Hosted by the fabulous Upper Street Shoes www.upperstreet.com, with Frances Card www.francescard.com as compeer for the evening, Maria’s store gave everyone the opportunity to look even better this Holiday season and to give the best gifts too!

Julia Grinham talked through the wonderful journey of designing a pair of Upper Street shoes – several of the audience had designed their own and agreed. Gift Vouchers were available – a great present!

The fabulous team at Urban Retreat www.urbanretreat.co.uk, had makeovers for everyone and offered make-up and hair solutions for those last minute parties or quick touch ups from day to night. Once again there were some fabulous gifting ideas – year round as well as for the holidays!  

Maria talked about her inspirations for collections and her understanding of designing for true women’s bodies. We all saw the effect of the her famous Magic Pants! Gowns for Christmas and the New Year were flying off the rails into fitting rooms! www.mariagrachvogel.com

Maria not only offered styling advice for the holidays but beyond and introduced her first Cruise collection shown here modelled by the wonderful Tracey Woodward from Urban Retreat.

An event to cater gifting for all ages meant that Lana Berglas, founder and designer of Catiouche, was on hand to show her beautiful children’s sleepwear collection made from specially sourced organic products www.catiouche.com

To complete the evening Champagne was served and fabulous chocolates courtesy of Baruzzo www.baruzzo.co.uk  The wonderful Raffaella explained why each specially designed chocolate is unique and what works best with champagne, a secret all girls need to know!

A fabulous time was had by all and it only remains for us to wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR and we do look forward to welcoming you to Maria Grachvogel in 2013. 

Shop Maria Grachvogel at Harvey Nichols

Once the collection and Maria arrived, buyers flocked to see the Maria Grachvogel new season at Tranoi Montaigne and then at a very special private showroom at Hotel Castille.

There was a fantastic response from all the International Buyers! The collection for Spring Summer will be found in many new places (do watch this space for more news) so Maria Grachvogel will be available even more globally! Of course the website www.mariagrachvogel.com means the collections are accessible all year round!

During a very busy week Maria and wholesale manager  Liz,  showroom@mariagrachvogel.com,  were invited to the coveted Modem  Dinner www.modemonline.com and had a lovely time catching up with Anna Orsini, Head of London Fashion Week.

They enjoyed being entertained by an amazing trapeze artist after a sublime dinner, though as its fashion, no-one ate too much!

Liz wore the Phoenix print Bengal dress from Maria’s very first cruise collection which will be available from November at www.mariagrachvogel.com or at Harrods and our London Flagship store at 18 Culford Gardens, Blacklands Terrace, London ,SW3 2ST telephone +44 (0) 20 7245 9331

Not only did the buyers love the collection but so did the press with many great comments but a special note by Jess Cartner-Morley Fashion Editor of the Guardian saying what a truly wonderful collection it is!

Autumn Winter is currently in the stores and on the website and with the cruise collection launching next month there are lots of exciting things happening at Maria Grachvogel. Watch this space!

Butterfield is acclaimed for its exclusive bespoke service in the area of private banking and wealth management, providing its clients with a service precisely tailored to their requirements. Whilst maintaining its traditional heritage, Butterfield recognises the importance of innovation and therefore is an ideal sponsorship partner for Maria Grachvogel.

This is a supportive collaboration that sees a great affinity and shared ethos between the two businesses. Maria’s collection epitomises quality and innovation and she is proud of the service she provides her clients. It is this same tailored approach to business that Butterfield shares.

Danny Dixon, Head of Private Banking at Butterfield Private Bank said “To be working with a designer of Maria Grachvogel’s calibre is an exciting opportunity. Maria’s designs are exclusive, sophisticated and contemporary and can appeal to suit the individual. Similarly, Butterfield represents exclusivity, quality and flexibility, approaching each client as unique.”

Maria Grachvogel says “I love the idea of working with a private bank with such a great reputation as Butterfield, they are reaching out to exactly the type of client that my designs appeal to. I know this will be a wonderfully beneficial relationship for both of us.”

http://www.uk.butterfieldgroup.com/

I am thrilled to finally be pulling back the curtain on my online shop after years of requests and encouragement from you all. This has been a long time in the making and has an incredibly timely launch, coinciding with my return to London Fashion Week this year.

When I first sat down to think about creating my online shop, I was all too aware that launching a designer retail brand online is nothing new. I scoured through countless websites, trying to find what was lacking from the average online shopping experience and noticed one, very key missing ingredient. No one had yet managed to capture the magic of an expert “designer” eye, to help choose the perfect personalized outfit for the individual online customer.

I knew that to give my clients the authentic Maria Grachvogel Sloane Street store experience I had to break current online boundaries and creatively come up with an effective yet simple solution. The key to unlocking it was an insight gained from years of successfully dressing women of all shapes and sizes.

I find women intuitively know what parts of their body they love and parts they don’t. In my store the staff can talk to clients and help them discover the clothes that make them look and feel wonderful.

It was this advice and service that I wanted to replicate online. So I created a special section on the website called ‘Virtual Styling: Find your Fit’. This is the solution to provide women with the ability to find the perfect outfit that complements the individual body shape. It will give options to choose parts of their body they want to highlight or to conceal. It’s easy to use and will present various style alternatives. The cut of each individual style and the versatility will be described in detail. For instance, my trousers have no side seams, the cut has been adjusted and perfected over the past 15 years and now they cannot fail to make every woman look fabulous. I offer three styles – straight, palazzo and wide. I designed these three shapes to flatter different body shapes and they instantly lengthen the legs and narrow the hips. My customers tell me that these are the most flattering trousers they have ever worn, and hence they are known as “magic pants” – all shapes and sizes can look good in my collection and this is what I want to communicate with my new website.

The website will feature the complete Maria Grachvogel Spring/Summer 2010 collection and there is even a maternity and post baby page that shows pieces that can be worn throughout pregnancy; all of which can be worn after.

I am totally committed to ensuring clients find what’s right for them so they can interact online or speak to my team for excellent styling advice pre and post purchase.

I hope you enjoy you’re online shopping experience with us. I have made it with you in mind.

Maria x