A Corgi photo shoot

Posted on May 23, 2013 by sarah_t

A few weeks ago we told you about a photo shoot we had planned to gather some new publicity and promo shots for the Corgi brand. Well, last week, armed with countless pairs of Corgi socks and piles of knitwear, we headed to remotest West Wales for the shoot.

Vicky from branding and design agency Smörgåsbord, who we have been working with on the project, had scouted out the perfect location – a traditional Welsh thatched cottage located in the beautiful Carmarthenshire hills, called Ty Unnos.

The shoot location: Ty Unnos in Carmarthenshire

The cottage was quite unique as it had been built entirely from local materials, using traditional tools and processes and all during the course of one night, as per an old Welsh tradition. In fact, the cottage’s name Ty Unnos is Welsh for ‘one night house’ which refers to the age-old process by which it was believed that if a person could build a house on common land in one night, that the land then belonged to them as a freehold.

The cottage’s owner was on hand to tell us all about the history of the building

Being inside the building was truly like stepping back in time as it was furnished entirely with antiques. The only modern touch was a fabulous, newly refurbished bathroom which became our wardrobe/changing room/makeup and hair room for the day.

Spot the Corgi prop

In the days prior to the shoot, the weather had been typically Welsh – wet, windy and just generally horrible! So we were so pleased to see the sun shining and blue skies when the day arrived.

A rare bright and sunny day in West Wales

As we’ve mentioned before, our photographer for the day was great lifestyle and interiors photographer Michael Sinclair. His previous work includes country and coastal living, hotels and tourism, food and people for commercial, editorial and advertising clients throughout the UK and abroad. If you haven’t already checked out his work, visit Michael’s website to take a look at his portfolio.

We had three models – two male and one female – as well as a little four-legged friend named Mr Wigglesworth who was determined to get in on all the posing action!

Mr Wigglesworth, the wannabe model

Mr Wigglesworth posing alongside two of our models

It was a very long day so snacks and drinks were essential – we were so grateful to photographer Michael’s partner who made this gorgeous lemon and poppy seed cake to get us through the day!

Team lunch

Our saviour – the lemon and poppy seed cake

All in all it was a great day and we managed to get some absolutely brilliant shots that we look forward to sharing with you very soon.

Corgi collaborates

Posted on May 14, 2013 by sarah_t

Here at Corgi, as well as producing our own designs and collections, we enjoy collaborating with a range of external designers. Some of these designers are established names, recognised all over the world while others are relatively new to the fashion scene.

We recently began working with Japanese designer Tomoko Yamanaka. Tomoko graduated from London’s Royal College of Art in 2002 and launched women’s label CABINET in 2008. She is also a design consultant for exclusive Italian cashmere company Malo, Japenese womenswear label fig. london and childrenswear company Familiar Ltd. Tomoko specialises in knitwear and most of her garments are sold in Japan, however her work was featured at London Fashion Week in 2010.

Image © Tomoko Yamanaka

We have been working with Tomoko on CABINET’s Autumn/Winter Collection 2013, otherwise known as its 100% British Alpaca collection.As the name suggests, the collection is made entirely from Alpaca fleece sourced in the UK and Tomoko worked extensively with Alpaca farmers and micro mills in both Scotland and Dorset to source the fleece for the range – we then stepped in to help knit the pieces for the collection.

Image © Tomoko Yamanaka

The finished garments are in beautiful, natural un-dyed colours including white, fawn, brown and black. They include a two coloured stripe cardigan, glove detailed tweed dress and hand knitted chunky cable cardigan, all of which are pictured on this page.

While the collection’s overall appearance is quite muted and understated, each of the garments has some quite quirky and offbeat details, which combine to create a collection of what Tomoko describes as “beautifully peculiar pieces”.

Image © Tomoko Yamanaka

We have thoroughly enjoyed working with such a talented designer as Tomoko and we hope to work with her again in the near future.

To view a full set of images of the collection, visit our Facebook page.

Things you didn’t know about socks

Posted on April 18, 2013 by sarah_t

Here at Corgi HQ we’re passionate about socks but outside in the ‘real world’ they often get overlooked, seen as an item of necessity rather than one of interest. Well, we wanted to put an end to that so have scoured the internet for the most interesting sock facts we could find to prove what we’ve always know – that socks are fascinating!

#1 The word sock is derived from the loose-fitting slipper, called a soccus in Latin, worn by Roman comic actors.

Soccus
Image: link

#2 In the 8^th century BC, the Ancient Greeks wore socks made from matted animal hair for warmth. Meanwhile, the Romans wrapped their feet with leather or woven fabrics.

Roman socks
Image : link

#3 In the 5^th century AD, socks were worn by holy people in Europe to symbolise purity. By 1000AD, socks were a symbol of wealth among the nobility.

#4 The earliest known surviving pair of cloth socks – dating from 300-500AD – were excavated from near the Nile in Egypt. They are now on display at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.

Ancient Egyptian socks
Image: Wikipedia

#5 The district of Datang in the People’s Republic of China, has become known as Sock City. The town currently produce 8 billion pairs of socks each year, a third of the world’s sock production.

#6 A family of 4 will lose up to 60 pairs of socks every year.

Lost Sock
Image: Flickr, Lucius Kwok

#7 Missing socks are most likely to affect the male members of the household.

#8 Black socks are most likely to go missing. (This is why we thoroughly recommend our wonderful brightly coloured socks!)

#9 The act of putting on a fresh pair of socks is mentioned around 10,000 times a day on Twitter.

#10 Corgi socks are officially recognised as the best socks in the world (ok, we made this one up but it could very well be true!)

If you have any interesting sock facts you’d like to share with us, get in touch via Twitter (@Corgi_Socks) or Facebook.

Corgi goes East, Part 2

Posted on March 27, 2013 by sarah_t

Chris spent the second day of his trip to South Korea visiting some exisiting Corgi socks stockists.

First up it was San Francisco Market, a quirky store located in Seoul’s fashion district. The store is owned and run by two designers – one Italian and one Korean – who pride themselves on stocking brands that demonstrate the highest levels of originality and creativity through their products.

They stock a huge range of Corgi socks as well as products from our sister company Dents.

San Francisco Market stocks a large selection of Corgi mens socks

San Francisco Market shopfront

San Francisco Market stocks a large selection of Corgi mens socks

Next it was off to Corso Como, a fashion and design emporium located in the Cheongdam-dong ward of Gangnam – on a street often referred to as the area’s “Fashion and Art Street”.

Inspired by both Oriental bazaars and legendary 1960s and 1970s London department store Biba, the store offers a truly unique shopping experience and is well worth a visit if you’re ever in Seoul. They specialise in selling unique imports and luxury goods including, of course, Corgi socks!

Representatives from Corgi's sales agency stand in front of Corso Como, Corgi sock stockists

Representatives from Corgi’s sales agency standing in front of the Corso Como store

Corgi mens socks on display in Corso Como

The final Corgi stockist that Chris visited was Boon the Shop. Boon is a regular haunt for Seoul’s fashion leaders, boasting an impressive array of fresh and attractive international brands with unique designs. They stock a good selection of Corgi socks for both men and women.

Chris and Hannah from Corgi’s sales agency standing in front of Boon the Shop

Unfortunately, there are no food snaps to share with you in this installment of Chris’ South Korea trip diary – look out for part three coming soon, though…