Bouncewear: where basketball enthusiasts meet

October 17, 2017October 17, 2017 ~ Jenni Laiho ~ Leave a comment

On Saturday September 16th , Bouncewear opened its first store in Luxembourg near the station in Dommeldange . The location, while a bit out of the city centre, is easy reachable and well connected.

The weather wasn’t the best but the store was nevertheless busy with clients who wanted to see what Bouncewear was all about.

Bouncewear is a Belgian retail chain specialized in pure basketball selling everything related to the sport: shirts, hoodies, footwear, basket balls and even books and accessories. Basically everything you can think of in connection with playing basketball.

On the opening day, they had a food truck serving Italian style pizza slices and pasta boxes with some different beverages. I don’t think the salesclerks had much free time to kill during the time I was there as many customers required their attention and assistance and were really interested in the products. I liked the interior design of the shop because it has lots of free space so the store wouldn’t feel too packed even if there were plenty of people at the same time. Also the articles of clothing are hang neatly and not squeezed close to one another as opposed to many cheap retail chains.

I think this shop will cater the needs of many basketball players and hopefully even encourage people for a more fit lifestyle!

Bouncewear

Address
2, rue Nennig
L-2214 Dommeldange / Luxembourg

Opening Hours
Monday: closed
Tuesday to Friday: 11h – 18h
Saturday: 10h – 18h
Sunday: closed

Olliewood Skate Shop Opening

June 9, 2017August 8, 2017 ~ Jenni Laiho ~ Leave a comment

On Friday April 9th, Barefoot in Luxembourg was invited to participate Olliewood’s “housewarming party” in its new location. After operating 19 years inside the “Galerie de Capucins”, the Luxembourgish skating store had moved up the street to a more visible, brighter and customer friendly location.

Painted in white with a huge window facing towards the street, this new store indeed had indeed changed its looks towards being very fresh and young providing a more exclusive shopping experience. The new place situated just along a busy street of Rue de Capucins, will certainly contribute to a more customer flow due to its visibility. It’s now indeed much easier to stop by to check the latest season trends as the huge shopping window creates the attention of the passers-by.

The official opening evening was full of people and it was almost impossible to get inside the store. There was a DJ playing through the evening while the clients were busy trying on hoodies, t-shirts, sneakers, caps and checking out skateboards. The personnel was very friendly and patiently advised people and answered any questions anyone had.
I can imagine this shop gaining even more popularity after the change of the location. There is a strong skating community in Luxembourg and a big number of people who simply like the skater style clothes.

Olliewood

19, rue des Capucins L-1313

Luxembourg-City,

Opening hours

Monday to Saturday / 10h00 – 18h00

Pictures are courtesy of Olliewood Facebook Page.

17426020_1489255897786075_8670415398866762658_n

AKABOBUTTEK & NATURWELTEN: new ecological shop in Luxembourg

April 23, 2017 ~ Jenni Laiho ~ Leave a comment

When it comes to ecological thinking in terms of providing organic food or eco-friendly products, I feel a bit like Luxembourg is lagging behind in the development of offering these products as compared to many other European countries.

On Friday 31^st of March, I was thrilled to attend the opening of AKABOBUTTEK & NATURWELTEN, located in the area on 8 Rue de Bonnevoie. The shop focuses on providing ecologically made products and they have a huge variety of different household textiles and other items (mattresses, carpets, curtains, wooden furniture), yoga wear, men and women’s fashion and accessories, cosmetics and cleaning products. The owner of the shop has also a “tour bus” and the new shop is in fact an extension of what they were already offering via this bus.

At the opening evening, the boutique was full of customers and the new store crew was warmly welcoming everyone to come and have a closer look to the new establishment. The shop owners also explained to me the philosophy of the store which is based on sustainable development. The idea is to support the developing countries by providing the people better pay for their work. All the products also have a Fair-trade or equivalent certification.

This new shop is ideal for consumers who value environment and are concerned about the inequality of the developing countries. The prices of items are somewhat higher as compared to mass chain stores but the quality is often better and at least one knows that the extra money is given to people who really are in need of it and have earned it. The store itself is also cute and the crew very eager to help and advise.

14980703_412693615521028_2672784669967462363_n

16807529_461437080646681_4992225353316315199_n

17626466_479853792138343_6096824107584698492_n (1)

Naturwelten Wunnen & Schlofen
8, rue de Bonnevoie
L-1260 Luxembourg-Gare

Opening hours:
Monday 10-18h30
Tuesday -Friday 10-18h30
Saturday 10-18h
Sunday and holidays closed

pictures courtesy of Akabobus

Jenni’s Corner: Hub Dot Anniversary Event

July 8, 2016July 8, 2016 ~ Corie Bratter ~ Leave a comment

From this month on, a new series of articles written by Jenni Laiho will be published on Barefoot in Luxembourg. Struggling a bit between the blog, the events and my work, I found some needed support in Jenni, who is helping me out with my agenda. Wishing Jenni a warm welcome to Barefoot in Luxembourg! The first event she attended on my behalf was the anniversary of Hub Dot Luxembourg.

On a behalf of Barefoot in Luxembourg, I had a privilege to be part of the second Luxembourg Hubdot event which idea behind is to provide similar minded women with networking opportunities.

Upon my arrival at Bo Concept, where the event took place on Thursday 16^th June, I was positively surprised to notice how casually everybody was chatting with each other, while sipping champagne and nibbling appetizers. Many of these women were complete strangers to one another, connected with a common interest towards personal growth and fashion; the latter being the theme of the day’s event.

