Oh dear has it really been that long since I last blogged, so long and I'm still talking about the weather! Yes I'm obsessed and when it was 12 degrees and raining on the first day of Autumn in Bowral, I was really most put out. Luckily, things have improved and in Autumn we've been inspired by earthy colours which is a little bit different from the usual bright colour that are associated with Tendance Khmere. Don't worry we still have those colours available too, but the new range of 60cm x 30cm designer cushions bring a mixture of cotton fabric with an almost Japanese feel to it mixed with the earthy tones of red, oranges and golds reminiscent of the turning leaves on a Maple Tree in Japan or an Oak Tree in Bowral during this season. Only newly available in Australia, check out this new range from Tendance Khmere:

And by "earthy" we mean we've also got those tones that will be understated and elegant, tans, browns and warm pale greens...

And if you're after the traditional Tendance Khmere trademark colours, we haven't forgotten you with lime green, plum and petrol blue...

Khmer Trading sizzles in Summer! Our passion for bold and bright really comes into its own during the summer months.

The Tendance Khmere cushions will brighten up your bedroom or sunroom and breathe light into your house while the temperature soars outside. Fantastic colours for that indoor/outdoor area or day bed near the pool.

Smateria have a great range of travel bags and beach bags, perfect for that holiday in the sun or day on the beach with the kids. The net range brings colour to your wardrobe, a vivid orange will match that summer dress!

Similarly, Waterlily will bring wow with your favourite summer outfit – sea blues and sunset reds will remind us what an Australian summer of sun is all about...

It is important to us that we are part of the creative process and can guide our suppliers towards what works and what doesn't work for our Australian customers. We recognise that all customers are different and perhaps what works in France and Italy may not necessarily be what is right for an Australian market. We are lucky that our suppliers understand this and really want us to be a part of developing each collection. The process is slightly different for each brand but the result is always the same, good quality, innovative products that suit Australian tastes.

Each year we travel to Cambodia to meet face to face with our suppliers (who really are much more like friends now) and discuss how to bring the new season's products to life. Given we are one of the only distributors in the Southern Hemisphere we sometimes have to be careful that the colours and products we choose suit the summer sun rather than a European winter! It is a termendous amount of hard work and always a whirlwind trip where you feel like sleeping for a week once back on Australian soil but well worth the effort given the results. And it's not all work and no play, we do find the time to share an Angkor beer, leek cake or bowl of guoy thieu with Flavien, Nina, Jennifer, Elisa and Christine while we're there. Of course the $10 massages and stunning hotel swimming pools and lovely smiles from the local staff don't make it half bad either!

        

When you’re at the stage when you are actually looking forward to your third year at the Trade Fairs, does that mean you’re an ‘old hand’ at this gig now? We were pleased that the recent Life Instyle Show in Melbourne went off without a hitch. We are all set with packing the car and getting on the road to travel down to Melbourne now and the terror of Trade Fairs has definitely worn off.

A relaxed attitude lead us to have a smaller stand this year and although we didn’t quite have the wow factor that the Tendance Khmere bed and curtains traditionally give us, we were happy with the traffic that we did manage to impress. The best part is now we are having a lot more repeat business and see so many more familiar faces amongst the streams of people which is so much nicer. Great to have the opportunity to have a good face to face chat with our current stockists too. 

Last week we launched a new brand, Waterlily which complements Khmer Trading’s “Colours of Cambodia” with brightly coloured button jewellery. Inspired by the landscapes in Cambodia, Christine’s products certainly caught people’s eye at the Show with a lovely presentation of fun, recycled jewellery, perfect for pending spring!

While we lived in Cambodia, we were keen to take visitors to Street 240 – a beautiful street in an area known as the French quarter. Beautiful boutique stores with the trademark French architecture of terrace shopfronts with shutters. This was a shopping precinct that was guaranteed to excite tourists, unique handmade products in foreigner sizes!

