Fitness guru Joe Wicks will not be the only ‘curly locks eye candy’ at the Spring Fair today (Monday 5 February). While Joe will be working his magic in the housewares hall (where he is launching a range of kitchenware with Meyer), ‘supermodel’ Claude will be strutting his stuff on the Wrendale Designs’ stand (Hall 3-3A Stand S18). The hairiest member of the Wrendale team, an adorable toy poodle, who is the family pet of the company’s owners Hannah and Jack Dale, will be on the stand helping to launch the publisher’s pet-related collection. The new range, which includes dog coats and beds, which will be ‘modeled’ by Claude, features Hannah Dale’s distinctive artwork of a menagerie of dog breeds.
“We’d love everyone to come and meet Claude, he’s wonderful,” says Hannah of her little four-legged friend. To add a bit of extra fun, Wrendale is running a competition at the show whereby any stockist who takes a selfie with Claude and shares it on social media (using tags #wrendaledesigns and #springautumnfair) will have the chance of winning £100 of Wrendale stock.
Wrendale Designs’ continued growth sees it tapping into two lucrative areas, pets and gardens, with respective product launches debuting at the show. The UK public spends £11.6 billion a year on their pet dogs and cats, lavishing them with gifts, activities and special foods, while green-fingered Brits spend £1.5 billion on their gardens annually.
As well as these two new product areas of diversification for Wrendale, the company will also be debuting its inaugural Sally Swannell collection (a result of a collaboration with the artist). The initial range comprises 57 greeting cards, framed prints as well as some stationery, though there are plans to translate her artwork onto mugs and textiles.
And of course, this will be the first Spring Fair for Lisa Marcuccio in her guise as head of sales of Wrendale, having joined the company at the start of the year after 13 years with Really Good/Soul.
