Meet & Greet Interview: A Moment with Belle from Tea Princess
Posted: October 25th, 2010Post written by Leah
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There is no mistaking it, Tea Princess – www.teaprincess.com.au encapsulates just what little girls are made of – sugar and spice, and all things nice! The stunning, whimsical and unique dresses and lacy pieces have developed a cult following amongst many of our readers with little girls. Classical and stylish, the label is a must have for every wardrobe.
Tea Princess is the brainchild of three Sydney sisters who combined their rich talents to develop one of Australia’s latest fashion exports. Of course, with a daughter with more than a few Tea Princess items in her wardrobe, I jumped at the opportunity earlier this week to speak with Belle about the latest range and future directions. Enjoy!
Tea Princess Spring/Summer 2010-11 is in stores now with the limited edition high summer collection arriving in November. Sizing begins at infant to size 8. Prices for SS10 range from $14.95-$89.95. Click here for stockists. The special collection range begins at $80 and is available by order from Tea Princess directly.
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Hi Belle. Tea Princess combines the talents of 3 sisters, tell us a little about your background.
Kate, Tan & I are behind the girls clothing and accessories brand Tea Princess. We have 5 children between us with another 2 babies on the way. Our family has always been exceptionally close, so as we have got older it has been wonderful to combine our experience to work together to create a brand we are so passionate about.
Image: Tea Princess Special Occassions Baby Ivy Dress
What do you like the best about working with your sisters? What are the strengths of such a partnership?
Working as sisters is a wonderful, unique experience. To share the highs and lows of running a demanding and thriving business has been so rewarding. To be honest, going to work for us is like catching up with your best friends, we have lots of coffee and laughs everyday!
How did Tea Princess come about?
Kate made some clothes for Tan’s daughters, 6 years ago. She has studied art and design and has always handmade clothes since she was young. Our friends started to place orders and we decided to start the label and call it Tea Princess, inspired by our neices love for tea parties and princess stories. Our first retailers were Charbella in southern Sydney and Little Missy and Moo in Shellharbour NSW. To date these stores are the largest stockists of Tea Princess in Australia and they have a loyal customer following.
Image: Tea Princess Special Occassions Alice Dress
Tell us about Tea Princess S/S 2010: what’s inspired you this season.
We are always inspired by beautiful trimmings, so we often source lace and fabrics and then start designing from there. We focus on the fine details and love to include feature elements on the back of our dresses. Soft colour palette s are our signature and this summer we have used lavender, peach and mint. Our favourite pieces are our blush jersey maxis, lace tiered dresses and our bikini. We have a limited edition high summer collection arriving in November which includes has a gorgeous kaftan to layer over the bikini.
Image: Tea Princess Blush Maxi (Gardenia white and Soft dusty pink)
What has the proudest moment in your business been?
Visiting Harvey Nichols department store in London, we had just delivered our Autumn/ Winter collection and didn’t think it would be in store. Once inside we saw it straight away hanging next to world renown brands. The staff thought was were slightly crazy until they realized who we were and gave us the feedback that everyone was loving the range.
Image: Kate and Tan outside Harvey Nichols in London
What are your favourite things for babies and kids right now?
We are bringing a UK babies brand called Toffee Moon to Australia next year. They have some gorgeous knitted blankets, cardis and rompers for both girls and boys that we think our customers will love.
Image: Tea Princess Peach Blush Babydoll
Your Special Occasion range is exquisite. What led you to this range?
Our brother’s wedding made the cover of Cosmo bride magazine and our nieces were photographed wearing our Ivy dress – lots of orders followed. When Kate got married last year, she designed five new dresses which her flowergirls wore and we released our special occasion collection with these dresses earlier this year. Each design is named after our great-aunties and grandmother, all passed away now except Alice who is 101 years old! We are so proud to honour Anne, Ivy, Alice and Olive with these dresses.
The special occasion collection is an exciting new venture for us, we love the personal contact with our customers and sharing in the excitement of the occasion.
Image: Kate’s wedding with Tan and Belle as her bridesmaids.
What do we have to look forward to in future ranges?
Tea Princess is always going to offer something new and exciting for its loyal customer base, so stay tuned for some new developments next year!!
