Friday 19 August 2011

I'm a Gilly Girl...who loves to slurp tea!


My favourites: apple ice tea with apple jelly! Strawberry ice tea with strawberry bubbles and original milk tea with tapioca YUM!

(L-R clockwise) Peach Ice Tea with grape jelly, Mango Ice Tea with mango bubbles, Lychee Ice Tea with apple jelly, Strawberry Ice Tea with Lychee bubbles and guava slush with apple jelly @ BoBo Tea Manchester

My absolute favourite of favourites: Matcha Green Tea Frappe! MmMm!! (These were staff drinks hehe)

What a mad two weeks!>< I've been non stop preparing and working with Jacqui & the team to make sure the new opening of BoBo Tea in the Arndale Centre went smoothly. It was an extremely successful day- I'm so proud of my sister and everyone who's been doing their part! We worked solidly through the 9th August opening day and I didn't get a sip of tea til 6pm! We had an amazingly busy day despite closing early due to the riots in Manchester, and sold out of tea in two hours! We had a visit from Bluewater, the lady loved my branding for BoBo Tea and is really keen to have us in their shopping centre despite receiving so many requests from people to open one! Yayy! Really looking forward to seeing the second kiosk opening, which I may be managing =)

I still love my lingerie, theres no doubt about that, when i set foot (surprisingly!) for the first time into Gilly Hicks (Westfields) and Boux Avenue (Blue Water) earlier this week. I instantly fell in love with the whole look of the Boux Avenue store- a much prettier version of Ann Summers, just what I wanted to see happen in shopping centres. The hangers made the products look uber expensive, although I wasn't convinced on the underwear styles. Gilly Hicks did not disappoint either, with an expected Abercrombie/Hollister look to the store, but OMG! all the mannequins were dressed in cute bras, shorts and cardis! Definately my favourite at-home 'lounge look'. Took home the cutest sleep shorts in their signature floral print. Would have got the matching bra and knicker is they were in a set- boo! and also the cute navy 'G' cardi which they were sold out in! Sounds like a second trip is in order for next week? 25%off Gilly Hicks Shopping event? oOo yes pleeeease!!


Saturday 6 August 2011

My inner weakness:Crazy Kawaii Cuteness!

Cute cupcakes - I can't rmb the designer but she's super talented. I'll try find out!

I remember back at uni, we were designing a project for WOW, and my lecturer, Dee, said to me that I should design something that is really more 'my style'. She noticed my pencil case, bag and notebooks were far from the sophisticated belongings of a 'mature student'... and suggested i design a collection with cute little motifs on them. NOWAY!
However much I love cute smiley-faced colourful milk cartons and Rilakumma plushies, it is one thing that just can't be combined with the inner love of romantic, pretty lingerie that I so enjoy designing. They are complete opposites, and you could say that I'm a two-faced designer because I'm completely torn between the two styles.
Growing up in an Oriental culture, I naturally became a Hello Kitty worshipper at a young age, and it didn't seem to wear off with age; if anything I'm more obsessed than ever before. If I don't spend my nights scouring blogs and websites for Swarovski and lingerie related images, I'm sat there in complete fascination looking for cute things. On the otherside, I actually spent most of my life in Europe so with the western influence, I became captivated by the glamorous and grown-up society of living in UK, which eventually led me to lingerie design.

My unhealthy obsession with all things cute needs to be vented another way! Now that my sister has started her business in bubble tea I <3 BoBo Tea (a very popular drink in Asia/US with a variety of flavours and chewy tapioca balls) I have somewhere to channel my cute obsession yet at the same time carry on with what I earnt a degree in! I'm ever more excited now that I am able to design both without having to combine the two!
Most recently I've been designing her brand identity, menu, graphics, uniforms and also everything along the way from promotion to press releases. Its been so hands on and challenging its almost become an internship!
I've had so much input into the image of the store I feel like its a big part of what I am that is being represented. Can't wait for the launch in 4 days!! Eeek!

My lingerie at The Night of the Catwoman show, Studio Valbonne 29th July 2011

BoBo Tea menu i designed for my sister (Photos and artwork are copyright -BoBo Tea Ltd. )