There is no denying the success of Wrendale Design’s products in the UK, but now the brand is continuing its expansion elsewhere in the world too.
Hannah Dale, the company’s founder and creative maestro attracted the crowds in Japan recently, where she was guest of honour at several department stores, giving painting demonstrations amid the displays of products depicting her work.
The trip was part of a new venture to launch the brand in Japan. Wrendale is working alongside Portmeirion (which licences Wrendale designs for collections of tableware and giftware) with a new distributor who had arranged a full week of painting demonstrations in top department stores in Tokyo.
The trip also involved participating in the British Fair that was being held in Tokyo’s Mitsukoshi department store, the oldest department store in the world – which began trading in 1673.
“We were really delighted with how the trip went and with the reaction from the Japanese people – they were so lovely and it was such a pleasure to meet them,” said Hannah.
She admits to being “surprised at the response to our designs overseas, but we are very excited by the new opportunity.”
The displays include Wrendale’s own products (greeting cards and gifts) as well as those licensed by Portmeirion.
This latest foray East comes on the back of Wrendale’s expansion into America last year as well as the continued development of its portfolio for the UK market.
