Steiff Bears and The Golden Age of Theatre

Last week London’s West End reported an attendance of over 14 million in 2010, missing last year's record by a whisker. A BBC report desribed a 'golden age of theatre'.

So why are we living in this golden age? Partly it’s the quality. If you provide cheap production values and lazy content, audiences stay home. By contrast, last year's West End’s hits are challenging plays and intelligent musicals. But the main reason is, I think, to do with it being live. We’re all aware nowadays of how packaged and mass produced so much of what we consume is, including entertainment. Consequently, there’s an appetite for things that are or appear to be authentic.

At one end of the spectrum, you see it in the popularity of ‘reality’ TV shows and a desire to see behind the celebrity masks. Elsewhere it’s the trend towards naturally produced food or, as I see in my shop Your Life Your Style, the demand for handmade products like Steiff bears and Dartington Glass. A theatrical performance, where we join a live audience to share in the real emotion communicated by actual people, is the organic wholemeal loaf of entertainment.

Whatever the reason for this golden age, it may soon be over. Cuts to arts funding are threatening many great producing theatres, local and national. So, enjoy it while you can.

This post also appeared on Wordpress and on the Daily Echo website in an extended version

You'll Either Love Or Hate This Advertising

I myself don't love or hate Marmite- I can take it or leave it. Nevertheless I congratulate DDB, the marketing people, for their Marmite campaign. I can't remember a concept that has so entered the national consciousness. I'm not talking about memorable slogans, of which there have been quite a few. I mean the way the brand name has become shorthand for an idea. I've lost count of the number of times I've heard or read someone say, 'It's like Marmite', often without even the 'love it or hate it' explanation.
It's the Holy Grail for marketeers to create something that so gets into people' brains. 'Gifts As Unique As You' is my best effort so far for our shop Your Life Your Style. Regarding our best selling products, Steiff offer 'For children, only the best is good enough', Ashleigh & Burwood fragrance lamps go for 'Parfum. Inspiration. Emotion' and Dora Designs go for 'Uniquely Different Gifts'.

Designer Dressed Steiff Bears Auction

Steiff Teddy Bears have become one of the most popular items at Your Life Your Style since we introduced them last year, so I thought you might be interested in an auction of Steiffs dressed by top fashion designers. Vivienne Westwood, Stella McCartney, Betty Jackson and Lulu Guinness are among many whose designer bears will be benefitting Living Paintings, a charity who have designed a touch and sound system to bring picture to life those who cannot see.
The auction is at the V & A in London on 25 February 2010. For more details visit Living Paintings.

Pudsey Bear And The Unlimited Appeal of Steiff

Until we started selling Steiff teddy bears, I have to admit they had completely passed under my radar. Now I love these beautifully made toys and their appealing faces and I see references to them everywhere. The other day I read that E H Shepherd’s original drawing of Winnie the Pooh was based on the bear that belonged to A A Milne’s son- and was made by Steiff.

                                  

Amazingly, although he’s been around for 24 years, Steiff have never produced a Pudsey Bear. Until now. This year a Steiff Pudsey made of yellow mohair will be available in a Limited Edition of 2009 pieces, complete with buttoned ear tag. He costs £150 but could be worth a great deal more in a few years time. £30 from each sale goes to the BBC's Children In Need appeal for disadvantaged children.

We’re expecting him in just by the end of November but he can be ordered inadvance from the Your Life Your Style website.

Quality Wins

Your Life Your Style is to be Winchester's stockist of Steiff teddy bears. It may be you haven't heard of Steiff but to anyone who collects these delightful furry toys, they are the number one. Why? Partly because they've been making bears for 100 years but mainly because the quality is superb.
Like many German firms, Steiff bring together good design, precision manufacturing and obseesive quality control. They tried making some of their bears in China but found so many items were below their standard that they went back to making them exclusively in Germany.
Our own manufacturers can learn from this. For years, British goods became a by-word for shoddy, thanks to complacency and lack of worker involvement. Then the far east took over mass production.
When Britain did something well, it was a world beater- Rolls Royce or malt whisky for example. Thankfully a new generation of British manufacturers are in that tradition and recognise that you can't beat the Chinese on price but you can succeed by offering good design, skilled manufacture and quality control.
We visited the Grayshott factory this week which houses Dartington Pottery. As well as the special edition pieces we stock, they provide crockery for many restaurants. The work of these thirty or so people, who operate as a co-operative, is breathtaking in its skill and care. If a customer wants cheap ceramics, China beckons but if they want quality and value, Grayshott is there for them, and offers an example to British manufacturers in the 21st century.