Leathergoods firm takes part in mobile technology challenge
19/11/2008
Anna Vince and Fiona Wymes, the co-founders of London-based leathergoods company Anna Vince, agreed to take part in a one-week trial of mobile technology, organised by the Financial Times.
As part of the deal, they had to agree not to use their office for a week, but used phones, cameras and laptops with high-speed mobile broadband capability and worked from trains, cafés and other public places instead.
At the end of the week-long trial, Ms Vince said it had been “really exhausting” a lot of the time finding a quiet place to work, and she said that being out constantly had put too many distractions and temptations, such as shop windows, in her way, which she felt held her back from doing as many design sketches as she would normally have done.
Nevertheless, there were benefits to this. Well known for using knotting in leathergoods such as belts, Ms Vince said seeing a vintage belt made from snakeskin in one display gave her an idea about how she can use knotting in a new way. Rather than stand in the street sketching, she used the T-Mobile MDA Compact IV phone she had been given for the duration of the trial to take a picture of it.
Also, going to the café at iconic department store Liberty’s one day, just to get some work done at a time she knew it would be quiet, led to an impromptu meeting with one of the buyers there and a conversation about some of the ideas she is planning for the Anna Vince autumn-winter 2009 collection.
For her part, Fiona Wynes said she had enjoyed the experience and that having the freedom to do more networking—an essential part of the fashion business—had been a positive consequence of being out and about. Having to carry so many different devices around has convinced her that the brand should add laptop bags for fashionistas to its range.
The main negative point for her was having no access to samples. She said afterwards: “Because our belts and bags are physical products it would be impossible to carry around everything we might need. When (high-end retailer) Browns Focus, one of our most important clients, rang for samples, it was a real wrench telling them we couldn’t send any for a week. Luckily for us, they were willing to wait till we could get back into the office.”
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