I took on a PR company to help launch Donna Ida about 4-6 months before the doors opened. I can't remember exactly how long it was before but thank god I did - they were amazing.
I worked with a girl called Lydia who was like my business partner during that time. She was always on the phone and was the 'don't panic' in my 'PANIC!'. I was taking over Betsey Johnson on Draycott Avenue in Chelsea and because we had no images of the shop, not even an image of what it would look like, Lydia came up with the idea of commissioning an illustrator to create some images we could use for press.
I had created characters in my business plan so investors would buy into the concept and understand who I thought our customer would be. We met with Adrian Valencia and I presented the idea of the characters to him. He loved it and totally got it straight away. When I look back now I can see how spot on I got our customer without realising. These girls ARE our Donna Ida customers.
I can look at every single one of them and tell you who's who. I won't though; you'll have to come in and try to spot them yourself :)
So here’s Clare Darling, Foxy Lady, Manhatten Missy, Red Montgomery, Mercedes Monaco and Sexy Sadie.
