to stay for the next seasons.



Colour inspiration for Neutrals



Colour inspiration for Trend

They turned up very timid at the first morning, but gradually opened up and became free, roaming, and sometimes even wild. And since we had a perfect hot day, on a nice little beach, the atmosphere of the turquoise and pink group is like the best pics of all your favourite daughters on the best holiday you ever had. And this is exactly what I wanted for this theme.


Colour inspiration for Pinks

 So, I hope you enjoy the new collection once it is in the shops,

I honestly believe this is the best collection I have ever made (and I have made about 36 by now, so that does mean something).

Jo.

We LoFff creative customers

This week I have been working on a new movie about the fotoshoot of the LoFff Summer 2012 collection. And when that was done, and I posted it on YouTube, I was looking what other movies there were to be found on LoFff.

And I found one made by one of our customers, on the Winter 11-12 baby collection.

And it is so good, to see someone else get all creative with our brand too...
So here it is.



And in case you want to get that Summer feeling in the middle of December... this is the first movie on our S12 collection. The first garments are on the vessel, on the way to Holland, so it won't be long until it is in the shops now...

How to print a LoFff book

Every season we make the look books of LoFff. We started with this in 2009, and it has turned out to be one of the better decisions of the last few years. To us, it is the ideal way of presenting the LoFff-Life, since this is about so much more than just pretty garments. And to the shops that sell LoFff it is a very good way of presenting the complete collection.

And we have made quite a few up til now.

   

What starts with a conceptual collection in my head, goes through the various stages of designing garments, fabric prints, colouring, making patterns, making samples, fitting, adjusting patterns, getting the samples made in the right colour, doing the photo-shoots, selecting from the thousands of pics we make the ones I want to use, locking myself up for a week, to put everything together just right, and then bringing it to the printers.

Every season again, the printing of this book signals to me the handover date of my collection to the world.
So I go to the printers, and want to see the first pages coming off the press.

And this is what that looks like.

The noise there is prominent, the smell is good, and it is fascinating to hear the printing machine starting up, to see all those big sheets of paper coming out at ever increasing speed. And such a lot of paper is wasted in the beginning, when they are working on getting the colours right.

For the last few seasons we have been working with Drukkerij Tesink from Zutphen. They are almost as enthousiastic about the results as we are.. And printers are really great people. It is a pleasure to work with them - they are capable, relaxed and friendly. So twice a year I have this great moment of joy when I go there to see the book come to life.

And here you can see a few pages from the Summer 2012 book.

But more about that to follow... once the Summer 2012 collection is in the shops, which will be around mid/end January 2012. 

Back on Track

Starting a blog like I did beginning of this year, you know that the biggest danger for anyone writing for a blog is the dwindling number of blog entries after the first rush of enthousiasm.  Often leading to a silent death of the blog in question.

My last post was from July - 4 months ago. And it is not through lack of enthousiasm that there have not been any posts since. The last months have been very turbulent, mostly for private reasons. So, there were other priorities. And no time for the LivefromLoFff.
But I am back on track, and will keep informing you about the latest news from LoFff - from the inside.
For now, I hope you will still enjoy reading what I have to tell.

Jo.

(And one of the best things I did in these last months was to go on a holiday. With my youngest daughter I went to the Red Sea, for diving and snorkelling. We finallly saw dolphins in their natural habitat. And sea turtles. And a million colourful fish. All telling me that it was so right, to base the Summer 2012 collection on the beauty of sealife..)

The Africa contest

This season was the first time we made a drawing contest for all LoFff fans. We do like the idea of knowing who is wearing LoFff, to see what they look like in LoFff, and to get some feedback that way.

And how nice it was, to receive all these photo's and drawings, both by e-mail and by snail mail. The first weeks nothing happened, and we got worried that no one was going to participate, but then when the first one arrived we were all so happy!

This was the first drawing we got. It shows Gitte from Belgium, wearing one of the best selling dresses of the collection.

And after that, many more followed. A lot of them were elefant suits.. I think that was the most popular item this season. And it looks good on both small and big girls. The one of An-Na I really liked...

And the drawing of herself in this suit is very trendy and abstract.. it is like a 'search the elefant' picture..

Then we also got some drawings from girls wearing LoFff from other seasons. And there was some real good stuff there, too. Look for example at this one from Renske - who is wearing one of my favourite coats of all time.

I really hope that Renske will participate again next season. Because she has a total LoFff talent!

