Iconic Ponsonby fashion label Kate Sylvester has had its curbside collection service ‘KS Curbside Collect’ ready to go from the start of Level 3 lockdown.
Within the Kate Sylvester current collections are some beautiful pieces perfect for Mother’s Day or special birthday gifts. With gorgeous gift wrapping and packaging, you can order your gift and pick it up from the curbside 30 minutes later.
Sills + Co on Jervois Road in Herne Bay is missing seeing customers and has sought to make the online experience as personal as possible. “Keeping it personal has always been key,” says Sales and Marketing Manager Toni Sills. “During Level 3 and particularly 4, our staff were really missing each other, their stores and their customers because they have built such great relationships.”
For the team at Sills + Co, it’s been less about selling online and more about reaching out to their community and finding ways to keep people’s spirits lifted. “A lot of our staff kept in touch with their communities by becoming Sills + Co Instagram models! Some staff may have been shy at first, but customers loved seeing what our staff were wearing, and what they were doing at home (particularly Julie’s baking – yum!),” explained Toni. The team have enjoyed a wonderful response from customers to the stories staff shared and this will be part of the communications going forward.
“Keeping it local and personal sets us apart from some of the larger international businesses and is our real strength,” says Toni. The Sills + Co team are able to translate the personal touch through phone and online orders making Mother’s Day and birthday gift shopping an easy and wonderful experience.
Some great choices for gifts at any time from Sills + Co include wool cashmere slippers and the Marta cashmere v-neck.
Ruby, another Ponsonby Road icon, has also been finding ways to connect with the community and has had overwhelming success with Ruby Sewing classes. Customers could buy and download patterns with illustrated instructions to make some of Ruby’s most classic pieces. Ruby also even offered some live-stream sewing Q&A classes under Alert Level 4.
The team at Ruby identified just how freeing and satisfying it is to be able to make something for yourself and realised that people in lockdown may have time to learn and explore. They chose their most loved styles to share and allow people who are passionate about learning new things to make their own versions of Ruby classics.
Whether you want to do a sewing project with your mother to celebrate Mother’s Day or ‘gift’ a friend a Ruby sewing project, it will be a satisfying gift to remember for years to come. Of course, Ruby’s latest collections are full of warm, delicious knitwear, hats and scarves, perfect gifts for mums everywhere. The Matilda ruffle blouse paired with a blazer can take you from the work day into a fun evening. The Zoom meeting to Zoom drinks, making a great present for yourself or a friend. Whether at home or out and about social distancing, Ruby’s Corvette trouser can be dressed up or down and the Matilda trouser can be paired with the Matilda blazer for that ‘suited’ look.
The desire to explore your creative side while in your bubble can be a way to manage the enormous change in lifestyle. When we are all so used to ‘shared experiences’, doing most things alone in our bubble can not only take some of the fun out of things, but it can also cause stress. A sewing project, a floral arrangement or painting can all be healthy ways to explore our more creative selves, as well as being a cathartic way to manage change.