Behind the Scenes - Fashion Photoshoot

Apologies for not writing sooner; we have been so busy getting everything ready for the new launch - it is worth the wait!

Having worked super hard on the sampling stage, we were finally ready to get down to the super fun part; the photoshoots! We had a product photoshoot last week and thought you might like to see a sneaky pic of (my personal fave) The Berkeley. This is a real beauty and I've been wearing mine lots lately - it's amazing how nice it is to wear a hands-free bag!

We're almost there with our new site, a wait worth enduring, promise! We are so proud; this really is Made in England in all its glory. Do pre-register at BoBelleLondon.com to receive the updates on the launch.

BoBelle London's HQ at Somerset House

We have been super busy over the last few weeks as we have finally started to settle into our new home, at Somerset House.

Somerset House is the home of all things fashion and design related. It is the perfect match for the BoBelle London brand and we are thrilled to be based here among the likes of Corrie Nielsen, the British Fashion Council, London Fashion Week and more. Read about out exclusive interview with The Industry by clicking here.

Above: Somerset House in all its glory - what a stunning, stunning building.

Above: Claire Watt-Smith enjoying a well-deserved glass of champers during the move

Above: Claire Watt-Smith with some of the new BoBelle London collection at our new home at Somerset House

Above: A beautiful autumn evening just by our office

The new collection is set to launch very soon next month. Showroom appointments can be made by emailing us HERE.

Glitter heaven!

During LFW Claire Watt-Smith, the founder of BoBelle London, was spotted with the brand new glitter ipad case and matching iphone case which are hitting our new e-boutique and stores this October. We have been trying to keep them a secret, but people just love them! Here are a couple of fabulous bloggers, The Online Stylist and Feathers and Frills mentioning them:

Above: The new Glitter ipad and iphone cases from BoBelle London, launching October 2012

"These luxurious accessories belonged to Claire because her company, BoBelle London, produced them. To be honest, when I first saw the iPad and iPhone case, I thought they were Jimmy Choo, which I hope is a compliment to both parties. You may be shocked to know that I don’t own an iPad, but after seeing this case, I feel its becoming an essential piece of equipment which surely would increase my blogging efficiency. Whatever excuse I can find to get my hands on one of these cases, I will find it", Victoria, Frills and Feathers

If you’d seen these stunning glittery covered iPad and iPhone cases then you’d have been distracted too. These are definitely going on my Christmas list!" Amanda, The Online Stylist

Keep up-to-date with our launch by registering your details HERE.

Women in Business

This past couple of weeks have been super busy, not just with getting the launch of our BoBelle handbags ready, but also for our founder, Claire Watt-Smith, going to lots of 'Women in Business' events.

Women in Business is a topic that keeps on being discussed; whether in a positive or negative way. Claire Watt-Smith, having founded BoBelle London, is often asked for her views on issues such as quotas, flexible working, funding, finance and more. Just in the last 2 weeks alone she has attended the Evening Standard's 'A Seat at the Top Table' with Cherie Booth and others, an event at the Said Business School on Women Leadership and then last night with The Sorority having been seen in The Times for their Women Mean Business supplement.

A Seat at the Top Table with the Evening Standard

The Sorority event for women in business - Claire Watt-Smith was even interviewed for their live streaming 

The Women Mean Business supplement that Claire Watt-Smith was featured in exclusively for The Times

Claire Watt-Smith attends the Women in Leadership at the Said Business School

Claire Watt-Smith is an excellent example of a young woman in business who every day is getting both her name out there and her brand, BoBelle London.

LFW thus far....

