Set in the beautiful South Downs, the inaugural fashion and music festival ‘Vintage at Goodwood’was held last weekend (13th-15th August) to celebrate 5 decades of British cool, pre-1990s. A plethora of all things vintage, the festival included retro DJs, bands and clothing stalls as well as contemporary offerings from bands and brands who embody British heritage. Launched by fashion designer Wayne Hemmingway (founder of label ‘Red or Dead’) and his wife Geraldine, ‘Vintage’ (as it has been shortened to!) is described on the official website as:

“The new annual Festival of Britain. Whether your thing is Swing, Rockabilly, Mod, Soul, Funk, Disco, Ska, Electro, Burlesque, Film, Art & Design, or you just want to dress up and get an authentic ‘flat top’ and make-over for a day, Vintage at Goodwood will be visual, responsible, aural and sensual, a big family dressing up box, a collectors dream and a joyous creative feast for all ages.”

Aside from the fabulous fashion and frolicking good fun, whats even better, Vintage at Goodwood was supporting Oxfam this year (check out the video below). Other highlights included the ‘Chap Olympics, with umbrella jousting and sandwich tossing, and sets by Swing out Sister, Heaven 17 and The Faces with Mick Hucknall.

Vintage at Goodwood will be back again next August and for more info see: http://www.vintageatgoodwood.com/home.aspx

Ever since we borrowed a beautiful Pashley ‘Brittania’ bike from our friends around the corner at Cycle Surgery http://www.cyclesurgery.com/ for our new catalogue, a love affair has ensued. How apt then that Boris has finally introduced the much talked about Barclay’s Cycle Hire scheme in London. There are 6000 bikes and 400 docking stations across the capital where you can pick up and drop off a bike. Hiring a bike is easy; membership which gives you an electronic key costs just £3 and daily, weekly or annual access fees are £1, £5 and £45 respectively. If you only use the bike for half an hour it is free and an hour’s usage costs £1, (what an absolute snip!) Usage charges do increase as 2 and a half hours will cost you £10 and up to 6 hours £35. It has been advised that to hire a bike for more than a couple of hours it might be cheaper for you to use a company that specialises in hiring for longer periods. If all goes well in London then the scheme will become available nationwide. Dont forget your cycle helmet though, you cant hire one due to the problems with theft/sizing, so make sure you get yourself one to take with you when you are likely to rent.

So if you fancy yourself as a Lance Armstrong or Victoria Pendleton, sling your knomo over your shoulder and saddle up for a cheap, quick and efficient way to travel while you burn some calories AND look after the environment.  For more info see http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/14811.aspx. On yer bike!

Apple’s largest store WORLDWIDE opened at the weekend in Covent Garden, in the old market area, complete with restored historic features of the building from days gone by. Of course, there’s nothing retro or old skool about Apple’s style, but the Covent Garden store seamlessly blends the old with new. As the brands 300^th store worldwide, complete with 300 members of staff, the excitement was palpable and people were queuing around the block to get a glimpse of the store when it opened. To celebrate the launch, Apple produced 4000 limited edition T-shirts to hand out to fans, which reportedly ran out in just 4 hours. It is hoped that the new store will provide some relief for the Regent Street store which is the busiest Apple Store in the world (and our local store to knomo HQ!).

Howard, our MD,  got a sneak preview of the new Covent Garden store last Thursday and had a chance to check out knomo’s positioning while he was there. It’s alright for some isn’t it?! Have you visited the new store? If you have, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

This week London’s Trafalgar Square is home to a giant maze with various areas representing different locations in London’s West End. There are snippets of trivia throughout the maze to amuse and educate you as you get lost, such as ‘Where was the grapefruit first introduced to London? Why did a local viscount invest in a herd of goats? Where was the studio in which Monty Python’s Flying Circus was produced?’ and other great pub quiz titbits.  There will be a different form of entertainment in the centre of the maze each day, including a performance from ‘Priscilla Queen of the Desert’ and a Chinese Dragon.

As the brainchild of the West End Partnership, the Maze hopes to encourage tourists and Londoners alike to visit different areas of the West End which they may not have previously considered and to educate them about the history and culture of the West End. No doubt this is also an idea to help tourists travel on foot rather than by tube to ease up our congested travel system – I’m game, are you?!

For the last four years knomo have been proud supporters of Women in the City, which promotes the Women in the City Network which promotes, recognises and rewards female talent in the professional world.  Starting off as a luncheon for women working in The City and progressing to the Women of Achievement Awards as well as other occasions, Women in the City facilitate effective strategic networking, actively create opportunities to bring together its community of like-minded women, and is fast becoming the leading opinion former for London’s professional women. 

