The German fashion jewellery brand arranged the event, held at the popular Trak Nightclub on Saturday night to coincide with the opening of the Melbourne Jewellery Fair on Sunday.
While Thomas Sabo stockists were invited, the brand’s distributor, Duraflex Group also ensured that retailers’ staff were also invited. The aim was to help everyone involved in the sale of the brand to experience and understand the company’s spirit.
Phil Edwards, Duraflex Group managing director said it was important for the brand to connect with the staff who sell the product to the consumers.
“We wanted the owners to bring their staff along so the owners and the staff could feel the spirit of the brand, because so much of the brand is about the spirit and feeling a connection to it,” Edwards said. “What we really want to do is create a connection between the staff and the retail partners to us and the brand, and we believe that we have achieved that.”
“The staff are equally important,” Edwards continued, “because it is actually the staff who have a connection to the consumer so we see our partnership with them as just as important as anyone.”
Those who attended the night were entertained by Australian music icons Kate Ceberano, Deborah Conway and Renee Geyer, with Edwards saying the feedback he had received the following day at the trade fair suggested it had been a resounding success.
“It was received exceptionally well,” Edwards said. “We had one retailer tell us that after 35 years in the trade it was the best event by either a distributor or brand that he has ever been to.”
He said one of the highlights of the night for him was during a video presentation when creative director Susanne Kolbli was explaining an aspect of functionality, with the response from the crowd suggesting they were more than impressed.
“Susanne was explaining about the one of the parts in relation to a new bracelet and the functionality in that bracelet. When she was explaining that the crowd had a big “woo” and “ooh ah”, and I have never heard a response that big from a crowd, it was quite extraordinary.”
Edwards said the new line came under the category of a Special Addition release, with the pieces in it maintaining the same culture and branding of Thomas Sabo but being of a finer, slightly more elegant design.
“The jewellery has been more refined and with a slightly different mechanism that adds to the collectability, so all in all it is not just the response to Saturday night, the whole response to the new jewellery collection has been phenomenal.”
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