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!!

We all know and love the Wombles of Wimbledon Common (and their inspired recycling methods that were way ahead of their time, we might add!), but this week there is another, perhaps lesser-known (!) event taking place in the area, which is definitely worth a look if you’re down London-way. The 124^th Wimbledon Championships have begun at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club and so get your whites on and your balls out and get into the spirit of the Wimbledon fortnight.  

 It goes without saying that a few British traditions must be observed during the tennis; a glass of Pimm’s (summer in a glass), some strawberries and cream (the immortal Wimbledon combo) and of course, you mustn’t leave your knomo at home. Did you know that the original knomo bag designs were named after the Wombles? (Who were named after various cities around the world – natch) The Bungo messenger or Cholet shoulder bag would certainly not be out of place!

For those who want to cut-a-dash in striking summer whites, the patent leather ladies Rubi laptop briefcase and soft leather iPhone Slim Cover (both in white) are ideal additions to any summer outfit and are the perfect accessories to go with your tennis whites.

 

It has been reported that the Queen will be attending this year – Her Majesty’s first visit in over 30 years – so get in quick and bag your tickets and you may be lucky enough to utter the words ‘Ma’am’ in HRH presence!

 

Well it may be hitting 30 degrees outside, but all we are concerned about at knomo HQ is getting wrapped up warm for winter, with our Autumn/Winter 2010 photoshoot! You may think us mad, but this is the world of fashion daaarling, where everything is topsy turvy (models sweating in the summer, wrapped up in 1000 layers, and then freezing in the winter wearing next to nothing!). Our trio of brazen beauties came in the form of gorgeous Serbian TV presenter/model Martina, super-lovely model Kristina from Moscow and fun-loving Brazilian male model Marcelo.

 

knomo’s own Creative Director Benoit was at the helm directing the shoot, with Brand Manager Caroline running the set and organising all the styling, and new-to-knomo photographer, Caroline Leeming (who works with the Daily Express amongst many others) capturing everything on film and pulling out all the stops to get some great shots. The rest of the team included styling assistant Chantal, hair & make-up artist Rachel Jones (credits include skins, MTV, Disney to name a few!) and photographer’s assistant Hannah.

 

Check out our behind the scenes shots (they’re not terribly flattering, especially when we’re next to our gorgeous glammed-up models, so go easy on us!) that show the whole process from selecting outfits to fixing looks on set, prepping the bags ready to shoot and checking shots on a monitor to make sure we are getting what we need. Thank you’s go to ASA studios in Clapham Junction who were amazingly accommodating, as always, Tutto Tucci pizzeria for satiating our appetites and quenching our thirst, and Addy Lee for getting us safely to the shoot on time!

 

Spurred on with coffee, surrounded by mountains of clothes, shoes, accessories, and the odd gorgeous bag from knomo’s new collection, the shoot was exhausting, but exhilarating work.  A really fun couple of days created some amazing shots for our AW10 campaign that we will be putting up ASAP…watch this space!

 

World Cup fever has well and truly struck at knomo HQ. With the knomo team hailing from the 4 corners of the globe, including South Africa, Portugal, Germany, France and England, we are waiting with baited breath ready to see whose side will ‘kick’ ar**! (Sorry, had to be done!) To fuel the excitement even more, we are holding a knomo world cup sweepstake, each adopting a couple of nations for the next few weeks via the tried and tested method of picking names out of a hat. With nationality put to one side, the knomo team were vying for the hottest contenders; all in the hope of winning a little pot of money come Final day on July 11^th. See the results below: Read more

 The knomo ‘Berlin’ is soon to feature in a new L’oreal campaign. The Berlin has been customised especially for the advertisement with German International and Chelsea footballer Michael Ballack, as the face of the L’oreal product. Shot at Wembley last month, we are eagerly awaiting the campaign to air, in Germany and throughout Europe, very soon.

The Berlin bag was customised by the on-set stylist with additional orange leather strips, to mimic the colourways of the L’oreal deodorant being featured. Its pretty fast-paced, just like Michael, so make sure you watch closely…

Sometimes it just nice to give something back. Thats why, when our friends Sam and Helen over at http://www.mumstheboss.co.uk told us they needed some help to raise £1404 to fund 52 women to train in new business in the developing world through Oxfam’s Train a Business Woman Gift, we jumped at the chance! This gift will develop and enhance women’s business skills across all forms of business and help them help themselves. Whether it’s help with money management, financial support, developing negotiation skills, improving production rates or effectively marketing the end product, this gift helps women work together – maybe even in co-operatives – to achieve their potential.

 

Mum’s The Boss was founded to celebrate the twin achievements of motherhood and business and is a low-cost, informal, child-friendly network supporting mums who run their own business , work from home or would like to set up in business. As well as providing face-to-face networking opportunities we also provide a mixture of business information, inspiration and motivation for working mums on their blog. You can donate at http://www.justgiving.com/SAM-PEARCE0

Look out for the mumstheboss handbag raffle which will be online in July. Buy your tickets to have a chance at winning a knomo Cholet in red! http://www.knomobags.com/uk/women/collections/berkeley/cholet-5.html/