2
LIANA
“The rest of the samples came in for the spring and summer bridal collection,” Alessia says, drawing my attention from my iPad.
I’ve known Alessia since she was a freshman at Centennial University when she came into my store asking if I was hiring. I wasn’t at the time, but because of her interest in fashion, we’ve kept in contact, and when I decided to outsource some help with the bridal line of my company, she was at the top of my list of applicants. She’s been interning for me since last fall when she started her senior year, and she’s truly been a godsend.
Her attention to detail, love for fashion, and insane organizational skills have been so helpful with everything I have going on, and since I’ve known her for a few years, the trust was already there. It worked out perfectly since my cousin will be taking time off to welcome her new baby into the world.
“Oooh, let me see!” Izzy exclaims, pushing her very pregnant body up from her desk. “I’ve been dying to see the changes we made to the ones with the beading. It was too much on those designs, so I think the new embellishment will be perfect.”
My cousin has been working with me on our bridal line for over a year now. She, too, was a godsend, because with all the different clothing lines I have going on, starting my bridal line quickly became too much for me to handle on my own.
Izzy has always loved fashion as much as I do, especially bridal, so asking her to partner with me on this line was a no-brainer. We work so well together, and I’m not sure where I’d be if it weren’t for her.
Standing from my desk, I walk around to Alessia who’s just pushed a rack of five sample gowns into my office.
“Hopefully, these all turned out perfectly. If so, we’ll finally have our completed line of twenty gowns for our spring and summer collection,” I say.
We’re running extremely behind schedule with the alterations we had to make to these last five dresses, but if everything’s perfect now, we can get them added to the lineup right away.
Izzy and I run through the samples, meticulously going over every detail we sent back to the manufacturer.
Running my hands over the delicate beading on the bodice of the mermaid gown, I inspect it thoroughly. “I’m still not one hundred percent sold on this beading. It’s too?—”
“Cheap looking?” Izzy says.
“Yes. Our brides expect high-end pieces from us, and this embellishment doesn’t exactly scream that.”
“What is going on with the manufacturer? They’re usually so on top of things, but this is… this is just not it,” she says.
I run my fingers over the loose beading. Little pieces of thread poke out in random places, and the way the light reflects off the beading makes it look like… plastic.
“This is extremely frustrating. This manufacturer is supposed to be one of the best in Milan,” I say.
“Do you think we need to find a new one?” Izzy asks.
I let out a long sigh while I consider our timeline. We’re already behind schedule, but thisisthe benefit of only offering our dresses in my boutique versus to buyers of other stores. It doesn’t confine us to adhering to the typical timeline of the bridal industry. The other dresses are fine, so if we can find a new manufacturer that’s able to do these intricate embellishment designs, we can still put the majority of the collection on the floor, then add these additional five pieces once we’ve found a new manufacturer that’s able to meet our quality needs. It just needs to be in time for the bridal event we have scheduled in a couple of months.
“This could turn out to be a huge setback in our line, but I think we need to take a chance,” I say. “Alessia, I don’t want these dresses on the floor. If any brides are looking for embellishment, show them what we have from the collection, and if they’re looking for something more detailed, let them know we will have some more selections in the next couple of months.”
Alessia nods. “Got it.”
“Do you have any other manufacturers in mind,” Izzy asks.
“Sicily has a few I think we should look into. Everyone uses the ones in Milan, but maybe that’s where we went wrong. They’re probably slammed with production right now and aren’t giving each one the attention to detail they should be. Cutting corners where they shouldn’t be. The detail in these designs might be a little too intricate for them to handle.”
“I’ll do some research and get a list together to review,” Izzy says, making her way back to her desk.
“Alessia, let’s work on dressing eight of the mannequins with our top contenders in a variety of silhouettes, and then move the rest of the collection to the spring and summer bay. That way brides can start shopping.”
When she doesn’t respond, I glance up at her. She seems to be deep in thought while anxiously tapping her stylus on the side of her iPad.
I glance over at Izzy who’s sitting behind her desk with a crinkle in her brow when she notices Alessia’s distraction.
“Alessia,” I say, but that doesn’t seem to break the stupor she’s in.
“Alessia,”I repeat, with more urgency.
