A Corgi photo shoot

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.

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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

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.

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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.

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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!

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Mr Wigglesworth, the wannabe model

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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!

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Team lunch

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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 at The Coronation Festival

Corgi are very pleased to announce that we will be exhibiting at the Coronation Festival being held at Buckingham Palace this July.

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The Festival, which takes place over four days will celebrate the 60th anniversary of The Queen’s Coronation. This exciting and unique event, hosted by the Royal Warrant Holder’s Association, will bring together – for the first time on this scale – over 200 companies that hold Royal Warrants of Appointment. Promoting the very best of UK PLC, the Festival will celebrate the extraordinary quality and variety of skills, craftsmanship and innovation produced by companies here in Britain.

As proud Royal Warrant holders, we are delighted to be part of the Coronation Festival. It will provide us with a great platform to showcase our dedication to manufacturing hosiery and knitwear of the very highest quality, using the finest materials and age-old manufacturing techniques handed down through the generations.

Visitors to the Corgi exhibition stand at the event will be treated to a live hosiery-making demonstration by the great-grandson of the company’s founder, Rhys Jones. We will also be exhibiting a new limited edition range, specially developed to coincide with the Festival, as well as socks and knitwear from our current range – designed and produced in Carmarthenshire but sold all over the world.

The Festival will be open to members of the public from Friday, 12th to Sunday, 14th July with around 60,000 visitors expected to attend. For further information on the Festival and to book tickets, go to www.coronationfestival.com

Corgi, a local employer

As Corgi is family-run company based in a small town in rural South West Wales, we like to do all we can to give back to the local community. That includes employing people from the local area to fulfil the various job roles involved in the day to day running of our factory.

Recently we were asked by Workways – an employment project backed by the European Social Fund through the Welsh Government – if we could provide a temporary work taster to Joann Smith, a 38 year old lady from the area.

Image courtesy of Carmarthenshire County Council

Image courtesy of Carmarthenshire County Council

Joann had never worked as she had spent the previous 19 years raising her family and providing round the clock care for her late husband. She lacked work experience and confidence, and had no qualifications or CV. However, she had shown an interest in working as a machinist.

We were more than happy to oblige and offered Joann a 2 week work taster at the factory. At the end of this taster period, our Director Chris was so pleased with Joann’s attitude and progress that he offered her a temporary role.

He said: “When Joann arrived, she was very nervous. All she wanted was a chance to show what she could do. She got on fine with what we were trying to teach her and as a result we were happy to offer her a temporary job”.

Over the course of her temporary contract, Joann learnt how to follow patterns and use the knitting machine. Because of her progress, Chris was pleased to be able to offer her a permanent position and Joann is now a fully-fledged member of the Corgi team.

To read more about Joann’s experience and how she has settled in at Corgi, visit the Carmarthenshire County Council website.

Corgi in Mr Porter’s Style Journal

Here at Corgi, we’ve long promoted the rationale that good socks make an outfit and it would seem that the style gurus at online menswear retailer Mr Porter share our view.

They featured not one but five pairs of Corgi socks in photo-features in their online style journal in September and October 2012.

Here’s a sneaky peek of one of the images, head to our Facebook page to see the others.

Mr Porter Style Journal

Mr Porter is one of our biggest customers in the UK and they stock a range of Corgi socks in their online store .

 

Corgi at Paris Fashion Week

Paris Fashion Week is a jewel in the crown of the fashion calendar. And while Corgi did not have its own show at the highly prestigious event when it went ahead a couple of weeks ago, our socks and knitwear did make an appearance on the catwalk.

New York City-based fashion designer Thom Browne is one of our major knitwear clients Stateside and he featured a number of Corgi-made pieces in his Fall 2013 Menswear show.

Photo: Marcus Tondo/In Digital I Go Runway

Photo: Marcus Tondo/In Digital | Go Runway

We have worked with Thom Browne for some time now and regularly manufacture knitwear pieces for the brand’s collections. In addition to the knitwear, we were very excited to be asked to supply socks for the models in his latest show, especially when we saw the leading role they played in many of the looks.

The socks featured are our cable knit cashmere ones which, if you fancy emulating a catwalk model, are available for purchase in our online store.

A slideshow of images from the Thom Browne show can be found here – see how many pairs of Corgi socks you can spot!