Looking towards the Fall!

Obvious from our dates, it has been quite sometime since we have posted on our Blog. Things have been busy around here as we try to make some big moves towards expansion and product development. There are some pretty exciting things in the works, but I don't want to give away too much before it happens! You will be the first to know after we decide everything is a go!

First on the agenda is our new Fall line, which we will be launching soon. Although many other companies are already populating their websites with Fall apparel, we think it is better to wait until it is actually....FALL. Crazy, I know. But, starting in September you will see the new products showing up on the site.

Secondly, for many of our customers as of late, we want to issue a very public apology! We know we have been slow getting products out and that is because of some growing pains we are experiencing. We never expected so many people to like what we are doing! Its fantastic, but it sometimes comes with negative impacts. We hope that you will come back and shop with us as we feel like we are finally through the storm.

And finally in today's post we wanted to point out a few of our favorite things about the Fall season. Some of them are a little bias (we are in Raleigh after all!)

#1 Football Season! We are all excited about football season. No matter what team you cheer for, it is something we all look forward to. Here at Lumina, we may have a bias towards Red and White....and Carter Finley, but that doesn't mean you can't like someone else!

#2 Drinks at Boylan Bridge! If you are in Raleigh and like beer, don't miss a chance to grab a pint at the Boylan Bridge Brew Pub. Great bar food (especially the engineer's club) and great beer. Plus, they quite possibly have one of the best views of Raleigh!

#3 Throwing on your Bean boots with some Jeans! In NC its rainy this time of year, and there is no better way to keep dry than a pair of bean boots! (They look great with a plaid tie...fall line?)

#4 Cord Blazers. They make a great addition to a casual night out, plus, you can't always wear your navy blazer...

#5 Labor Day Weekend. Not really Fall you might say. We would agree, but for us, labor day marks the end of summer and the beginning of the great season of Fall! AND its such a great vacation weekend! Don't forget to throw on a piece of Lumina Neckwear for the last parties of the summer season.

Keep checking back on our blog as we will try to post more frequently and we might just keep counting down some of our favorite fall moments!

Cheers, The Lumina CC Team

Special Thanks

It has been a while since we last updated on the blog, and we have been continually working on new styles, release times, and more additions to the Lumina Clothing family.

For this post, we are going to take a minute to highlight and thank all of the websites, blogs, and reviews that have featured our products. Our company would never make it without these supporters and we thank all of you for everything you have done for us so far. We look forward to a continued relationship as we continue to release products and grow together over the next few years.

The blogs we would like to thank:

Off The Cuff DC, Chris Hogan

http://offthecuffdc.blogspot.com/2010/04/signs-of-spring-preppy-handbook-lumina.html

His post highlighted our connection and incorporation of both preppy and ivy league style into our designs. A perfect interpretation of our company, thanks!

The Half Pint Gentleman, Michael Canter

http://halfpintgentleman.com/2010/04/11/a-gentleman-gets-illuminated.aspx

Gave a quick bio of our company and several product styles and has been a continued supporter of Lumina. We look forward to that trunk show!

Alexander Grant, Branden "Skip" Brooks

http://alexandergrant.blogspot.com/2010/05/q-w-lumina-clothing-co.html

Thanks for the awesome tie review and Q&A. You couldn't have captured our product more, and I hope everyone is able to better understand our construction and philosophy from your post.

The Momentum of Failure, Will Price

http://themomentumoffailure.com/2010/04/15/a-khaki-plaid-family-reunion-a-wedding-with-brooks-brothers-and-lumina/

A perfect connection of Lumina and the Wedding World. We look forward to outfitting your brothers wedding, and many more weddings in the future!

Sartorially Inclined, Lawrence Schlossman

http://sartoriallyinclined.blogspot.com/2010/03/lumina-clothing-co.html

Our very first blog feature! Thanks for the wonderful company profile!

Southern Gent Blog, Daryl Muller

http://www.southerngentblog.com/2010/04/fit-to-be-tied.html

Thanks for the highlight in your "Fit to be Tied" post for the upcoming derbies and steeplechases.

Southern Weddings Magazine, Chapel Hill, NC

http://www.swsmag.net/blog/2010/4/15/contest-lumina-ties-and-bowties.html

Our first wedding spotlight on SW Magazine Blog. We were able to receive good feedback and meet a wonderful bride named Jennifer who we are very excited to be working with!

