1 Year of By Smith!

By Smith's Spring 2011 photo shoot was a success!

Each and every outfit looked fabulous on our model, Ashley.

She did a great job and I could not be more pleased with the way the pictures turned out.

I will share some of the pictures later on.

Last week my business celebrated its first anniversary!

I have had a very busy year with many ups and (some) downs, but for the most part I have had a good year. My mom keeps telling me that I must have an angel on my shoulder and I am really starting to think she’s right.

As I look through pictures, I can see how my business has grown over the past year...
There have been some big changes and I am excited to see how things are continuing to expand.

I've learned that when I go with my gut feeling it’s normally the right choice. My Dad has always said to go with my gut when it comes to making decisions - and finally, I have learned to do
just that! This year has been a year full of trial and error, and I truly believe that I have learned a lot about myself.

So now, I will leave you with a summary of By Smith after one year of business:

First off, we changed our name from “Smitten by Smith” to “By Smith” (ah so much cleaner).

We have opened over 40 accounts from the south east, to The Virgin Islands and back up to
NJ.

We made an appearance in Charleston Fashion Week.

We got a mention in Women’s Wear Daily.

I've put 25,000 miles on my poor Jetta.

I've eaten one too many meals at Chick-Fila to count.

I lost 5 lbs.

We attended 4 Apparel Marts in the great city of ATL and 1 in NYC.

Then I gained 5 lbs.

I was invited to participate in Gen Art Fresh Faces as a Fashion Top Emerging Designer (wahoo).

Then I lost 5 lbs again.
We made an appearance on MTV’s fashion forward reality show “The City”
(great pensive shots of me pondering with my finger upon my face, ha).
Lastly, I joined a showroom in Atlanta and now have a fabulous sales rep named James!

That’s a wrap for year 1… I wonder what will next year be like?

We need an intern for Fall!

Today was Katie's last day and we are super sad.

Boy, are we going to miss her! She was awesome. I wish she didn't have to go... but I guess it's OK if she goes back to Tuscaloosa to finish college.

That being said,

if you are interested in learning more about fashion (or know someone interested in fashion) in Atlanta - please let me know.

We need a part time intern for Fall.

You will learn a lot about the fashion industry - trust me!

Submit all resumes (plus cover letter) to:

holland@bysmithcollection.com

Thanks!

Fall orders are arriving soon!

This week I have been preparing for my fall shipment to arrive and my apartment is filled with boxes. I am awaiting my largest order so far and am trying to get as organized as possible before it comes. Once my packages get here from Thailand my place will really be turned upside down. I guess it's a good thing my roommate-Collier is in with the business with me so she is understanding about the mess. I feel like we have a pretty good system arranged to get things repackaged and sent out on time.

On another note, last week my first set of Spring 2011 samples arrived!! I am so excited about this collection and wish I could share pictures now, but I must wait and keep it a surprise. We are prepping for our photo shoot this weekend! Today I picked the location for the shoot and it's so incredible! I will post pictures when I can!

Fall 2010 will hit stores by July 31st- August 15th! Be sure to check out our store list on my website www.bysmithcollection.com or on the main page of the blog!

The By Smith Journey.......

Hi guys!

So exciting things have been happening for By Smith! I was so excited that my collection received so much air time on "The City" last week! It has been great exposure for my line and to be honest I have been swamped with work ever since the show aired, but I am not complaining. It has been wonderful!

The weekend before the airing of show, we showed my collection in The Linda Underwood Showroom for The Holiday 2010 AmericasMart show in Atlanta. We really had a great show! We are now a permanent line in the showroom. This is very very exciting news! Collier and I have opened 31 accounts on our own and now we are passing the torch to our new Sales Rep, James. James is AWESOME! We love him and I believe he is going to do a great job with my line. He is actually on the road with By Smith right now. Now Collier and I have more time to focus on promoting the line, trunk shows, and everything else we have going on with the business. So I guess for now- no more road trip stories, sad. Although we are passing on our sales torch we are both feeling rather accomplished with where the company stands with 11 months of work under our belts.

August of 2009, we were selling By Smith to only 2 stores and with a lot of traveling in the Jetta and hard work we built the brand to where it is today. Its been a roller coaster with trial and error, but we both agree that with every little mistake we have made we have learned something. We were just two little girls that believed in what we were doing and put everything into it and it really has paid off. Our 1 year anniversary for By Smith will be July 27th, 2010!

A few shots from The City

Last night, By Smith appeared on MTV's reality series, The City.

Here are a few shots from last night's episode, 'Work Horses and Show Ponies.'

"The hit of the show was easily By Smith. Her designs were whimsical pieces inspired by bygone eras, sort of like Victorian-meets-mod with lots of color. To top it off, the models were accessorized with vintage jewelry and hats that belonged to Smith's great-grandmother."
-Miami News Times, March 11th, 2010

If you haven't seen the episode, you can watch it here.

Thanks for all of your support!

By Smith on The City!

The Fall Holiday Apparel Show

Hello!

Its time for another apparel show in AmericasMart in Atlanta! I will be showing my fall/holiday collection in Linda Underwood's Showroom for the first time June 10th-13th. I am excited about the show and hope that it will be a good turn out. It will be the last time I am showing my fall collection.

Another exciting update-last night when I was watching "The City" on MTV I heard someone mention going to Miami. I am pretty sure that the episode that my collection will hopefully appear on is airing June 15th. I was told that we would be on the 8th episode so look for preview next tuesday! I am excited to see what ends up being on the show. Our whole experience in Miami was filmed by MTV so we shall see!