InStyle at Gifts Today October 18 Issue

instyle TOP TRENDS From John Lewis jewellery buyer

WHAT’S NEW Jewellery Fashion accessories

BRING ON THE BLING!

YOUR SHOP, YOUR STYLE

instyle

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ditor’s letter Hello and welcome to this special ‘taster’ of the new InStyle feature in Gifts Today. We’re always talking to our readers and, when lots of our independents started telling us they’d like to see more jewellery and fashion accessories in the magazine, we listened and responded!

This specially designed feature is one you’ll see more of over the coming months, as we bring you the very best in jewellery and fashion accessories for the gift shop setting. We had a brilliant time at the shows, looking at some beautiful product and talking to the people behind them. We were wowed by what’s out there.

From selfie-worthy earrings to the most luxurious pyjamas, statement necklaces to till-side treats, there really is something for every shop, customer and price point. We look forward to bringing you the latest from these companies, as well as industry news, trends and expert comment.

To launch this feature with a splash we caught up with John Lewis & Partners’ buyer Enni Charlton about what she thinks will be on trend next year, and also asked her advice on how the independent retailer can build their own jewellery offering. A fascinating read!

In the meantime, check out our fabulous cover stars Annie Haak and please follow InStyle on Instagram @InStyleGiftsToday.

Do get in touch if you’d like to be involved, learn more or share some news. Myself and Simon would love to hear from you!

Editor: sally@lempublishing.co.uk Media Solutions Manager: simon@lemapublishing.co.uk

Did yo?u know

instyle

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Sea view

Sea Gems is a third generation family company with over 30 years experience in creating original, stylish jewellery and design-led gifts, based in the ancient town of Marazion in Cornwall.

Sea Gems has its roots firmly in Cornwall’s untouched, natural beauty, and captures the essence of Cornwall and perfectly translates it into stunning silver jewellery. Pure Origins has established itself as one of the UK’s influential jewellery brands with stockists throughout the UK and a growing export market. Check them out on: seagems.co.uk

3 of the best: bracelets Stock up on wrist candy with some of the most stylish, affordable designs around byEloise London The home of the original Bangle Band, the hairband that doubles up as a stylish bangle. More than a hundred designs means there’s something for girls of all ages. byeloiselondon.com

Ronin The new Skye range for winter 18 offers bracelets, necklaces and earrings in this striking blue and silver colourway. ronindesigns.co.uk

Carrie Elspeth The company’s best-selling Trio Leather Bracelets have new clasps, finishes and designs, guaranteed to make your tills ring. carrieelspeth.com

A retailer says…

‘Our customers love fashion! Some of our bestsellers include Red Cuckoo bags, Konplott jewellery, Soake umbrellas, Icon watches and Miss Shorthair scarves.’ Says Karen Mace (right), Behind The Red Door, Nottingham, an independent gift boutique in the city’s lace market.

Please contact us for our trade catalogue. www.classiccanes.co.uk

instyle

Trend

Q&A Katie Loxton

COSY UP

Indulge in a sense of luxury with soft wool and softest chambray. Inside or out, there’s plenty to help you keep warm and toasty on cold winter days. These are styles your customers will love.

The founder of Joma jewellery tells us about the brand.

Katie, what was the inspiration behind the range?

We saw a gap in the market for fashionable, contemporary products with meaning and heart behind them.

PoM

Which products are your bestsellers?

The ‘A Little’ bracelet was an instant hit as soon as it launched.

Carefully crafted and designed to be collected, stacked and gifted, we now offer over 300 designs and it’s continuing to grow.

The company’s autumn/winter collection is brimming with new arrivals, timeless classics and on trend must-haves. Scarves, wraps, hats and gloves go bold with tactile textures and spiritlifting pops of colour.

pom925.com

Where are your ranges stocked?

We work with high-end independent gift stores, some garden stores and also John Lewis, Fenwick and other department stores. We are now stocked in over 3000 stockists worldwide.

