Where have they gone exactly? Somewhere that’s for sure! I can’t believe we’re basically 4 months in to 2011 already.

So what have I been up to? Working my arse off let me tell you!

I’ve recently finalised artwork for the second drop which went into production yesterday so you can expect a mid–late Spring date.

The third drop will be making an appearance in the Summer months – this has also been a long time coming. Those that are aware know what I’ve been through this past year. Things still haven’t been resolved but what can I do but move forward! I can’t penalise my customers because of uncooperative suppliers.

The fourth drop is also in development and will land in the Autumn/Winter months!

I’ve also got a few little goodies in production too. It’s all going on!

On top of all the above I’m working on new marketing tactics and cosmetic changes to the website/blog to make content easier to share on social networks. I may even do a couple of print adverts.

I’m also in the process of increasing the brand presence across the web by joining other social network related sites, design collectives etc and posting content.

I held a small sort-of-contest on my facebook page a while back. I wanted to know why you stay up late and the 5 best responses received a free bottle opener – everyone was really pleased with what they got. I will do a separate post expanding on this further and detail the plans for the next one!

Should be an interesting year for VIHMIRU!

Stay tuned.

Ben

Initially, I was going to run my brand in the UK for a while to see how things went but demand was high from international countries so I am now also delivering worldwide.

Ben

I Am The Trend is a website run by two guys, Adam Hendle and Beau Doran, that features the latest clothing companies, products, bands and artists from all over the world.

I was actually just having a general surf around the web and logged on to their site and saw that they had featured my products on their site. Thanks guys! Check it out…

They have got my web address wrong though but I forgive them… they’ll get used to the name one day. I’m sure it’ll be fixed soon enough.

Ben

I wanted to make all my customers and potential customers aware that the prices currently applied to the products are in fact introductory prices. Once a product is sold out, and requires replenishment, the price will revert to its intended selling price.

The reason for this structuring is because my brand is new to the market and I want you all to experience the high quality craftsmanship of my products by offering them at a lower cost.

I want to prove my brand’s worth to you… and over time I hope you will become loyal followers of my brand.

The intended selling prices reflect the premium nature of the brand and will appeal to a particular crowd. Once you’ve indulged yourself with a VIHMIRU product, you too, will be part of that crowd.

Ben

For those of you who haven’t heard of The Daily Street; it is a source of information regarding all things fashion, music and art featuring both UK and International brands. There is a press release on their site which gives you a deeper insight to what they’re all about.

Suffocake, an editor, over at The Daily Street has put together a write up about VIHMIRU. Check it out…

Ben

As some of you know I introduced VIHMIRU last year primarily as a clothing brand but the more time went on, the more I wanted a unique offering so rebranded as a lifestyle brand.

I didn’t want my brand to be another ‘t-shirt line’ right off the bat. I have no doubt that at some point next year t-shirts will be available but they are not my main focus. Under the lifestyle brand structure I will be able to produce whatever I choose without feeling like it doesn’t fit i.e. being branded as a clothing line and then selling posters. I feel ‘lifestyle’ encompasses all aspects of what I will want to produce; accessories, clothing, prints, vinyl toys and so on.

The ‘model’ of VIHMIRU will be to create only a small handful of products at any one time. The ‘drops’ as I call them will not necessarily coincide with seasonal releases and will just appear as and when I decide to announce them.

After a year of nightmares this day has finally arrived. Even at the last few hurdles it was looking sketchy but managed to over come them with a bit of luck.

It has been 5 months or so since my last blog post (pretty bad I know!). Although, now things are on track that will change and I should be updating the blog pretty regularly.

The launch was initially supposed to happen back in Spring of 2010 but with delays on creating some custom headwear that kept pushing back the date it got to the point where I decided to cut them out of the launch and push them into next year instead.

The first set of products available are a custom designed bottle opener and a branded zippo lighter.

Enjoy.

Ben