Nestled amongst twinkling candle light, piles of goodies, including our book ‘Semple: Women Fashion Stories’, filled the tables of the The Ivy Club’s inviting Loft Room on Tuesday night. Our friends and supporters started to enter our informal celebration, happily greeting and meeting each other and while the drinks flowed, a sense of anticipation and excitement intensified, feeding from the energy within the room.
The reason behind this gathering of wonderful people who have supported, worked with, or been a friend of Maggie Semple Limited since our launch back in October 2010, was in celebration of our 1st anniversary. A celebration to recognise the successes and achievements of the past year, including the brilliant people we have been lucky enough to work with, such as the legendary Roland Klein, Caryn Franklin and our compere for the evening, Caroline Jackson Levy. We have attended London Fashion Week and amazing London exhibitions such as Grayson Perry’s ‘Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman’ and ‘The House of Annie Lennox’. We have heard Women’s Fashion Stories, and delved further into our exploration of inspirational women and the stories behind their treasured garments. But we were not solely celebrating the past. We were also celebrating the future, and all it holds for us. As you may have read in Maggie’s weekly letter, we are launching some exciting new projects, which were exclusively revealed at our Ivy event. You can read more about our exciting new product ‘Behind the Seam’s’ and our fantastic short film, in Maggie’s letter here.
As the Semple team talked over the success of the party the next day and shared our personal experiences of the evening, we agreed that our night at the Ivy was also symbolic of the founding principles of MSL. Initially unknown to each other, MSL helped connect two women who have both launched their own personal styling businesses. Arriving at the party keen to meet other inspirational women, Kathy Higham, a personal style consultant who has been using workshops to advise women on colour, image and accessories for over a year, was soon introduced to Hannah Jean, an Image Consultant who founded ‘Find My Style’. Not only was this an opportunity for these two women to discuss their ideas, it was also a chance for MSL to see how our belief in creating networks can be developed and extended through the women we work with. It was also a valuable opportunity for people beginning in their career to network with others, as proved by the talented Semple interns who chatted to established women such as bespoke women’s wear designer Susie Stone, friend of Hannah Jean. It was a place to network, share advice, and take inspiration from the successes of others, as seen from the small captivated audience which the fabulous Robin Dalton commanded for the duration of the night.
Fashion, of course, was a great conversation starter and an interest each guest, no matter what background they hail from, had in common, and compliments for style and outfits bounced around the room. Maggie herself admired the wonderful Jan Leemings beautifully elegant Roland Klein jacket which she has owned for many years and still treasures today, a perfect example of the MSL stories we love to hear.
Following our significant and symbolic night at the Ivy, we hope you can all join us in celebrating our 1st anniversary, and look forward to the success we have to come.
Thank you to Psychologies Magazine for providing us with copies of your wonderful publication which we hope our guests enjoyed, and Susie Stone for her beautifully presented cards.