Jo-Silhouette, Joanna Sullivan

http://jo-silhouette.blogspot.com/2010/04/tie-knot.html

A perfect review of our company and our gulf-stream bow tie. Thanks so much Joanna!

Other Sites:

Freshest Gear

http://www.freshestgear.com/2010/04/lumina-bow-tie/

Star News Online

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20100416/ARTICLES/100419718

Metro NC

http://www.metronc.com/article/?id=2072

Urban Daddy

http://www.urbandaddy.com/dc/weekender/9491/The_Weekender_Barside_Accounting_Mobile_Pizza_and_Skinny_Ties_DC_DC

AND, last but not least Meredith Perdue of &unlimited photography who gave us the best "shoot" experience we could have ever hoped for. You are amazing! We look forward to seeing what's next for you!

http://www.andunlimited.com/lumina-clothing-company/

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all listed above! And to all of those not listed, we couldn't do it without you guys, you know who you are. It's been a long road and we still have a long way to go. Don't forget to keep spreading the word about Lumina Clothing Co., we can't wait to reveal what's in store for us next!

LCC

http://luminaclothing.com/

Sneak Peak

This week has been a good week of planning. We have made some progress on plans for both the Fall '10 and Spring '11 lines. The next two weeks are busy and full of meetings in preparation for designs and prototypes.

This past weekends Tanglewood Steeplechase was such a nice event. We were able to meet some fellow clothiers and socialize with all of the "bow lovers" that were there. It was nice to get out of Raleigh and out to the country for a day.

We are so excited for the pictures from out Photo shoot with Meredith Perdue of &Unlimited Photography out of Maine. She is a Carolina grad (yes, we forgave her and still let her take pictures, go wolfpack!) and has made such a name for herself, we were so lucky to have her! Pictures should be coming within the next couple of weeks so as soon as we get them we will let everyone know!

New product shots are coming soon as well, so look forward to that well!

Thanks so all for the support!

LCC

http://luminaclothing.com/

NEW STORE!

We have just returned from putting products into McKenzie Tribe of Raleigh. McKenzie Tribe is located in North Hills. It is a great store full of great products so for all locals, got check out the products!

Also, we have added new styles into Wardrobbe of Cameron Village. These styles are most likely not going to be put on the website, which means they are one of a kind!

REMEMBER:

All profits from sales go to the UNC Children's Hospital through May 8th. It's a great way to support local kids.

LCC

http://luminaclothing.com/

Events and Photoshoot

Next Saturday, May 8th, we will be attending the Tanglewood Steeplechase in Clemmons, NC. For all of you who live in the Winston Salem, Greensboro, High Point or Charlotte areas, come out and join us at the horse race for a great time!

Next week we will be doing a photo shoot for Lumina with a great photographer that we are really excited about! She is all the way in North Carolina from Maine, and we are looking forward to seeing what her style and vision will be for the photographs. As soon as we get the picture we will let everyone know. Lets hope they turn out good!

We are also in the process of taking new product shots for our old and NEW products. New products will be put on the website within the next two weeks so stay tuned.

The Children's Hospital Run for the Promise Gala yesterday was a great time! We met a lot of great people who were excited about our company. It is really great when we are able to connect with people such as the benefactors of the UNC Children's Hospital who attended the event. They do so much for the children and it was definitely a humbling experience.

Thanks to all of our fans for all of the great support. We look forward to seeing you at an upcoming event!

LCC

http://luminaclothing.com/

LCC has been busy!

The last few weeks have been busy and full of events. We have been recently getting some really good recognition from newspapers, magazines, and blogs. For a list of these sources you can go to our press page. Some articles are very good and some offer coupon codes for visiting their sites so you should check them out!

http://luminaclothing.com/?page_id=258

On to the events:

The Date for the Quake event benefiting Howl for Haiti was an absolute success. Money was raised for a good cause and we were able to get our name out there to the NC State community. Anything dealing with NC State is close to our heart as this is where the idea for Lumina was perfected.