On July 8^th 2010, WIC launched their inaugural Future Leaders Awards, the first event of its kind, comprising an evening which celebrated and identified women with the potential to be leaders of tomorrow. knomo were extremely privileged to attend and provide prizes for the finalists and overall winner. All five finalists – Rebecca Scott, Victoria Spencer, Felicia Trewin, Claire Warnes and Shelley White – are women who excelled in their field of work as well as supporting younger employees to grow in their careers and to reach their full potential. The finalists were also very generous with their time outside of the office; engaging in numerous charitable activities and other ventures.

knomo provided a red leather Quetta Briefcase for each of the finalists http://www.knomobags.com/uk/women/collections/berkeley/quetta-1.html/ and a black patent Rosa shoulder bag for the overall winner http://www.knomobags.com/uk/women/collections/berkeley/rosa-2.html/. Thankfully, when our Brand Manager, Caroline, was invited to present the prizes on stage, the ripple of excitement through the recipients was plain to see, and each was absolutely thrilled with their gift!

The overall winner of the Future Leaders Award was Felicia Trewin, a technologist, outsourcing specialist, management consultant and a senior manager at Deloitte. knomo would like to congratulate Felicia and the other 4 finalists once again, and we sincerely hope you all enjoy using your knomo bags!!

 http://www.citywomen.co.uk/

No, not your waistline (we don’t pretend to be experts on that!) but rather, slimming down the contents of your suitcase. As well-seasoned travellers, we love to jet off somewhere exotic (or not so exotic depending upon the meeting!) with our knomo suitcase in hand, and packing well is essential for a stress-free trip. With the summer holidays coming up, if you struggle to know what to do and end up packing everything ‘just in case’, then check out our essential tips for suitcase success:

 1) Before you think about how many outfits to pack check the airline’s website for your weight allowance and how many pieces of luggage you’re permitted to take.

2) Know your destination and choose your clothes accordingly. There’s no point in taking 8 bikinis if you’re going on a city break and similarly research the culture; find out if you need to keep your arms/hair/ankles/all of the aforementioned covered when visiting certain destinations.

3) Whether you are a flat-packer or a roller (we like to use both methods) make sure you put your heavy items in the bottom so you don’t squish any delicate pieces. Socks are good rolled, and shirts/suits/dresses are best flat-packed for minimum creasing.

4) Protect your garments. Put all of your toiletries and shoes in plastic bags to avoid any spillages or dirt from shoes soiling your clothes.

5) Always clearly label your luggage inside and out so that if it gets lost you can be contacted, especially if the outside label becomes detached in transit. To retrieve your luggage ASAP, mark your luggage tag with your name and mobile number (not forgetting the country dialling code +44 for the UK). If you’re using a knomo bag then the handy tracker tag will help find your luggage’s whereabouts.

No, not with Phil and Kirstie (we do love them though!), but London locations, knomo-style. Yesterday we were hot-footing it around London in the baking heat; knomo bags in hand, with our wonderful fashion/lifestyle photographer Caroline Leeming. Caroline took shots of our vibrant capital which provide much of the inspiration behind our beautiful bags, for our forthcoming lookbook.

Our first stop was Covent Garden at silly-o’clock in the morning to ensure that we arrived before all the hustle and bustle. We were there even before the coffee shops opened (we REALLY needed a caffeine boost too – such a catch-22!) With the shots secured, along with a much-needed caffeine hit, we headed over to the serenely beautiful Primrose Hill; an area famed for its A-list residents, at the north end of the stunning Regent’s Park. Hanging bags in trees proved an interesting challenge! Read more

Well after all that excitement, World Cup 2010 has finally come to a close with Spain achieving a well-deserved Final victory over Holland. Not only are Spain the first European team to win a World Cup outside their continent, but it was also Spain’s first time in the World Cup final. Now Spain can wear their home kit with even more pride, displaying that all important gold star above their badge, signifying their World Cup win.

Of course you may be wondering who won the knomo World Cup sweepstake….Howard our MD claimed first prize. We’re sure it wasn’t a fix…well, maybe we’re all just a teensy bit jealous…and he has been blowing his vuvuzela all week since the win; especially as it took place in his home country of SA. We were all really pleased and appreciative when he took us for a celebratory lunch on Friday using his winnings, over with our friends at The Social on Little Portland St, W1. http://www.thesocial.com/

We’ve all thoroughly enjoyed this World Cup for the amazing wins, shock defeats and office banter, and we thought South Africa did a fantastic job as the host nation. Roll on Euro 2012!

Thanks to the absolutely gorgeous weather we have had in Britain so far this summer (thank you Met Office, for once you predicted a heatwave and got it right!) why not make like the cool-kids and forego your holiday abroad for an uber-trendy staycation (that’s a holiday in your own country for those of you who aren’t down with the lingo!). Not only is it bang-on-trend, but it is also good for your bank balance, your carbon footprint and great for local tourism.

 Check out knomo’s top 5 destinations for a ‘staycation’ in the UK…  Read more

Well, as you have no doubt seen, not only are England out of the Cup, but so are the host nation, South Africa, and our knomo counter-parts across the pond, the USA.  Now we’ve reached the quarter-finals, only a handful of the knomo team are left in to win our sweepstake -check it out: 

Howard – Spain      l     Caroline – Germany      l       Serpil – Uruguay        l        Eva – Brazil          l          Hermione – Paraguay        l       Henrike – Netherlands       l        Phillip – Ghana      l       James – Argentina

 Of course, whoever wins, the milky bars will be on them (and maybe a drink or 2!) – bring on July 11th!!