A Day at the Contractor

When I first started with Brynn, I had only worked with contractors within the company.  We work with an independent contractor; so working with them has been a whole new experience.  It has been very exciting setting up meetings with them, planning our production runs, making sure we have the materials inventory updated and ready for production, and then checking in on how the run is going.  When Brynn and I went to check up on the Fall 2012 line, they were in the process of working on sewing the Lauren Bags and cutting out the Sophie.  

To the left are the pre cut piles of Sophie bags ready to be sewn.  You can see some of the new fall colors, shown are Spill the Wine (oxblood), Imagine (blue/grey), Mary Jane (olive green), and Foxy Moma (burnt orange).  

We also went to make some changes to our overall order and some adjustments on a few bags. For example, we added a back pocket to the Sophie and changed the strap attachment on the Mini-Lauren.  Last minute changes are possible partly because we produce in Chicago!

To the right is the pile of half sewn Mini- Lauren’s waiting to be finished!  This photo shows the Spill the Wine, Mary Jane, Imagine, and To the Max (black).  There are also a few other leather and fabric colors not featured in these photos.  The contractor is hurrying to get everything done for our Liberation Collection debut next week!  Also, soon to come, sneak peek on Holiday 2012 colors!!

Love,

Your design intern Rebecca  :)

Pre-view of Fall Inspiration

Everyone always wants to know: What is your inspiration?

It's always a funny question to me because so many things inspire me, but because I try to avoid being too trendy, it's always a hard question to answer.  I consider my collection timeless classic pieces that will always stand the "test of time".

But in light of the question, here's my best answer:

Being a So Cal girl, color has always been a part of my life, EVERY season.  Moving to the Midwest, I've had to change that a little.  And I've actually had more fun finding inspiration for fall than I thought I would.  Growing up in the 70's (yes I am officially old), I can't help but remember the  browns, mustards, olives and oranges of the decade, from mixing them with your clothes to even wallpaper (yes, our walls and even our door had wallpaper.)  Believe it or not, I still love those colors, as well as, burgundies and vintage blues. These are perfect for our Liberation Collection.

Besides being inspired by color, one of my favorite movies of the decade was the iconic Annie Hall, Diane Keaton wore menswear so effortlessly and I loved that...from houndstooth to wool blends to tweeds.

Not having a design background, I always just pull inspiration from within and get so excited when I see that my gut instinct is usually right on track.  So when I saw this "Talking Tweed" promo on style.com for Fall 2012, I couldn't help but smile.

Our Fall collection is a 70's and menswear inspired line, honoring houndstooth and shaggy wools to the vivid colors in my memory of my youth. (I just wish I had a picture of the butterfly wallpaper covering our door to share with you!)

Plan.Shop.Post.Click!

Our Marketing lady, Blue, may have gone into some details on our fabulous photo shoot from Sunday, but I am going to reveal the truth.  The dirty details. What really goes on in planning a photo shoot before we hit the set.

I’ve done a couple photo shoots in the past for creative assignments, but I have never been a part of a Brynn Capella shoot…it was definitely an entertaining but crazy ride.

First, I collaborated with the amazing Allison (our PR intern) to research trends of the 70’s as well as determining what approach we should take to suggest that era without duplicating it in a cheesy way.  After we formed our concept board, we set off to the best part- SHOPPING. 

Brynn put a lovely dent in her credit card limit at Nordstrom and Anthropologie, but we got some great pieces for our models including high-waisted pants, loose tops, and other menswear-inspired outfits.  Paired with the array of Brynn’s fall bags, and we were looking forward to some “shagalicious” photos.

Oh, but the ride was not over for me yet.  Because Brynn and I are type-A people on caffeine, we decided to make sheets of all of the outfits, with all of the bags, with all of the pose suggestions in neat little packets…and yes, that did take me FOREVER to complete because my boss always likes to make last minute adjustments to ensure perfection.  Love you Brynn ; )

On the day of the shoot, all of this hard work definitely paid off.  It was definitely the smoothest running shoot for Brynn so far, and I couldn’t help but smile at the final product that I helped create.

Fall 2012 Photo Shoot

Last Sunday was our photo shoot for our Fall 2012 Liberation Collection!  


So much planning goes into a photo shoot, that I didn't realize, from rounding up the perfect outfits to coordinating everyone's schedule.  With Chicago's finicky weather, we had to reschedule the shoot, originally planned for Saturday, due to the rain. Of course, with 0% mentioned, it still drizzled a little.  Ugh!  


But we were ecstatic to have our photo shoot nonetheless.  

 

Carla and Kelly were troopers changing on the streets of downtown and Nicole made their hair look beautiful!  The day started off at the Board of Trade and ended up all the way to the South Loop.

Brynn had a goal to have every bag in the collection shot with our two models Carla and Kelly.  So we had to be on it, getting the next outfit ready, so no time was wasted.

Aside from the cold weather, us girls were ready to face through it, strutting all around the loop in style! This four hour shoot was very fun and flirty! The energy that day was groovy and the bags never looked better!  It that was a great success! 

Get the Celebrity Look!

Back just in time for FALL - our Brownstone Lauren...

Get yours today!

Really?!?!?!

Don't get me wrong, I love Jimmy Choo and Celine like the rest of you...or should I say, I admire them from afar! But really?!?!?! Even at the sale price? And although there's probably a knock off somewhere out there, I would never do that.  I am a firm believer that if you can't afford the real thing don't try to fake it.