And so, getting all these pictures and drawings and other creative expressions has given me great joy these last few months. And I have thought of the topic for the new contest for the coming Wintercollection, and I will tell you about that in a short while.

For now, if you are curious to see who has won, please have a look at the http://www.ilovelofff.com/  site. Because there you can see who is going to Africa with love from LoFff.

Being in Florence

The last time I participated at Pitti Bimbo was in 2001. Which is a long time ago, but it is really nice to be back here.

Building up the stand is still a crime. The level of Italian cooperation to foreign exhibitors is not quite up to what you would hope for... but in the end you always manage, and it was good to see the LoFff van standing in the Italian sunshine.

So, there have been changes since the last 10 years.  More pavillions, more exhibitors, free wifi from the second day (when we asked for this the first day, they said it would cost 106 euro for the three days, and the next day it was free...) efficient routing of the entrance and exits.. (which is usefull if you look at the number of people trying to get in in the morning..)

But most things are just like they have been for a long time. The Fortezza di Basso where the fair is located still beats any other fair location, the liveliness on the fair, the perfectly dressed italian buyers and the very pretty dressed up dolly girls that scan the badges at the bigger stands. The coffee is still the best in the world, food is good wherever you go, and being able to walk around in Florence after the fair (for most people) or at six in the morning (for fewer people, but I am one of those) is a great pleasure.

Piazza di Duomo at 06.22



one of the million bars in Firenze




small italian breakfast



So, it is a pleasure to be here. And we are really proud of the way our stand worked out! And of all the new contacts we made, the new agents we found, and the way the new collection is received. But more about that another time.

 

 





Preparing for Italy

Since we decided to build our own stand at the Pitti Bimbo in Florence, we needed some kind of extra transport means.

This is what we had:

So somehow we had the idea that the stand would not fit. So, we decided to go for something nicer, and this is what we have now!

So, Italy, here we come! Ready to travel and ready to spread LoFff around the world.

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And as you can see below, we already have some serious LoFff addicts in Italy... Doesn't this look like a very nice way of buying your LoFff garments? Let alone a very nice place to buy them?

LoFff goes to Italy

After applying for the last 3 years, we FINALLY got admitted to the Pitti Bimbo in Florence.

Though fairs are actually an old fashioned medium of communication, they are still important to show your brand and to contact new potential buyers.

And since the Pitti is the most international renowned children's fair of Europe, we are very, very happy to go there.

We bought a van to transport our stand there, and I invited our complete office to come and go there to celebrate this new step in the growth of LoFff.

Because we are definitely going to find some nice new customers there - from places all over the world.

In case you want to come and meet us there - our standnumber is Z11, and we are located in the Padiglione Centrale, Piano Inferiore.

Which does NOT mean inferior, but basement...

On Offices

One of the beautiful things about starting your own company is that YOU get to decide what your workingspace looks like. To me there is nothing more mind killing and energy destroying than the average so called efficient office (where I have worked for a few years before I ventured into childrenswear and set up my own company).

The low ceilings, the expensive but oh so ugly desks, the artificial light, the windows that cannot open, the obligatory AC system.. the smell of those places... very, very awful.

So the first office I had (after the very cliché spare bedroom, yes, I did start there too) was in an old schoolbuilding in Amsterdam in the Utrechtsedwarsstraat. It was an old classroom, and the whole building was rented out to Artists (with a capital A) of various disciplines, and I was allowed in because I could actually afford to pay rent....
This was a quite small but magnificent space, with high ceilings, high windows, a wooden floor (which I painted yellow) and I have worked there with pleasure for almost 2 years..

I have no pictures of the office, but the building looked like this

Utrechtsedwarsstraat

(isn't Google street view one of the best things on the net?)

When that became too small, I moved to the Haarlemmerstraat in Amsterdam, into an old factory which housed a multitude of small companies. It was one huge room of over 200 sqm with big pillars and an even higher ceiling then the schoolbuilding.

Haarlemmerstraat

And after that there were a few more, which were not so exciting. But this week on a quiet evening after everybody had left I took some pics of our current office, and realized that what we have now is really extremely nice.

And then. just a few days later, I read an article in Sprout magazine on a site that brings together inspiring work spaces. For no other purpose then to share the joy these places bring. I looked... and it was just amazing to see all these very beautiful spaces together.

Look for yourself: http://wovox.com/ and start dreaming.. exploring... changing. Life is for living and you are the only one who can do that.


Post Script: added 29th of april:

This week I had an appointment with my bank. Bank used to be boring and stuffy places. But look what they are doing now! I just love the live green wall...