Briers team up with HemingwayDesign and designers Wayne Hemingway MBE and Gerardine Hemingway MBE to meet demand for fashion in gardening and leisure
Leading gardening gloves and footwear supplier, Briers, has teamed up with the British designers, Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway MBE and their award winning HemingwayDesign team to create four exciting new ranges of gardening wellies, gloves and rainmacs.
Designed by the Red or Dead founders exclusively for Briers, the ranges fulfil Briers' commitment to make fashionable clothing and accessories a genuine option for stylish consumers. All four collections - along with other new Briers products - will be launched at this year's Glee exhibition in September.
The HemingwayDesign product ranges comprise:
Pop Splash,inspired by the pop art movement that emerged in the UK and the US in the 1950s
Grid,inspired by the table tops in 1950s caffs and early lino floors
Tulips, a collection inspired by the wide variety of colours seen in tulips, from mustard and grey to blue and green
Typo,giving some of the HemingwayDesign team's favourite fonts an airing in the form of words about wellies
Briers believe there has long been a gap in the market for design-led ladies gardening gloves, footwear and accessories. As well as providing high levels of protection against hazards in the garden, excellent functionality and durability, quality products can also be colourful, stylish and contemporary.
"Colour and trend matter in retail," says Jackie Eades, Managing Director of Briers. "Products that stand out and attract the consumer's attention are those that shout, ‘I'm fashionable and modern.' This is as true for gardening products as it is for any other type of clothing and accessories. And it's why trend prediction publications, market research and attendance at trade shows play such an important role in product development for manufacturers of on-trend products"
Paying attention to trends is essential to excite the consumer whose tastes are constantly evolving. Women, who are particularly in tune with changing fashions, are very trend-conscious buyers.
Festivals are an increasingly central part of the British summer - and what would a festival be without mud and rain? One thing consumers always prepare for is the unpredictable British weather, so waterproof footwear is an essential festival item.
Also vital is comfort. At events such as Glastonbury, which catered for over 175,000 attendees in 2013, and T in the Park which hosted some 70,000 attendees in 2012, festival-goers are constantly on their feet. Many consumers will head to garden centres for a good value, high quality welly that meets their needs in terms of practicality and style.
Summer seasons see many festival-goers plan their important wardrobes for these events well in advance. Highly fashion-conscious, they see festivals not only as music and entertainment spectaculars, but as hotspots of new trends too. Getting the right look is of utmost importance.
For many, one pair of wellies will simply not be enough. This means that a good selection of styles and colours in a range is an important factor. Leg shape and potential weather conditions are also important considerations. Wider cuts give more generous calf room and provide the option to tuck jeans in.
Retailers who take steps to understand - and meet - the needs of their customers will be best placed to profit from the growing market in festival footwear.
The Hemingways' influence on design can be seen in fashion, urban planning, housing, consumer products and graphics. As fashion designers they founded Red or Dead in 1982. After selling their successful brand to Pentlands Plc in 1996, Wayne and Gerardine established HemingwayDesign, which specialises in affordable and social design. HemingwayDesign has won several awards for projects ranging from regeneration to festival design.
Wayne is on the trustee board of both The Design Council and The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.
Commenting on the new Hemingway designed products, Jackie Eades said, "Working with the Hemingways' on the creation of these new products has enabled us to couple high quality materials and production with designs that are distinctive, original and fun. We look forward to presenting these exciting new designs to retailers at Glee in September."
Briers will be exhibiting on Stand C40-D41 in Hall 5 at Glee, which takes place from 15 - 17 September at the NEC in Birmingham.
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For more information contact:
Maria Bretti
redheadPR
Tel: 07854 819 213
Email:maria@redheadpr.co.uk