Yawn

What are the benefits of keeping design in-house?

It gives us complete control, end-to-end, of our products and also allows us to react quickly to trends and sales. We are a team of over 15 designers, now covering product, graphic design and digital.

loveyawn.com

The young British nightwear brand has a mission to help women relax and feel good. With PJs this luxurious, staying in is definitely the new going out! Check them out.

Yawn

What’s going to be new for AW18 and SS19?

We’re really excited to launch our Signature Stones collection. Each piece showcases real semi-precious stones and is finished with a sentiment bar, to make it that extra bit more personal. jomajewellery.com PoM

Bring on the bling!

Joe Davies have seen huge growth in their popular Equilibrium collection of jewellery and fashion accessories. Now with over 2000 designs, the range has something for everyone.

Beautifully packaged and fabulous quality. joedavies.co.uk

2 becomes 1

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25/09/2018 16:51:52

instyle retail

Jewel in the crown When it comes to bringing on the bling, John Lewis & Partners has it covered. Editor Sally Norton caught up with Enni Charlton, jewellery & watch buyer, to discover what’s she’s e’s buying, future uture trends and what the independent can learn from om this hig high street favourite.

Head to any trade show these days and pretty soon you’ll spot one category that seems to be getting more floor space every season – jewellery. There’s so much variety out there, and such a wide range of price points, that there really is something for every store – so long as you know what to choose! With this in mind, we asked buyer Enni to spill the beans on how the JL jewellery team go about curating the perfect selection across their 50 stores as well as online.

Enni, what was your career journey to becoming jewellery buyer?

I’ve been a Partner at John Lewis for around 15 years now, covering a few roles including buying for electricals and sports. When I

‘All types of earrings are doing really well and I think this is partly because of the whole social media trend for selfies’

rom maternity leave came back from a year and a half ago, the jewelole happened to be lery buyer role vacant and I jumped at it! I absolutely lovee jewellery and, as d say that jewela female, I’d lery really iss my dream buying category. gory. I’m part of a team m of nine and my main n role, alongside my senior merchandisers, ers, is buying jewellery. ellery.

Is there a typical ypical John Lewis jewellery llery customer?

To be honestt it varies, and we really try to cater for a huge range of customers tomers and occasions. We’re definitely seeing a trend towards ds brands that have a more modern, rn, younger feel, and these ones are selling really well.

Daywear is also important and we have to be sure ure we hit the right price point for the everyday yday and that’s where our own John Lewis range comes in. Mind you, i l occasion i people also come to us ffor special purchases for events like engagements and weddings, so we really do have a lot of

different customers. Overall, O we try to create a balance, wit with a service offering, quick pick u ups for those who just want to ge get something to match an outfit, t and our top-of-the-coun ranges. top-of-the-counter Where are ssales strong at the mom moment?

All type types of earrings are doi doing really well and I think this is partly be because of the whole social media trend for selfies. selfies. It’s all about the face, and earr earrings really stand out.

Resin earrings aare doing well for us as statement pie pieces, often for the older market. C Costume jewellery is definitely a gr growing trend for us, and I don’t think that’ll be very different from everyone eve else.

We do well with finer pieces for our younger customers and we find that they’re definitely coming to us to buy the more on-trend pieces, such as fine neckllaces ffor the h current llayering i trend. We also find that hoop earrings aren’t going anywhere and really bring the younger market to our doors. One of my personal favourites is our new Modern Rarity range and I’ll be asking my husband for some beautiful hoop earrings with diamonds for Christmas.

Our top-of-the-counter boxed ranges are also popular because they’re so accessible to our customers. When you’re in a rush and not relying on service, they’re a great way to pick up a gift or self-purchase.

instyle retail Looking ahead to SS19, what do you think will be the big trends?

I don’t think earrings will fail and we will be still focusing predominantly on the ears. We’re going to test and trial selling single stud earrings, and we’ll be seeing a lot of ‘crawler’ earrings coming through.

