On trunk shows, experiential retail and Hannah Warner’s extreme nail art


The Independent published a story this week about the growth of online trunk shows – Moda Operandi, Net-a-Porter et al giving customers the chance to shop ahead of the season by pre-ordering almost straight from the runway. The analogue version of this is the physical trunk show, more popular in America, but also being used in the UK by smaller retailers and designers to offer their customers a more intimate experience and learn from the feedback. I wrote about this a while ago for Glass magazine and noticed that trunk shows seem to be particularly popular with jewellers. Especially with more expensive pieces, it seems the live shopping experience can add to the emotional value of the piece. This month, contemporary multi-brand jeweller Kabiri is holding weekly trunk shows with a different designer every Thursday where customers can meet the makers and also try out special pieces from their collections.

Owner Nathalie Kabiri says, “although we have a successful online store, you can’t replicate the interaction of meeting the brands personally. We pride ourselves on our close working relationships with designers and decided to hold the series of trunk shows so that our designers can give advice to customers, to help them achieve the perfect jewellery purchase.” One of those designers is Hannah Warner whose darkly gothic aesthetic has earned her commissions from Mugler and Jean-Paul Gauliter. Tomorrow at Kabiri in Marylebone Road, Warner will be launching her gold nail jewellery; thorn-like nail attachments that are applied by a manicurist. These have been much buzzed about since being seen on the Mugler AW12 runway. The following Thursday, British jewellers, Cabinet will hold a trunk show at Kabiri in King’s Road. Although the trunk shows are open to the public, you have to book a place. Find all the details are here.

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