 

Makes my sale feel like a steal! Well it kinda is :)  Happy Shopping, only 1 1/2 days left for 30% off our current Fall Lexington Collection!

Fall colors

Just saw this today and wanted to share...

 

I get so excited when the colors I choose for the season, match the clothing from National Designers.  Makes me feel like I am doing something right! LOL

Shades of Berry!!!

According to Shopbop.com (a site in which I have a love/hate relationship with, I mean I love it, love the things they sell, most of the time, but can't afford the prices!), anyway one of the big 8 trends for fall 2011 is "Shades of Berry"...like fine wines!

Which made me think of my fall Winchester leather.  It's a beutiful wine color and as it seems perfect for the upcoming season.  I found this scarf on the site and fell in Love... with the color and texture but not the price!

Lights, Camera, Strike a Pose!

Hey everyone!

Although our recent photo shoot was finalized last minute, the shots turned out great! (Thanks to Rod our wonderful photographer)

Everyone thinks a photo shoot is easy, but I am here to tell you it can be a little overwhelming and a bit crazy!

But I am proud to say, we definitely got some great shots of our Summer "Hey Sailor" Collection (finally!) and even though it's August, we also got some for our Fall "Lexington" Collection (available online shortly!)






All of the interns (Samantha, Emily and I) were there to help make the day run smoothly and of course shop for the outfits!  After trying to get all the office work done for the day, we headed out around 1pm to shop at various stores and pick out items that we think look great with the collection.  I think we did a great job!




Carla has been modeling Brynn's bags since the beginning and is the same size as Brynn, so we already ransacked Brynn's closet for some of her outfits. Rod had hired a model named Madison, so we mainly shopped for her and prayed that it all would fit perfectly.  It did! We were a bit jealous...

We took our suitcases and Ikea bags (they work great for lugging around our samples btw) and headed to Lincoln Park near the marina for our beachy, 70's bohemian, nautical feel images. In true model form, Madison had no problem switching outfits and making every shot work. Her wavy hair looked great with an over-sized floppy hat, big shades, maxi dress and Lauren crossbody.  We got tons of the shots with Madison, before Carla arrived, and we think she makes a nice addition to our everyday-girl models.

Carla's dark hair and dark complexion look ah-mazing with both our summer hues and our neutral fall color palette.  So we wanted to take advantage of Carla's beautiful skin tone, so we took a few more summer shots.

It was a fun day and it really gave me a chance to practice my styling abilities. When one outfit was being photographed the next one had to be prepared and ready, so I had to think fast about what would work together and what wouldn't.  From the shoes, the clothes, the jewelry and the bag, it all had to look great.

We were a little nervous about the fall shots because it was a beautiful bright summer day. But Rod was able to work his magic and make Fall come to life.

Although our Fall collection is equestrian inspired, we were able to stay in the same area but focused more on the grass, trees and nature in general. At one point, we even had an unwanted guest...a squirrel that kept trying to see what was in our suitcases! It made all the girls a little squirrley (pun intended), but Rod chased him away so we could get these great shots!

Our Lauren (left pic: shown in Champagne) is our biggest seller, so it also comes in 5 other colors...Saddle, Moss Creek, Winchester, Wyoming Yellow and of course Black Beauty. We think these colors are perfect for fall and year-round! 


But one of my new favorites is Brynn's re-design of her Samantha bag. She incorporated the double handle and size of the original with a smaller Lauren type body and crossbody strap...so far it's been a big seller with boutiques and we can't wait to see everyone's reactions!

These are just a few of my favorite shots...and a quick peak of what's to come! Until next time...

The Moment We all Have Been Waiting For....

...The One of a Kind Show and Sale!!

Set up for OOKS was in full effect Tuesday and Wednesday. We all worked very hard the past couple months to make this show a success. The goal this year was to have the booth stand out and have our customers be in a shopper friendly environment. Our rockstar wall pretty much-- ROCKS! Brynn has accumulated tons of plaques, rewarding her hard work and dedication during her time spent in the music industry. We hung those as well as pictures of musicians she met along the way. You will find the entire rockstar collection in this area.

Finally the accent wall color was chosen and it turned out great! It really compliments all fall collection handbags and brings warmth to the booth. A surprise for the guys out there has been added to the collection-- key chains. Now men and women can shop Brynn Capella! All key chains are made with 100% Italian leather offered in a variety of colors.

And for everyone with a sweet tooth out there stop by for a tasty treat!

Here's a few photos of set up & video end result!

Rockstar Edtion: Behind the Scences Action!

Our major photoshoot of the season took place Friday, October 29th. This photoshoot comprised of the Rockstar line & the new Spring 2011 line. As you know this time of year in Chicago can get a little chilly out...this day was no exception. We all were freezing during the entire shoot. Unfortunately for our models they had to wear spring looks & try to look warm in the pics.

All & all they handle it like troopers!

Carla & Katelin prepping for the next shot

Angi getting ready for her last look for Spring 2011 line

Some pedestrians walking through our shot... don't worry we got the shot we were looking for!

Interns organizing handbags and clothes

Brynn putting together Carla's Spring look

Our model Veronica shooting for the Spring 2011 collection


The business intern guarding our wardrobe & bags.

Also, one of us was out there! WOOHOO! Our merchandising intern turned model!
Below is her Before & After looks of the day!