Thursday, October 15, 2009

Fun Finds for our Holiday Market!

In a meeting earlier this year we started talking about how many creative local designers we were happening upon. It occured to us that it would be fun to invite similiarly minded creatives to get together for a holiday market and provide a venue for all of our customers to shop for unique holiday gifts. So this fall we sent out applications for our first annual LILL Holiday Market that will be held at our Chicago warehouse on Saturday, November 14th.

We are thrilled with the collection of applications that came in. They are brimming with beautiful products and business concepts.... it was fun to review, but also tough to decide! We only have room for 20. We met yesterday and made some decisions. Here are some pics of products from companies we invited. We'll post the full list of vendors on our website as soon as everyone is confirmed. Mark your calendars now and get your whole list taken care of in one day!

Pics from:
Jen Velarde

Monday, October 12, 2009

Boutique Parties!

We recently particpated in an event called the Indie Collection at Oakbrook Center here in Chicago. It was a really fun event for us as we saw so many of our suburban customers, made some new connections and were joined by several other local designers. I personally loved getting to see other designer lines amongst the traditional retailers at Oakbrook. I bought a dress from a new designer, whom I loved - Kate Boggiano, http://www.kateboggiano.com/ Some of her work was also just featured in In Style. I love her unique twist on classic such as button downs and shirt dresses. Check out the collar on the picture attached.

I know I'm not the only one who loves to shop at these kind of events. And, lately we've had an influx of opportunities to showcase our line at area boutiques. We're excited to bring 1154 LILL to customers while shopping at some of their favorite boutiques.

Here are some upcoming dates -We'll be at Holly G Boutique in Baltimore on 10/17, Urban Belly in Des Moines on 10/20, Avant Garden in Milwaukee on 10/22, Splendor in Milwaukee on 10/31 and Poeme in Cincinnati on 11/5. Check out the line and get some of your holiday shopping done - custom ordering available at all events! No appointment necessary.

You can find more info about all of these events on our facebook page or on our calendar of events page:

http://www.facebook.com/1154LillStudio
http://www.1154lill.com/events/default.asp#ongoing

We'd love to bring our line to one of your favorite boutiques as well. If you have suggestions, we're all ears! You can email your ideas to locallill@1154lill.com

Hope to see you at a boutique near you soon!
Best,
Jen Velarde

Friday, October 9, 2009

Emily's Pick of the Week~ How About Orange

Hello LILL fans! Happy Friday! Today I'd like to feature a super cool blog called How About Orange. How About Orange is a blog written by graphic designer, Jessica Jones. How About Orange features a wide variety of posts related to art, design, DIY projects, and much more. Jessica features things on her blog that she truly loves. I have had so much fun reading this blog! I love that she updates the blog nearly everyday. Jessica even runs her own etsy shop! I recently added How About Orange to the list of blogs that I read everyday. You should check out How About Orange today! How About Orange has teamed up with 1154 LILL Studio for a free giveaway. Go to How About Orange and scroll down to the entry written on October 6, 2009. Check out the post and leave a comment by 12 midnight CST tonight (10/9/09) for your chance to win a free NIKKI bag with G is for Giraffe fabric.
I hope you enjoy reading the new posts and looking through the archives at How About Orange. Scroll down to the entry written on September 28, 2009, entitled Hey, Matt. What's Up. Too funny!
Have a great weekend! Emily R.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Emily's Pick of the Week

Meet our newest style, SANDRA! SANDRA is a great everyday handbag with four pockets on the exterior and the interior. There is also a clip on the inside for your key ring. Our customer, Sandra N. designed her own unique SANDRA bag today. SANDRA is 10% off on our website for the entire month of October.
Sandra N. chose Central Park Tweed for the exterior and English Ivy for the exterior top and strap. She chose Black Poplin for the interior of her bag.
Check out SANDRA! You will receive a 10% discount on your custom or ready made SANDRA throughout the month of October!
Emily R.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Shelley's Fave Five!


To celebrate her five years with LILL on Location, Shelley, our Minneapolis – Western Suburbs Rep is offering a special 20% discount to any of her Minneapolis customers who order any one of her five favorite bags. We asked her to tell us what it is she likes so much about the five she picked. Check out her answers below...

HADLEY The slouchier the better! HADLEY can carry an enormous amount of necessities and keep me looking chic at the same time. Now that both my children are a little older, I've been able to replace the diaper bag with a HADLEY. This keeps me looking super stylish at preschool drop-off! I stash all my smaller accessory bags in there, too (ANNE, LIZ, AUDREY/JANE, JACK).




AUDREY/JANE – As a wife and mom I have found that there is very little that I can claim totally as my own. Among other things, I am
constantly sharing the extra room in my larger handbags (even for my hubby’s wallet & sunglasses!). So there is something very satisfying about carrying an AUDREY stuffed solely with my stuff. I clip a JANE wrist strap to it and can step out with just what I need… and without schlepping everyone else’s gear!



GRACE – Aside from the pure elegance of this on-the-town clutch, I adore this handbag’s name! My dear fr
iends Jen and Robin chose the name for this style after my daughter, Jenna Grace (she's the cutie in the picture with me up at the top). While most think of this as an evening bag, I have had customers who have opted not to have the ruffle accent and then chose a casual, bright patterned fabric paired with an unexpected interior fabric. I love when my customers can truly make a bag style their own.


ANDI – For most of LILL, ANDI is just thought of as a great bag and a constant top seller. For me, it’s both of those things and a sentimental favorite. I received my first ANDI from a friend at a time when I needed a little pick-me-up. She designed it for me in wonderful happy colors - bright turquoise with lime green and orange accents. It is such fun a fun bag and it meant a lot to know she had designed just for me! Goes to show that retail therapy can be good for the soul – especially when combined with a true friend!




SANDRA – My “NEW” Favorite! I know from my customers that zippers, pockets and key clips are in demand! And when you take a look at SANDRA’s features you can tell LILL listens to what its customers want. Just another reason I am proud to work with such an amazing company. Check out SANDRA when it debuts on Oct 1!