At first it was petrifying, I had spend the last year working every extra hour I could to build the foundation of a brand that I had dreamt about for the last decade and all of a sudden orders fell off the edge of a cliff. Like everyone else, I was feeling like we were waking up every morning in a bad dream.
Family life had drastically changed with 4 of us in the house at the same time and with money worry stress at a high, I can't say it was much fun. I had gone self employed just months before, ending my mat leave short from my fashion job, to focus full time on LAW. All I could think about is - what a terrible decision I have made...
After a week or two I managed to give my self a shake and get some positivity back. I stopped watching the news every split second of the day (remember when that was a thing?) Spending my time wisely, I made castles out of loo roll with the girls during the day and started working on my website and social accounts at night, slowly sales picked back up again as people started to relax a bit.
I set myself a challenge of finally getting some of the items on my ever growing 'to do list" ticked off. The first being Klarna. One of the issues many people face when shopping sustainably is price. I was in two minds wether Klarna was a positive addition to my business or just another tool to tempt people to buy things they don't need. However, I came to the conclusion that if something can spread the cost at no extra expense to the customer then shopping small and sustainable doesn't need to have such a daunting price tag.
I launched some new styles. This Melissa Vest top in fresh white linen was one of the styles I was looking forward to including in the range.
With a photoshoot planned the week that lockdown was announced, like most small businesses I had some serious lack of visual content for promoting my new styles and the brand in general.
I reached out to Shauna McGregor, a Southside girl like myself with a wealth of knowledge working in PR and styling. Her interior and fashion style echoed mŷ own and I knew I could trust her to create some gorgeous images with LAW styles. If you haven't come across her yet then check out her blog and socials.
Her styling didn't disappoint, and the monochrome shades of my linen collection fitted perfectly with her beautiful home interior.
Melissa deep v-neck 100% linen vest.
Hayley oversized linen dress.
Shauna looks amazing in the styles, and it was so nice to team up with a local talent with a fast growing social presence and and effortless style. Shauna was so lovely to work with and I was honoured she was happy to help out my brand.
As the weeks of lockdown turn into months, this strange limbo that we are all living in feels like normality now. I have mum guilt on a daily basis as do 99% of other parents working from home with no childcare but I guess the comfort is that we are all in it together. No one knows how long this limbo will last, there are times when I enjoy the challenge of building this brand from home and times where I feel like just walking off into the sunset, but the good news is that LAW is growing and it's only going to get bigger :)
One thing for sure is that I cannot wait for the day that I can drop both kids off at nursery, go to my local coffee shop, put my headphones in and design the next range!