London Fashion Week is just fabulous -the excitement, the rush, the thrill of the new season and creativity. BoBelle London is right in the thick of it with its new HQ being based at the gorgeous Somerset House. More on that later. Right now, it's all about SS13:

LFW essentials - fortunately Vitamin Water flows (not to mention champagne) 

This is where the magic happens; the beautiful Somerset House

Just by BoBelle London's staircase to our offices - mannequins in stunning SS13 looks - monochrome is set to be a key look next season

Once you've queued outside, this is the queue inside to attend the shows - well worth the wait, obvs

A quick snap before the show begins

A key look for SS13 - beautiful sumptuous fabrics in delicate colours and shades, as seen at Corrie Nielsen

Blocked shapes and lots of silk - again, black and white are the shades to watch out for

Ruffles and attention to detail on porcelain was a trend for next season

 Everyone wants a piece of the action

The dip-dye effect works so well on this stunning ruched effect

My personal fave of the whole show - stunning by Corrie

Anna and I just having a quick coffee in between shows - her fabulous blog is South Molton Street Style

And off to more! 

Vogue's Fashion Night Out

To put it mildly, we have been quite busy here at BoBelle HQ. Not only are we set to move next week to the beautiful fashion hub that is Somerset House, but we are also getting our new lines together for the launch at the end of the month, designing the website and more. However, how could we refuse going to Vogue's FNO? That would be sacrilege. So off we teamed after work to get the lowdown on one of the nicest streets in W1, Bond Street. Here are a few pics:

Sporting one of the new BoBelle beauties set to launch this AW12

I kid you not, the queue for this pop up tent was massive; chocolate vodka, anyone?!

Just to give you an idea of the types of queues some people faced....crazy.

Ah....a refreshing cocktail was in much need. Thank you, Burberry

The Hermes Swinging Silk entertainment was stunning! The dancers were fantastic; they really got the crowd going

This gives you an idea of just how many people turn up for Vogue's Fashion Night Out. This time last year we were at the one in Madrid

The atmosphere is really electric at these events and there is a lot of mingling to be done. The goodies on offer for this night only are incredibly tempting and what better way to start the new season than taking part in this fab event?!

Behind the scenes

I have just returned from beautiful Paris seeing a show and getting inspiration for our new BoBelle London collection which is set to launch very, very soon......

Whilst I was there I couldn't miss the Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs event at Les Arts Decoratifs. What I loved about that exhibition was the attention to detail. For BoBelle's new collection we have spent the equivalent of weeks, if not months, researching, testing, amending and then reverting back to the drawing board to bring our customers the best in British design and manufacturing. I was of course thrilled to see that at LV they too do the same:

The above image is an example of just that; an idea is first thought of, sketches are drawn, patterns are then made, canvas prototypes are produced, leather prototypes are then produced, amendments are made before the final sign off for production. This is a very long process and one that BoBelle is too heavily involved in. Here are a few images of one sample being hand made right here in London for our new collection:

BoBelle London

Above: patterns are being cut to scale by hand

BoBelle London

Above: finished patterns hang in place

BoBelle London

Above: example of the leather that we have selected for this particular bag style - it is oh-so-soft and tailored for this particular style

BoBelle London

Above: just one of the many machines used for stitching

BoBelle London

Above: our sample is almost ready to be assembled and finished

BoBelle London

Above: an up-close shot showing the attention to detail on one of BoBelle London's new handbags

As you can see, an awful lot of detail goes into hand crafting each and every one of our BoBelle London handbags. Only the finest leathers are used, the most exquisite fittings and the most sumptuous finishings. This really is UK handbag manufacturing at its best. Register HERE to be the first to know of our launch.

Inspiration from textures and colours

When designing and thinking of new developments it is important to reign in on all of your senses. So many ideas are born this way and on a recent overseas trip so many textures and vibrant colours inspired us for BoBelle's new collection:

I personally fell in love with the layout of this stone wall. How it stays in place is amazing! The texture of the stones and the varying colours deepened by the sun is so natural. The square yet rounded shape also has inspired us for the new collection set to launch this Autumn 2012.

Who doesn't love this colour?! The aqua shade is just so soothing and relaxing - blue is a big colour for AW12 and we have some beautiful styles coming in this shade. I too personally loved the natural ripples and flaws - a bit like the natural grains on leather.

