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

Date for the Quake

More exciting news:

Lumina Clothing Co. will be participating in an event held by a NC State organization called Howl for Haiti. Howl for Haiti was started after the devastating earthquake hit Haiti in January. Date for the Quake, a fundraiser for Howl for Haiti, will bring together many students across the NC State campus. Lumina Clothing Co. will be part of the College of Textiles Fashion Show as well as the Date Auction. We will have both ties and bow ties on models walking in the show, and then one of the co-owners of the company will be auctioned off for a date. Everyone in the area should come out because it should be a fun time full of music and fashion! Date for the Quake is being held in Talley Student Center Grand Ballroom on April 10th starting at 5PM. If anyone needs directions or more info, feel free to email us at info@luminaclothing.com.

Also, don't forget that the 64th Blockhouse Steeplechase is coming up on April 17th. This event should provide ample entertainment for all ages so bring the whole family out!

The tickets for the Run for the Promise Gala just went on sale today! To purchase a ticket go to:

https://www.runforthepromise.org/

The Gala is on May 1st beginning at 4PM so we hope to see you out there!

To find out about the most up-to-date information, visit our website at:

http://luminaclothing.com/


LCC

64th Blockhouse Steeplechase

We have some exciting news to share with you! We have recently found out that we will be able to attend the 64th annual Block House Steeplechase in Tryon, NC. It is going to be held on April 17 by Tryon Riding and Hunt Club. Gates open at 10am with events all throughout the day. The first race begins at 1:30, with four total running at 30 minute intervals. It should be a fun day spent out at the race track so get your tickets now and come join Lumina for a great time!

Also, for all NC State students we will be sponsoring and event called Date for the Quake on Saturday April 10. This event is supporting the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. We will be participating in a fashion show where we will have several pieces showcased by models.

Also, don't forget about the Run for the Promise Gala on May 1st. Keep checking back for updates about Lumina Wedding because there will be several interesting events within the next month. Don't forget to contact them if you are getting married and need neck wear for your groomsmen!

Thanks for catching up and don't forget to visit the website,

http://luminaclothing.com/

LCC

Updates...

Hello all,

It has been another long week for us at Lumina. As NC State students have headed to Spring Break destinations, we have been working hard on Lumina products in Raleigh. We have spent this last week trying to perfect the materials used in our ties and the construction of each. We have been working with our seamstresses, and changed a few internal pieces of fabric that we hope you will be happy with.

We will be coming out with new products at the beginning of April, and hope that these changes will make for even better quality ties.

Also, don't forget about the Run for the Promise Gala. The ties benefiting this event will be out soon so stay tuned for those. We are really excited to share them with you! Stay updated by checking the website:

http://luminaclothing.com/

Hope everyone has a good rest of the week,

LCC

Lumina Wedding

It has been a busy weekend here at Lumina, filled with product design and lots of phone calls. We have been working on several new ideas that we hope to be able to share with you soon.

While on the subject of new things, we wanted to make everyone aware of another new part of Lumina Clothing Co. We recently launched the new sector to our company named Lumina Wedding. Our goal is to make a brides wedding day a day full of elegance and style. Our ties come in several widths ranging from skinny (2"), to narrow (2.75"), to traditional (3.25") along with two styles of bow ties. We feel that the bride and groom should have the chance to choose from many different fabrics, whether they be silk, cotton, linen, taffeta, etc. We work with the couple to pick out fabric that is unique and matches their personal style, and in many cases exact colors of the bridesmaid dresses. Not only can groomsmen wear their tie or bow tie during the wedding, they can keep it and wear it for future special occasions. They also make great groomsmen gifts! If you are getting married soon, feel free to contact us about making neck wear for your wedding party:

amanda@luminawedding.com or http://luminawedding.com/

We also wanted to remind you that we have Lumina tee-shirts available on the website. They are made of vintage lightweight cotton and are perfect for casual summer wear. There are two different styles, and three different colors and are available for men and women. Check them out!

That's about all for today. Don't forget about the Run for the Promise Gala. Tickets should be going on sale soon, so we will post to let you know when they are available as soon as we find out! Don't forget that the most updated information can be found on our website:

http://luminaclothing.com/

Thanks for catching up!

LCC

Who doesn't love bow ties?

Many people are hesitant about buying bow ties because they aren't sure how to tie them. I can assure you that they are not as hard to tie as one might think! It may take a couple of tries, but after that you will be a "bow-tieing" expert!

Bow ties are a southern staple, reflecting confidence and hospitable nature. They can also give someone that urban, european, edge. Whoever you are, don't be intimidated by the "bow" that is going to become a must have for fashionable men everywhere.

Keep checking back for our coming soon "How to tie a bow tie" Lumina Style video. As always, if you have any questions, you can contact us via our website http://luminaclothing.com/ or email us at info@luminaclothing.com.

LCC

Lumina neck wear in stores near you!

If you haven't already seen, NEW PRODUCTS ARE UP ON THE WEBSITE!! We have been really excited to share this collection with everyone, and we hope that you like the patterns and styles as much as we do!

http://luminaclothing.com/

It has been a busy week for us here at Lumina. We have been making phone calls, meeting with stores, and finishing up some preparation for the Run for the Promise Gala. We are hoping to be able to have products in several stores by the end of next week to make our ties and bow ties more accessible. We don't want to give away too much information, but we are talking to several stores in Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Wilmington, and a few in SC and VA, so make sure you stayed tuned for that exciting news!

