On the Trail with Karen Millen

This past Thursday night I headed over to the Westfield Mall in downtown San Francisco to hold our first ever K&L fashion event with London-based designer Karen Millen. My wife has been wearing KM dresses for years at this point and we're at the SF store so often we've come to know many of the staff members. I've had a standing offer to do a K&L Champagne event with them since I can remember and finally last week they gave me a call about helping to launch the new Spring collection. Nothing helps customers loosen up like a glass of bubbly, right? We set a date and an invitation was sent out to the store's top customers (my wife being one of them):

What my wife and I admire most about Karen Millen's style is that her pieces are eye-catching and original while remaining classic and timeless. Best of all, you won't find duplicates or carbon copies everywhere else you look. You can wear a Karen Millen dress around town and people will literally stop you on the street and ask where you got it. I know this because it's happened to my wife quite often. People fawn over her Karen Millen pieces no matter where we go: LA, New York, Paris—it's the same reaction everywhere. We were both really excited about the event being such fans of the designer.

I did my best to choose a wine from K&L that would match both the sophistication and the style of Karen Millen's clothes. I wanted to pour Champagne that was classic in style and flavor, but also distinct and original. I chose the K&L Exclusive 2009 vintage Louis Brison, a direct-import of ours that tends to wow people in much the same way as Karen's pieces. Just about every woman who took a sip that reacted just as I hoped: "Ohhhh....that's good!" Before you knew it, I was handing out my email address while happily pouring seconds.

And so the women came, and they shopped, and they drank. I had an ice bucket on the counter and a glass in my hand the entire time. It felt more like a party than a promotion!

Ladies of all ages stopped by to try on clothes and they all walked away happy, which endeared me to the brand even more. I truly admire people who can do something great in a way that speaks to a diverse population of interests. Every woman who tried on a dress at Karen Millen last night looked fantastic. And they drank well while they did it.

-David Driscoll

David Driscoll