Last August I had a chance to visit the Panache headquarters in Sheffield, UK. Founded in 1982, Panache now has over 170 employees all over the world. In the main building with the offices, they also have a sewing studio, design department, showroom and photo studio. I want to thank Lee and Aggy for welcoming us and also showing their daily operations.
Welcome to Panache! |
First we got to see their sewing studio, which together with the design department makes the product prototypes. The details are very important and for example this is only a small part of all the available colours of sewing thread they had, as everything has to be perfect.
Lankakerien väriloistoa. Look at all the pretty colours! |
Panache takes pride on the fit in every size they produce. So all new models are fine tuned as long as they need and for example the loved Panache Sports bra was in making for almost 3 years before it was launched. Also the models, that become the best-sellers, usually stay in the collections for years. Like the Sports bra which was launched in 2011 and the loved Tango balcony bra which has been available for over 15 years already.
Envy balcony bra in Black |
The design department naturally works very closely with the sewing studio. I was actually surprised how big the design department really is. Also their brands are all worked by their own team of specialists. Did you know that the design department is always seasons ahead? As a retailer, I've already seen and made orders for the next season (AW17) and the next SS18 should also be reveiled quite soon. But the design department is already finishing AW18 and starting the SS19, so basically they are about 2 years ahead. These are the people who decide what will be in stores in the coming seasons.
Panache brands |
The showroom has all the continuity ranges and at the moment of my visit, they had the current fashion items and the next season in show. In the showroom they have fashion shows and arrange all sorts of events for agents, retailers and bloggers. I had the pleasure to see some of the products that at the time were still in design. For example Panache is launching a new non-padded sports bra along with the padded styles. It will have a Sculptresse size range from 75/34 to 105/44 and it should be available from mid October. We of course will be stocking this!
The showroom in Sheffield. |
Envy in nude & Clara red/gold. |
Päätoimistolta siirryimme parinkymmenen minuutin ajomatkan päässä olevalle päävarastolle. Varastolla oli satoja metrejä hyllytilaa, tuhansia laatikoita ihanuuksia odottamassa toimituksia, sekä tietysti melkoinen määrä henkilökuntaa hoitamassa tätä kaikkea rumbaa. Täältä ne meidänkin tilaukset aina lähtevät matkaan. Kun tilauksemme on päätoimistolla naputeltu sisään järjestelmään, joku keräilee ja pakkaa sen täällä varastolla, ja lopulta kuriiri käy noutamassa lähetyksen kuljetukseen.
Some 20 minutes from the main office Panache has their warehouse. They have hundreds of meters of shelfing, thousands of boxes of lingerie and of course a bunch of hard working people handling all that. This is where our orders also are despatched. After Aggy, our contact person at Panache, has received and typed in our order to the system, it is picked and packed at the warehouse, and then handed to the courier for shipping and delivery.
Minä Panachen varastolla yritän olla jäämättä trukin alle. Me at the warehouse trying not to get run over by a forklift. |