C.U. at B.U.

Can I tell you about...my talk at B.U. A few months ago I received a heartfelt invitation letter from Kristel Cue who is an undergraduate in Boston University. She was hoping I would find the time to come and speak about the fashion industry, how to get in, stay in and stay ahead. I generally don't enjoy speaking in public but I thought this would be a good opportunity to spread the word about my brand and to meet a new generation of potential customers.
Jackie and I flew in Tuesday morning, March 27 armed with postcards ( listing all the stores in Boston that stock Rafe: Bloomingdales, Moxie, Luna Boston and Jasmine Sola) and a CD for a power point presentation. As soon as they started coming in to the classroom, all of my nervous energy melted away. The group had a lot of questions about the industry, some specific to funding a business and some out of desire to be in it.
Their enthusiasm and curiosity was envigorating. These guys were me, some odd 17 years ago. I could see their hopes and dreams in their eyes.
That evening I had dinner with Lev Glazman and artist Tristan Govignon (http://www.tristangovignon.com/) at Boston's hottest restaurant No.9 Park. (http://www.no9park.com/) Lev is one of the founders of Fresh(http://www.fresh.com/html/new/whatsnew.shtml) and I've been a fan of the line ever since I tried their products a few years ago. It was great to meet someone as passionate about his product as I am about mine. We had a lot in common and he is someone I look up to. I picked his brain about the business as mine was earlier that day. It puts everything in perspective to know someone had gone through what your'e going through and succeeded. It's something to look forward to. The food by the way was out of this world and truly delicious. It's worth a trip back to Boston just for this. We literally closed the restaurant.
The next day we had breakfast with Kristel and her gang of fashionistas. She told me she got a lot of emails from her group and that they were very happy with my talk. I got to know some of them a little bit more and it was really refreshing to see and hear so much optimism. It gives me hope for the next generation.
I'm glad I went. It was a fulfilling experience all in all.

Sample Sale

Can I tell you...about our much anticipated sample sale? Twice a year we hold these events to sell previous season's samples and some odd stock here and there. We had a lot of requests from customers to hold it a bit early for Spring so they get a chance to wear the bags in season as opposed to the end of the season. So it's happening this week, from Wednesday to Friday! Just click on the image to see it bigger and get the details.

Some of you may already have these bags from last Spring but hey, you never know. I recommend coming early because it gets to be pandemonium during lunch time and right after work hours. If you've ever been to one of my sample sales, you'll know what I mean. We're only doing it during the week and we think there will be hardly anything left by Friday. It's a feeding frenzy so as Stanley Tucci said in our favorite movie ( you know which one)," gird your loins"!