With some quieter time now that we have reached the end of 2021 we wanted to look back and reflect on how we got here, and our plans for 2022.
January – February – March
We kicked off the year by creating a new range of cravats, unsure when we would all have more opportunities to wear them. Roll forward to November and we appear to have been ahead of the curve, with Jeremy Irons in House Of Gucci and press like British GQ highlighting them as a returning trend. We’ve had lovely reviews from customers and even a custom order in satin!
April – May - June
These were exciting months when we started to become our own shop in a box – literally! With the help of a local carpenter, we created a steamer trunk to fill with our products to take on the road to events and give us a real “pop-up” shop feeling.
Inside the travelling salesman suitcase, we were excited to launch our unisex skincare range, Style Squad range on artwork, cards, badges and t-shirts, and our candle and diffuser range.
July – August - September
We loved getting back out to sell to the public in person, even if Ewhurst Carnival was one of the wettest starts to the day ever!
Around the stormy summer we worked to create our own promotional video, showing behind the scenes, and recreating our first ever photo taken as Dapper & Suave. It’s become one of the most viewed videos on our YouTube, and really captures the fun and hard work we put into our brand.
We started to create more marketing for the business including a promotional coaster (beermat!) that we include in every online order and to visitors at events.
We also achieved Star Seller status on Etsy, something we are very proud of, reflecting our passion for creating quality handmade products and providing excellent customer service.
October – November - December
With Daniel Craig finally returning the big screen as James Bond, we relaunched our range of self-tie bowties and saw a great uptake in our vintage bowties.
Demonstrating how to tie them always draws a crowd at events, helping to make them so much more approachable to wear!
The markets we attended including those we host were a strong success, and it was great to be working together, rather than hosting and selling separately as we do at our own. Packing and unpacking the car became a military operation and selling and talking to customers gave us a real buzz – late nights and early mornings keeping ourselves in stock was well worth it.
We’ve finished the year with a few new designs launched and already selling and created a new range of covered hair bands in our signature prints to freshen up our range.
Into 2022
Looking back to our expectations for the business in 2021, we were hoping to evolve into more of a lifestyle brand rooted in our handmade quirky accessories range. We’re really pleased to have new customers finding us and repeat buyers returning, leaving us some lovely reviews.
As we head into 2022, we look forward to finding new designs to continue to raise a smile and start conversations. And of course – we have those Style Squad story books to launch!
We want to say a big thank you to our customers, family, friends, and other small businesses for your support, and to wish you all a very Happy New Year!
Rob & Jason
Dapper & Suave