We were really taken with a jewellery store called “Waterlily” – what made this shop so interesting was its unique creations that were displayed in such an inventive way. With my love of colours, I was just drawn to how the colours were blended. Discovering each product was so exciting, pulling out each drawer I’d find something new. I of course went straight to the “Blue” dresser and pulled out drawer by drawer to discover product after product all in my favourite mix of colours – although each product had a blue base, they were all unique with different blends of stunning colour combinations. To my right was the “Aqua” drawers and to my left was “Red”.

We learnt that the designer was Christine Gauthier who had been living in Cambodia since 1996. Her workshop and retail store was opened on Street 240 in 2002. Christine’s inspiration for the colours and design of her jewellery products comes from her love for Cambodian nature and landscapes. With theme colours described as Sunset, Sea, Ricefield and Waterlily it is quite obvious where the insight comes from!

In my March visit to Cambodia, I met with Christine and we begun the process of building a relationship so that Khmer Trading could be the exclusive distributors of Waterlily jewellery in Australia. Starting with a limited collection of Christine’s “Copperwire and Button” designs we are pleased to announce that stockists will have their first look at Christine’s products as we launch Waterlily in Australia at the Life Instyle Trade Show in Melbourne from the 2^nd to 5^th of August.

Poppi & Pippa located in Williamstown, a coastal suburb of Melbourne specialise in gorgeous, chic & sometimes unique accessories. Sue sources her products locally and internationally primarily from small suppliers, with many of the products being handmade or handcrafted. Poppi & Pippa has a mixture of smaller unusual items combined with some more commercial items - all of which are of an exceptionally high quality. Sue's main lines are bags, hats, jewellery, scarves & umbrellas.

I sat down with Sue to find out more about her experience with stocking Smateria products:

1. How did you find out about Smateria products?

At the Life Instyle trade fair – I had been looking for some bags that used recycled/ re-allocated materials and they fitted that gap perfectly. Also Sarah & Gareth are very lovely to deal with – makes a retailers job much more pleasant!

2. What is the number one selling point for Smateria products with your customers?

This is a difficult one  - the recycled/ re-allocated materials, followed closely by the self- financed organisation, followed by the price. Also customers love the lightness of the bags & that they are so hardwearing.

3. What is your favourite Smateria product and why?

The Smoto range because they look so fabulous & are from such a fantastic material – makes a good story! Although there are a few comments about ‘bums having been on their bags’ !!

4. What is the best way to display Smateria products in your shop?

For us they work best when the range is diplayed together with the story behind the range – the colours are so fantastic, they look very appealing & eye catching..

5. What advice would you give to other Smateria stockists to get these products walking out the door?

Tell the story behind Smateria – people love it – we have had many comments from customers saying that they “feel they are doing some good” by buying a Smateria product.

Unisex Smateria Smoto Satchels - Best Seller!

On the 23^rd of January 2012, we launched Khmer Trading – a new distribution company specialising in “world” brands.

We had been in operation distributing our two Cambodian-made brands, Tendance Khmere and Smateria throughout 2011 under Gareth’s family business, HQW Distributors but felt that bringing these unique products under a new umbrella company was a better way of us creating our own “name” in the industry going forward and having the room to expand and concentrate on bringing Australia other similar innovative brands in the future.

Now under www.khmertrading.com.au we have a distribution platform where both brands are equally represented and distributed under the same terms and conditions and online ordering system. This will increase our reach across Australia and generate more possibilities to cross-sell and promote Cambodia as a place of creating excellent quality and ingeniously designed products.

Tendance Khmere will kick off 2012 with launching their new collection at the Decoration + Design Show, held at the Sydney Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour, 1^st-3^rd of February 2012. We hope to see you at Stand C11!!

Khmer Trading will then debut at the Life Instyle Show at the Royal Hall of Industries at Moore Park, 23^rd-26^th February 2012, exhibiting both Smateria and Tendance Khmere. Smateria is proud to be releasing its new collection for 2012 at this event.

We really appreciate the support we’ve received over the past year in establishing Tendance Khmere and Smateria and look forward to another busy year in 2012 with Khmer Trading!!