Independent lingerie retailer Vanilla Fudge in Cheadle Hulme welcomed customers to a very different kind of shopping experience on Friday 11th September as the store teamed up with AWWA – Accepting Who We Are and Chantelle Lingerie for an AWWAsome Fit & Live Mannequin Experience.
The event brought lingerie to life, quite literally, with AWWA co-founders Rachel Peru and Tina Boden becoming live mannequins in the Vanilla Fudge window, showcasing beautiful French lingerie while challenging traditional ideas around age, body confidence and representation in intimate apparel marketing.
For Vanilla Fudge owner Lisa Williams, the event was particularly significant given her own impressive retail journey. Lisa has been running the business for 24 years, demonstrating the longevity, resilience and adaptability required to thrive as an independent retailer through changing economic conditions and evolving customer expectations.
The event was supported by Chantelle, who this year celebrate an extraordinary 150 years in business making the collaboration a celebration of retail heritage, lingerie expertise and innovative ways of connecting with today’s customers.
Live mannequin experiences are part of AWWA’s mission to help women accept who they are, build confidence and live boldly on their own terms, while also giving independent retailers and brands an opportunity to create something unexpected, engaging and highly visual.
In the current economic climate, retailers are looking for innovative ways to attract customers, create foot fall and give people a reason to visit their stores. The AWWAsome Fit & Live Mannequin Experience offers a fresh approach to visual merchandising, transforming a shop window into an interactive conversation starter and creating opportunities for customers to connect with a brand in a memorable and human way.
This was a Friday well spent. I loved every minute of the day teaming up with AWWA and Chantelle Lingerie Our live mannequin window showcase was fabulous fun celebrating confidence, comfort and beautiful lingerie that supports you in every way. The conversations we had amongst ourselves and with customers around body confidence, lingerie styles and ageism were really interesting. Such a special day with wonderful people and I cannot wait to do more of this.”
Lisa Williams, owner of Vanilla Fudge
For AWWA, the success of the Cheadle Hulme event demonstrates how community, confidence, creativity and commercial retail can come together to create experiences that benefit both customers and independent businesses.
AWWA is now looking to work with more independent retailers, lingerie and fashion brands and other businesses that want to bring something bold, unexpected and AWWAsome to their customers.
If you like to know about AWWA or have your own event contact tina@tinaboden.com
