Catching Up

G'day Mates!

Ah yes, well, doesn't sound too much like an Indian greeting does it?

Bijuli is going places, modestly trying to seduce the ladies of the world and conquering the universal market (no less mouah ah ah) . No worries, Bijuli is still Indian at heart, with its feet firmly planted in the rich Kerala earth.

The solidity of our little sap is taking its roots deeper into the soil thanks to Marie, the Production Unit manager. While Elianne is off and about getting new deals - and new expressions - Marie has been the keeper and watcher for a few months now.

It hasn't been easy, this year was yet another very wet year. Floods were very heavy in southern India, decimating homes, halting trains. Marie once told me she once spent a whole day stuck in a train because the rains had flooded the tracks. "Fortunately", she said," everybody showed good spirits, laughed, shared their foods, passed around business cards and just dealt calmly with the situation."

She also had to deal with the damage the rains had done to our unit : windows and sewing machines broken, flooded floors and dampened clothes to the core. Not only had she had to redoe some of the items but she had to deal with knowing the orders would never be ready on time. Not because the unit was not up and running again but because, this time, the postal services were stranded and overflooded in their own way with delays.

It wasn't easy but she pulled it through.

In the meantime, Elianne was in France spreading the good word to all those who listened: Bijuli clothes could now be bought online and shipped internationally! For the next few months, and with the help of all of our friends, a French & European Bijuli network was established : Paris, Manchester, Berlin, Avignon, Orange, Marseille here it comes!

But unfortunately for Europe and France, this summer turned out to be catastrophical for any beach and sun shopping. Quite a few individual sales were done but the good weather didn't catch on. Even Autumn was a no-show making it a distastrous year for the fashion industry.

So, to look on the bright side of things (well, and mainly for personal reasons) Elianne flew off to Sydney, Australia in order to check out what the further east south-asian market was made of.

And boy does it look guuuuud.

Affaire a suivre...