Telling it as it is...

If your a self funded fashion retailer in the premium arena, you will know our pain.

2020 has not been easy - NO SHIT SHERLOCK I hear you say!

This weekend we decided to share a watered down version of what 2020 has been for us as a business with our following. To let them know where we stand and what they and our business mean to us.

We were nervous, really nervous, but in all honesty I cannot even explain to you how amazing the feedback has been, from our following, from other designers, from women & influencers who have their own fashion communities.

The heartfelt messages, the shares, the women who have bought from us all during this heart breaking sale, all of this has buoyed us to know that we can do this - that we WILL do this!

We may need to re-adjust our sails, but we will make it out the other end.

See below our Blog post, which was shared in our Private FB group, on our page and via our Intsa stories.

Why are we sharing this here? Because we wanted to share that sometimes what makes you nervous, can be your saviour if you push through.It can give you the shift you need mentality to see the possibility of a strong future shine through, even if its just a small glimmer of light - its one you can hold onto :-)

Hi ??

We wanted to pop in with a little back story on our current Never To Be Repeated SALE!

If you’ve been following us for a while, you will know we don’t go on sale often, usually it’s just 3 times a year and a quick flash 4 day sale, this is because it’s important to us as a business to only make as much as we can sell. We painstakingly analyse what the right number of units is needed per style, as we would rather sell out then manufacture too much, it’s just not sustainable long term, environmentally or for our business. Our aim even as we continue to grow is to stand by this, and that was (and always will be) the plan, and then 2020 happened ??????

Deciding to talk about this wasn’t easy, burdening our following with our current situation was something we deliberated about long and hard. It’s been a tough year for so many on too many levels to count, we didn’t feel it was right or fair to bring our issues to the forefront of our story.

However, we realised that a big part of Harlow’s ethos is that Relationships matter – honesty & integrity with you our customers & our would-be customers is super important to us. That you deserved an explanation behind the WHY of our Never To be repeated Sale, so here it is…

You may have noticed that since Friday March 13TH we have had more promotions the we have had in the past 12 months. Even though we manufacture locally and in smaller runs we have been left with stock levels that are much higher than normal, we based our make units on last year’s sales, and within the current climate we have barely sold 40% of those stock holdings – resulting in an overstock. As a self-funded small business, we run a super lean ship with very little reserves, this situation means that all our cash flow is tied up in stock holdings. Leaving us juggling cash reserves to manufacture the NEW & Needed.

We could have staggered on drip feeding % off promotions for the coming months , however decided instead to go ALL IN, and have a NEVER TO BE REPEATED SALE slashing our already reduced Sale items by a further 50% (some barely covering our original cost of goods). Our aim with this sale is re-calibrate 2020, allowing us to unburden ourselves of the overstock and start somewhat fresh.

Will we be taking a hit by doing this? YES – god yes! But for us it’s more important to work forward with a clean slate psychologically then to hold on to the stock and have it weigh us down.

You will have seen that after a small pause, we have been moving forward, cancelling some amazing pieces (our first coat for example) postponing our more special items until we have somewhere to wear them, and manufacturing smaller runs than usual to minimise the risk for us as a business. Ensuring as much as we can that we do not add to our current stock holdings, giving us the best chance possible to ride out this uncertainty.

We will continue to make smaller runs for the remainder of 2020, as we work towards bringing Harlow back from these trying times. 

What can you do to help?  

- Got a few sale pieces that are in your wish list? Grab them now for 50% less – it’s a win/win situation, we minimise our stock levels and you get your wish list for less ( remember to only buy/keep pieces that you love, items bought on sale are not a bargain if you never wear them)

- Share us & our sale with EVERYONE ?, tell your friends, ask your friends to tell their friends, in all seriousness this will be an amazing help to us.

-Review our pieces on our website, this helps us and your fellow fashionista's when choosing the piece that is best for them.

-Review us on google & FB, good words not only make us feel good, but help others make the decision to invest in us :-)

-Join our Private FB group and help us strengthen Harlow by letting us get to know you better and what you need from us - as without you we are nothing :-).

- Keep supporting us when you can, we are truly blessed to have an amazing Harlow community, with you guys in our corner we know we can find the strength to make it through.

K&A

xXx

 *Our sale runs from June 14th - Midnight June 30th 

**Discount is automatically applied at check out 

***No further discounts apply

****Never To Be Repeated Sale - We are happy to offer an exchange or credit voucher for items bought on sale, however we are unable to offer a refund. For sale items, an exchange will be accepted within 30 business days from the date of receipt. Please follow the exchange instructions below as our Return/exchange policy