Many people don't know that we already have our ties and bow ties in a store in Cameron Village in Raleigh, NC. Wardrobbe is located at the corner across from Cafe Carolina and next to the Village Draft House. If you have never been in there, you should check it out because their new location, which they moved to about a month ago, is extremely nice. It is very urban and carries so many fashion-forward pieces of clothing. We were excited to have product put in this store because not only can you buy one of our fashionable neck wear pieces, you can put together a whole new Wardrobbe!

Cameron Village

Raleigh, NC

Don't forget to mark your calendars for May 1st so you can come out and join us for the Children's Hospital Run for the Promise Gala! Also, keep checking back for store updates and fashion tips to come early next week. If you ever have any questions you can fill out a contact us form on the website or email us at info@luminaclothing.com.

LCC

NC Children's Hopsital Run for the Promise!

If you haven't already seen the news on our website, it is official! We have chosen the North Carolina Children's Hospital to be one of our benefactors, and they have agreed. We will be the official neck wear sponsor at their upcoming Run for the Promise Gala. The Run for the Promise Gala is a Kentucky Derby style party, paired with outstanding entertainment. There will be tons of delicious food, entertainment all evening, and of course a live showing of the 136th annual Run for the Roses. The festivities begin at 4PM on May 1st at the historic Homeplace at The Hamptons in Pittsboro, NC. Be sure to mark your calendars now because you wouldn't want to miss out on this event! We will continue to update you when we find out ticket prices, but in the meantime if you have any questions you can go to:

http://www.runforthepromise.org/

But guess what? We haven't told you the best part yet! From March 10th until May 7th, 50% of our online sales will go directly to the Children's Hospital! If you are one of those people who likes to internet shop, but can never hit the purchase button, you now have a really good reason to! Not only are you getting fashionable neckwear, you are also benefiting a great cause in the process!

Also, if you haven't noticed the rotating slideshow at the bottom of our website, you should take a look. Exclusively chosen for the Run for the Promise Gala, we have three fabrics to represent our line. While on the subject, we would like to take a minute to thank Jasmine Flood for designing one of our fabric templates for us. The blue and orange argyle fabric patterns were custom designed by Jasmine, with color additions made by us. She is a sophomore Park Scholar in the NC State Design and Textiles School. She entered a design contest we hosted several months ago and we feel privileged to be able to use her designs for one of a kind fabrics for our line! Thanks Jasmine! We hope to do more design contests similar to our first, so if you have interest in participating feel free to contact us at info@luminaclothing.com.

Keep checking back for more upcoming events! We hope you are as excited about the Run for the Promise Gala as we are! Immediate updates will always be posted to the website first, so go there for the most up to date information:

http://luminaclothing.com/

LCC

More excitement to come...

Today we found out some very exciting news! We are still working out all of the details, so we don't want to give away too much, but we have an organization that hopes to work with LuminACTION! This is exciting for us because we have been looking for a way to give back to the community, and this seems to be a perfect fit! We hope to release the news later today on our website, and we will definitely have an update on here for you at the latest tomorrow afternoon.

http://luminaclothing.com/luminaction.html

More exciting news is that we were able to reserve the light room at the NC State Design School, which means that we will have really good pictures of our new products coming to the website hopefully by Friday afternoon. Cross your fingers! For previews of a couple of the new patterns and colors check the slideshow on our website. Of course there are many more, but what fun would it be if we showed them all to you now? Waiting a few days only builds the excitement!

We get many questions about why we chose to produce skinny ties instead of traditional sized ties, so we thought we would try and answer that question for everyone. We decided to start producing skinny ties after getting so many compliments on the ones we were making for ourselves. We believe that the skinny tie is going to be a fashion staple in the next few years, and is the perfect way for a guy to look classic and southern, but with an urban and northern flair. Although we first started producing skinny ties, it is ultimately a personal preference to which you would rather wear! At Lumina Clothing Co. we make something for everyone! If you would rather have a more traditional tie, just make sure you change the tie size to traditional when checking out!

Don't ever forget that we want you to be more than customers, we want you to become part of the Lumina Clothing Co. family, so never hesitate to ask us if we can do something different. Doing something different is exactly why we started this company! We want you be confident in whichever tie or bow tie you choose to wear!

That's about it for now. Make sure to check back so you can keep up with what's going on at Lumina! If you have any other questions you can contact us via the website:

http://luminaclothing.com/


LCC

Hello all!

Hello Lumina Afficianados.

In an effort to get more connected to our followers, we have decided to start a blog that will highlight the everyday happenings of the people working for the company. It will hopefully also get you more up to date on our new products, announcements, and releasing times.

First of all I would like to update you on a few things:

Our Spring line is coming out later in the week! We received our first finished products over the weekend and they look really good. You are going to love the patterns and unconventional fabrics we chose to use. We are currently working on loading all the new products on to the website and it should be completed by Friday. We have also been working on a website revamp, that was launched today so check it out!

We headed down to Wilmington this past weekend with a group from Lumina Clothing Co. to shoot our second photo shoot. It went really well! We wanted to make sure we incorporated parts of where we started into this line, which was very important to us. This whole company started with a dream in Wilmington, and we felt that it was more than appropriate to go back there for the shoot. Along with the website revamp, some of the pictures from the weekend have been added to the site. Go to http://luminaclothing.com/ and check it out.

Keep checking back everyday for new updates! We will try to stay on top of it and have a post every day, but if not we at least promise to make it every other day!

Thanks for the support and don't forget to spread the word about Lumina!

LCC