I also think the layering of necklaces will continue to grow, as it’s incredibly popular on social media and in the glossy magazines. This trend is where shorter necklaces are worn with longer ones, and we’ve spotted people starting to buy two or three of the fine type to get that look.

Premium watches do really eally well for us, too, especially at Christmas, hristmas, and attract the traditional John Lewis customer, perhaps becausee they have a lot of heritage behind them. em. We also find that people are really going for lifestyle pieces and that’s why some of the watch brands like Olivia Burton and Daniel Wellington are doing well.

I mean, if you’re already wearing a watch, why wouldn’t you want to match ch it up with some jewellery?

How do you decide what items to offer?

As buyers for John Lewis, we try to curate a range rather than simply of-hat’s fering everything within a range. Th That’s he choicee as because we like to make the stomerss. easy as possible for our customers.

What are the big trends for or AW W and Christmas 2018?

Brooches are set to do particularly ticularly ularly well we for autumn/winter, particularly as younger audiences are now opening their eyes to them having seen them on the catwalks and in magazines. Resin will continue to do well and, I think, animal print resin in particular will be popular – especially on earrings.

Does your jewellery offering vary from store to store and online?

Other than our secondhand range, our strategy is to offer the same range across all stores, dep dependent on their size. We give th the same range to most of our stores, apart from so some of the higher-end pieces to some store stores where we know there’s that premium cus customer base. And, in terms of styling, we keep ke it consistent, meaning for instance there ther will always be a selection of rose gold in all a our stores. ha the same offering in store We also have and online. IIf you’re a customer, you’ll o ssee a product in store if you’ve want to n it online, to hold the silver seen a again against your skin tone, to see if it suit you. That’s important for us suits be because we want to minimize returns.

Wh Where does most of your inspiration ratio come from generally?

We do go to most of the shows like International Internat Jewellery London, Top Drawe Drawer and so on. We also get approached quite qu a bit from potential suppliers. However However, social media plays a huge part. We look at people’s branding, their followers. It’s It’ not just about the products now, it’s about abou being a retail brand. You need to cut through th the noise these days.

What advice would you give to the small independent retailer when putting together a jewellery offering?

Start with one brand to ensure you don’t split your focus. Look for a brand that stands out, that tells a lifestyle story. Try and see it from a customer point of view, and consider what’s going to make an impact and what you can do to support that.

As you start to add new brands, look at what you already have and try to offer something different – there’s no point adding something that will take away sales from your current brands.

Review every season and look at performance. If a brand isn’t doing well or there isn’t a demand for it, consider working with the supplier to see what you can do.

If demand tails off, then start looking at new brands to replace it. Finally, keep a close eye on your competitors to see what they’re doing.

instyle

Spotted!

British, nature-inspired jewellery brand Henryka showcased their new Antlers collection at International Jewellery London in September. The four-piece capsule range offers customers a delicate take on the company’s popular stag motif, with sterling silver pieces designed for everyday wear.

Founded by designer Anna Emmett in 2006, Henryka can now boast 80 stockists in the UK and Ireland, and aims to open 100 new accounts with retailers by the end of the year. Visit: henryka.co.uk

Beautifully bespoke Have an idea for a piece of jewellery or scarf and want to turn it into a reality for your store? Well, British family business Alexander Thurlow – known for their stunning Poppy range - can produce a product exclusively for you. The inspiration can be provided over the phone from a sketch or a photograph.

What’s more, they offer speed, great quality and very manageable production quantities. Visit: alexanderthurlow.com

Mickey’s birthday bling!

It’s Mickey Mouse’s 90th birthday this November and Couture Kingdom is joining in the party. The UK distributor of licensed Disney jewellery – formerly Disney Couture – has launched a new jewellery collection paying homage to the mouse that started it all.

Designed with adult fans in mind, the pieces reflect the fun and nostalgia associated with Mickey. The West Midlandsbased business supplies both independent stores and high profile retailers such as The Disney Store and Watch Shop.

Visit: couturekingdom.co.uk

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