This fushia pink is incredibly striking and has that automatic feel-good factor. BoBelle has a very special pink clutch coming for AW12 - perfect with any LBD. We cannot wait to show you all.

Green is set to be bang on trend this autumn, too, and the texture of this olive tree surviving in the heat really inspired us.

Now we are back and getting ready for our new launch - do register http://www.bobellelondon.com/preregister.php your details to be informed of when the new collection is out.

Our Crown Clutch is now LIVE

After months of planning, researching and implementing, we are proud to say that the limited edition unique BoBelle London Crown Clutch is now available to buy: http://www.bobellelondon.com/buy.php

This beauty is hand made right here in London using the finest leathers, suede and is encrusted with Swarovski crystals. The detail of this limited edition piece is exquisite; as such, only 300 are being produced to ensure its exclusivity. The design was dreamt of by the design team earlier this year - we wanted to create something über special and über British for our customers in celebration of 2012; what with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics and the re-launch of BoBelle London. Several other variations were thought of, but the Crown Clutch just blew people's breath away. 

One of the finest couturiers is working on hand crafting this clutch for us and we are proud to be so involved in the making. This collector's piece can then be handed down to next generations; it really is a true investment. Each piece is individually numbered, suede lined and presented in its own wooden collector's gift box, making  it so incredibly special. Do let us know what you think and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The BoBelle London Team

http://twitter.com/#!/bobellelondon

http://www.facebook.com/pages/BoBelle-London/112570672116359

Jubilee Fever!

We have a great international following at BoBelle London and we thought we would post up some pics from the fabulous Diamond Jubilee event that was all over the UK this weekend. It really was a once-in-a-lifetime event and boy, did we go all out and have fun! We were obviously wishing for glorious sunshine, but instead we got rain - the classic British weather. Still, that certainly didn't stop us Brits from going all out; from street parties through to concerts, come rain or shine, we had a good time!

Here are a few pictures from the Sunday procession and Monday antics in St James's:

This was my chosen outfit for Her Maj, but unfortunately it just wasn't warm enough....on went the Burberry mac and cashmere scarf. Obviously was sporting BoBelle London's Crown Clutch (available now to pre-order - call +44 (0) 208 743 7308), Christopher Kane t-shirt and MiH jeans. You can't quite see, but I even put on red, white and blue glitter nail varnish....lovely.
Other bloggers and journalists have written about BoBelle London's Crown Clutch including: http://frumpytofunky.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/perfect-royal-clutch-bag.html
http://www.southmoltonststyle.com/
http://pinterest.com/pin/149674387586368556/
http://pinterest.com/pin/67342956898368279/
http://issuu.com/kcreview/docs/kcr_v02_i001
http://theplainmaryjane.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/bobelle-london-designs-limited-edition.html
http://pinterest.com/metrouk/diamond-jubilee-style-ideas/
http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/fashion/shopping/diamong-jubilee-shopping-gallery-28#fbIndex28

Along with copious glasses of English sparkling wine, a truly British day would not be set without Gin Slim and Pimm's (rain optional)

BoBelle London's new HQ is going to be at the glorious Somerset House and we were thrilled to have watched the 1000 boats go by along the Thames from our new to-be HQ. By this stage there was plenty of music, 'hooraying' and good old English banter. We actually got a fabulous pic of the Queen herself - it's funny how patriotic we all are at heart.

On to Monday and Her Maj was given a special concert in the Mall. Unfortunately we didn't get tickets in the ballot so we instead ushered down to St James's Park and watched from there. The atmosphere was electric and the performers were incredible. Tom Jones especially singing 'Delila' got the crowds going. The weather was dry and very pleasant; all in all, perfect.

Took this on the phone and thought it was pretty cool - the London Eye shining in Blue, White and Red. Stunning.

We hope that the Queen, as well as our readers, had a wonderful and memorable Diamond Jubilee!