2 days ago, I turned 31. I just arrived from Jakarta the day before and I was supercharged with all the excitement that I encountered when we were there. We were invited by the Kagumi Girls (one of the 3 plus size community in Indonesia) to attend a fashion show. I will blog more on that event soon and today, I wish to pay special attention to none other than myself...
Every year this time, I will always ask myself what I have achieved for the past 365days. Did I use it well, did I grow in terms of maturity and most importantly, did my baby KAYLENE grow well. I was sitting down looking at my calender that was filled with events and I must say I am extremely proud of myself for the past 1 year. I really think I truly deserve this A* score as I have achieved a lot. In June 2013, KAYLENE was the first plus size Singapore brand to showcase her work in New York - Full Figured Fashion Week and the response for our collection was very very good. The girls love our collections so much and we have bloggers from all over the world to mention our brands. Over there, we have made new friends like Nicole (model) Keri (model) Gwen (founder of FFFWeek) Marie (blogger) Dani (blogger) and many many more. We still keep in touch with them and once in a while, we will chat via FB or Instagram (@kayleneonline)
We then did a renovation for the shop, a simple but much cleaner layout, redid our logo and in some ways redid our branding and directions. The designs are much more exclusive now and we sealed up some exclusive collaborations with suppliers from Hong Kong and USA. We were also extremely blessed and fortunate to have met our local factory manufacturer which specialised in making top notch local brand in the industry that includes making apparel for Converse, Metro, Dyel etc. I was super blessed by my manufacturer, she gave me important contacts on how to get fabric sourced from Korea and really rare and unique fabric. I met good people along the way this time. It was a really tough transition during that period but we pulled it through, we have crossed a very difficult hurdle. We also did extremely well during the festive period and many old time customers who actually came back to support us told us that they love our new collections and they want more. I was so happy and so touched that the choice I made to rebrand was a wise one. It definitely was a DAMN tough one but we pulled through....
The company also grew in terms of manpower, where we have 'promoted' (sorta) Juliah to be our manager to oversee the day to day duties and also so blessed to have our newcomer Fern to help out in the shop. Office side is good too, with Evelyn stepping up on our online business as well as The Plus Mannequin. My sister Gen has on board too to expand the acessories section as well as junior sizing (which will be launching maybe next year!! UK10-14). In year end, we are very likely to expand too. Details cannot be revealed as yet as there are still alot of talks going on. Our quantity per designs has also expanded! This time in size and and quantity. But we still kept it exclusive and unique, making sure each purchase is special. The increased in quantity is to cater for the girls who tend to be newer than the regulars who got the yummies faster than them. BUT be rest assured, we will still keep a close eye on quantity as well as quality control. The increased quantity was also to make sure that the online business will thrive on her own too, with intention to reach out to overseas customers.
In March this year, the girls and I have started to be on a hunt for bloggers worldwide. The response is extremely good and the next we know, we flew up to Jakarta (6 of us) and met a bunch of new friends. They are from Kagumi and Kombes, a plus size community in Indonesia. Our friendship was genuine and pure, with the intention of bringing 2 countries closer and hopefully form a community that all Asians will join. We also had a Australian blogger (more to come) and Hong Kong blogger who reveiwed our items and expressed how much they love our items. All these is part of a new project in which we will be announcing in later post and I believe you girls will be excited for us as well.
Now that it is June, we are so blessed to have lined up our schedule for the rest of the year all the way till 2015. ALOT of changes are happening and ALL are specially planned out with you in our minds. For a teaser, in July, we will be hosting our FIRST EVER wellness event on seeking alternative health remedies to PCOS and other common 'plus size problems' like Diabetes, Depression and if possible more. (To understand more on why we are doing this read here.) This is part of our project to giving back to you girls and we hope you girls will come support this extremely meaningful event. Later dates and info will be revealed but meanwhile, would like to have a show of hands if anyone are interested in going for this 3 hour talk (dont worry ladies, not selling, this event is borne by us)
In September, we are in talks on doing a special fashion show! But of course, all is still uncertain. More info will be updated along the way. December is going to be SO FUN! we are in talks of expansion and I pray and pray that all will be smooth sailing for KAYLENE and the mall. Please pray for us for this expansion so that more girls will be able to visit KAYLENE at their convenience.
Eh EH! I forgot this blog post if FOR ME and ABOUT ME... ok no more digress. I am very happy and blessed to have very very good people surround me and KAYLENE and placing her where she is today. From suppliers to customers to friends to family to frenmily and to co-workers... they have helped KAYLENE so much. I am never be able to thank each and everyone of you but I will repay it by giving my best for you. If all goes well, KAYLENE will transition into something even more exciting and I believe that will be the best return of love to all people surrounding me.
Argh! I digressed again... the dinner was special with KAYLENE babes attending the dinner and I invited a special friend who is very much a mentor to me and helped grow KAYLENE to where she is. I wanna thank my KAYLENE babes for this special night and I believe next year this year, there will be more girls involved!
Happy Birthday to myself, KAYDE... You did well for the past 1 year and you deserve to give yourself a good hug. More great things will come and enjoy every moment of it. Till next year, I will post again and ask myself the exact same question... What have I achieve so far?
I love you all from the bottom of my heart..
and yes! We all wore yellow! Shooooo cute right! Me likey!
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