Did I miss doing a blog post in March? This year seems to be flying by so it’s about time I updated our visitors on what we’re up to here at HommeMystere.
Firstly, I have completed my annual visit to see our manufacturer and plan the next 12 months or so. Although it was a quick trip with just one night in Hong Kong and two in China before returning home, it’s always an experience making the trip.
Many visitors will be familiar with awesome public transport services, but for myself who seldom jumps on a train, I always find the systems in Hong Kong and China incredibly efficient. The MTR network in Hong Kong is ridiculously easy to use and a 300kmh+ (200mph) bullet train in China is crazy fast and I was on a ‘slow’ leg!
Traffic in a car is pretty scary but travelling in the Chinese version of Uber is fine with good cars and friendly drivers. Didn’t see any bottles of water or packets of mints though!
Visiting the company always begins with a quick tour of the factory floor followed by a meal, and I have to admit some of the dishes are certainly an acquired taste. I was fortunate enough this trip to stumble across some Australian Wagyu beef cooked in the Middle Kingdom way and it was perfect. It’s a good time to catch up on how their business and family has been going over the previous year and gain a new perspective on the challenges they face.
I was the very first client of the family run business and it has been amazing to see how they have grown over the years. They have started from scratch and the warehouse space now covers over 4,000 square metres which I think is about 43,000 square feet! The sample room alone has over a thousand different pieces of lingerie in various styles, colours and sizes. We are just minnows in the lingerie world where some labels order more pieces in a week than we order in a year!
The staff now have quite a good feel for what us guys like in lingerie and they are not shy about making suggestions either! While we sit around the boardroom table, comments such as ‘you need more pink lace’ and ‘this design is not sexy enough’ is embarrassingly common. There are also a couple of guys in management that I’m told have been convinced to model a few samples prior to them being sent to Australia. They certainly like to get the patterns correct before shipping!
Overall it was a very successful trip and based on our conversations, we will be providing the opportunity for other retailers to purchase our garments for their own store. So if you prefer to purchase from a local store, we will be offering limited styles at wholesale prices soon. Stay tuned for more or email us at info@hommemystere.com if you are a store owner and would like further information.