On Saturday we went all the way down to Tryon, NC for the 64th Tryon Steeplechase. Having never been to a smaller horse race, we weren't exactly sure what to expect. After attending this race, we are definitely already attempting to get booths at other races in the near future. It was so much fun and we met so many people! One guy who bought a unique two sided bow from us shared that he owned over 500 bows total (of course he was wearing 1 of the 500 and also bought one so I guess that makes it 501)!

As we have mentioned briefly in other posts, we are doing some work with brides and grooms helping to design their wedding neckwear. In order to get more immersed in the market, we attended the Southern Bridal Expo at the NC State fair on Sunday. Going in with not a lot of wedding knowledge, we were glad to have so much interest from brides and grooms. From simply liking our ties for single wear or being interested in placing a bulk order for the groomsmen in their wedding...everyone was very supportive. I don't think the winner has been announced yet, but we participated in a giveaway put on by Southern Wedding Magazine so a premature congratulations to the lucky bride who wins a free set of wedding ties or bows from Lumina Wedding!

For the next few weeks we are working on getting ties in stores, which has recently become a top priority. We are sending ties and bows off to McKenzie Tribe in North Hills, Edge of Urge in Wilmington, and hopefully a new store that is located in Blacksburg, VA and Texas. When they are all sent out to the stores we will let you know, but don't forget that several new styles that aren't even on the website are in Wardrobbe of Cameron Village.

Also, two new BIG announcements:

1. We will hopefully have ties in Southern Wedding Magazine within the next month. We will keep you updated on specifics.

2. Although I can't give away too much, but we have been talking with a wardrobe director from New Line Cinema. We can't disclose which movie, but we are really excited about it!

May 1st is the Children's Hospital benefit, which is approaching fast! Don't forget that half of all proceeds until then go to the NC Children's Hospital, as well as all sales made at the Run for the Promise Gala.

Thanks for all the support. Don't forget to visit the website for the most up-to-date announcements!

LCC
http://luminaclothing.com/

Event Updates and NEW Locations!

I can't believe its been over a week since our last post. Time has flown by over the last week. Over the Easter holiday we all traveled back to our hometowns to celebrate with our families, but that has been the only break we have gotten, and most likely will get for at least the next 3 weeks.

Just a warning before you start reading, this could be a lengthy post because so much has happened that we haven't shared with you yet...

1. We have been getting ready for the Date for the Quake at NC State University this Saturday. We have 5 guys walking in the School of Textiles fashion show, and we will have a booth set up that night. Talley Student Center doors open at 5PM and close at 9PM. There will be 3 bands, a fashion show, date auction and student vendors (that's us!). Tickets for seats are 10 dollars online, and some standing tickets will be sold at the door for 3 dollars. I hope everyone has time to come out and support our models and have a really fun night!

http://www.showclix.com/event/9153

2. Lumina Wedding has decided to attend the Southern Bridal Expo at the NC State Fairgrounds. The Expo is on Sunday, April 18th from 11-4. For anyone getting married soon, this show is a perfect place to begin planning early. You will also be able to see first hand how our ties are constructed, sample products, all of our fabrics, and you will be eligible for a complete custom tie or bow set for your wedding!

https://www.foreverbridal.net/tickets.asp

3. That same weekend, we will be attending the Block House Steeplechase in Tryon, NC. The fun will last from 11-5ish with four horse races. This event is perfect for the entire family to come out and have a day full of fun, sun, and horse races. Plus you get to support Lumina Clothing Co.

So on to the really exciting news-

We have recently found out that we will soon have products being placed in two new stores. McKenzie Tribe is a menswear boutique located in North Hills, Raleigh. We will hopefully be placing products in that store by the end of next week.
http://www.mckenzietriberaleigh.com/index.html

Edge of Urge out of Wilmington, NC will be picking up products starting at the beginning of May. Edge of Urge is both a men and women's fashion boutique. Check both of them out for new products if you are in the area!
http://www.edgeofurge.com/boutique/main.php

Lastly, I would like to thank both Lawrence Schlossman, author of Sartorially Inclined Blog and Chris Hogan, author of Off the Cuff DC. Both Lawrence and Chris posted fantastic reviews of Lumina! Check them both out at:

Lawrence, Sartorially Inclined:

http://sartoriallyinclined.blogspot.com/
Chris, Off the Cuff DC:

http://offthecuffdc.blogspot.com/

Thanks to everyone for the support and we hope to see you at some of our upcoming events!

LCC