Take a journey with us to the past! We are taking a rather self-indulgent look over the last quarter of a century in business.
For the very loyal amongst you, you may remember Cotswold Woollens, before we re-branded to Cotswold Collections.
Photo shoots were frequently located in the Cotswolds. Our marketing manager recalls an amusing conversation with her husband:
"We did a Christmas shoot in a lovely house in Burford, Cotswolds one year. This was at the height of summer when my husband worked in Oxfordshire. He came home one day saying he couldn’t understand why there was a Christmas tree and decorations being put up in this house he drove past on the way to work… I was able to put him right!"
Our models have a much harder job today as our winter and Christmas shoots are located in Europe and further afield with temperatures reaching upwards of 35C!
The buyers have seen so much change over the past few decades which has also enabled them to perfect the fit of the garments with improvements in garment technology and machinery and as is the nature of fashion, it is cyclical and they have seen "trends come and go and come back again."
However, as the saying goes 'What goes up, must come down' and tragedy struck in 2007 bringing Cotswold Collections to the edge. Massive floods affected vast areas of Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds. Tewkesbury was described as an 'isle' as it was effectively surrounded by flood water (the abbey can be seen in the background above).
Unfortunately, our warehouse at the time was located in the picturesque village of Winchcombe, which was flooded so badly that both floors of stock were damaged. Thankfully, our dedicated staff made a heroic effort to rescue as much as they could so that customers could still receive their orders but several candles from our well-being range still managed to make their escape and floated down the Isbourne river!
Nonetheless, out of this tragedy came new beginnings - we moved the location of our warehouse to Cheltenham and based all of our operations in one building. The benefits of "all departments of the company operating under the same roof made for great efficiencies and improved communication and our working environment" and so from this disaster emerged a better and brighter future for us.
Our Managing Director's personal highlight has been:
"Building the heritage side of the business, forming great relationships with British woollen mills and the remains of the British garment manufacturing industry, which keeps our quality high and the product exclusive."
Of course, none of this would have been possible without you, our loyal customers! You've seen us through the past quarter of a century and we hope to be with you for some time to come. We absolutely love hearing from you, whether that's your fantastic reviews on Trustpilot, your stunning photos or on the phone to our customer service team. Your opinions help shape our future collections and we can't wait to hear more from you!
You may have noticed that the vintage covers all have one thing in common. They look similar to the classics you know and love today. We haven't drifted from our mission of creating unique classic clothing that stands the test of time. So here's to another 25 years of Cotswold Collections!
Do you have a treasured garment from Cotswold Collections? Do you remember the very first catalogue you received from us? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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