As compared to many other similar events I have been, Hubdot has a distinctive element of being based on story-telling rather than just standard mingling. As I entered the venue, the event was just about to start and the host Carlotta welcomed the first speaker to climb on the stage. Each speaker had 90 seconds to shortly present their experience and tell the public what had made them to change the course of their lives and become bloggers, designers, personal shoppers or shop owners. After nearly 18 speakers had shared their stories, I felt really inspired. It was simply amazing to hear how these ordinary women with very normal and diverse background had left their permanent jobs to pursue their dream or were working hard along the daytime work.

What I really liked about the event, was the fact that it was open for everyone without a specific social status, experience or other qualifications. I was also impressed by the idea of using “dot codes” as an ice breaker meaning that each person chose to wear a different dot colour on their clothes according to their current status. Green: ‘I’m here to be inspired’; yellow: ‘I have an idea. Can anyone help?; blue: ‘I’m here to socialize and shop’; red: ‘I’m established (in my career/business)’; and purple: ‘I want to tell you about (my story/work). It meant that other participants could see on one glance the reason why someone else was here.

In the middle of the speeches, there was a short break, which everyone could be used for mingling and exchanging different viewpoints. I browsed around the different stands that were set up by these women who already had launched their businesses. There were a lot of beautiful jewellery, hand bags and clothes that really deserve to get more attention. Besides promoting the actual products, the event was really more about spreading the energy, enthusiasm and courage for each and every one to follow their true passion.

I had a chance to talk to some of these ladies that I could never get hold on in a normal circumstances and I found it truly empowering. I might not change my current job just yet but it really made me think about the other possibilities through which I could better utilize my creativeness and imagination.

Barefoot in Luxembourg meets people: Damien

November 18, 2015November 18, 2015 ~ Corie Bratter ~ 3 Comments

Barefoot in Luxembourg meets people series is back. Today it’s the turn of Damien, a young entrepreneur who launched a new fashion store, specifically designed for Luxembourg market.

Good Morning Damien and welcome at Barefoot in Luxembourg for a new episode of our series “Barefoot in Luxembourg meets people”, thank you for joining.

Let’s kick it off: Who are you? Can you introduce you briefly?

Hi Corie! My name is Damien, I come from a lovely and sunny town in the south west of France named Saint Jean-de-Luz. I live in Luxembourg for two years and I really enjoy the life here, sharing my time between my work at ShowStyle, my friends, travels or simply discovering beautiful places in the Grand Duchy.

Can you tell Barefoot in Luxembourg readers a bit more about the Show Style project?

ShowStyle genesis stemmed from a frustration… We are in the heart of Europe, connected to the world and every day we are attracted by new trends. But, when you live in Luxembourg, it is not so easy to find the article that fits perfect for you. The shopping offer is really small with some of the biggest groups that sell the same product all around the world and even online you have to pay a lot in shipping. So we decided to build our own site, with designers we like and match with our lifestyle, young, international, looking for quality and originality. The other important point was to ship for free and directly at your home. Today, we work with 50 designers coming mainly from Luxembourg, France and Belgium and we are always looking for new cool and talented brands.

Why people should buy on Show Style instead of in a boutique, a high-street shop or the usual online channels?

As I said before, you won’t find any products we have in Luxembourg and if you want to buy it in another site, you will pay for the shipping. That is a first point. Afterwards, most of the people are used to buy in H&M, Zara, Mango etc and I think ShowStyle is a very good complement. When you want a total look that is not only from “mainstream” channels, you can easily find original articles on ShowStyle that will give you a real plus and make your style different. More than just clothes, shoes or accessories, we promote designers that offer qualitative collections and share their identity, lifestyle and values through their creations.

What are the best three things about Show Style and what do you enjoy about working there?

The first one is the challenge, starting from scratch in a conservative market such as Luxembourg and reach its ambition. The second one is the relation we build with designers. Behind every designer present on ShowStyle, there is a team of young enthusiastic, talented and innovative people. It is really interesting to listen each stories and experiences they have. The third one is to see our clients wearing our products. As our designers are exclusive, it is real pleasure to see some clients in the streets feeling well with their products.

These three points make that I enjoy my work in ShowStyle, it is an adventure made on meetings, stories and passion.

Coming back to your Luxembourg background, you said how long have you been living in Luxembourg?

2 amazing years.

What is your most beloved place in the city?

The Konrad, just to spend some time in a peaceful place when it is cold outside or just having a walk in the Grund.

What is your favorite restaurant in Luxembourg?

More than a restaurant, I would talk about the bakery Beatriz in Bonnevoie. I just love it. For cheese and wine I really like La Cave à Fromages. That’s not restaurant but I like them 😉

What is your preferred night-life spot in Luxembourg?

Mmm, that is a very good question! It is really hard to highlight one spot when during a night I can change 10 times of place. I like all of them!

What do you like about Luxembourg life?

I like the friendly and international atmosphere and living in a capital that seems to be a small village.

What would you change or improve?

An airport with cheapest flights.

What is the best place you visited in a range of 200 km from the city and that you would suggest for a daily trip?

Not so far, I recommend a daily bike trip in the north of the country, closed to Haute Sûre Lake. It is very pleasant to discover these amazing landscape and feel cut off of the world just after some km. But in this period, I recommend to go to the Christmas market of Strasbourg that is also very nice. With friends or family, it is always a great time.

What is the best adjective to describe Luxembourg?

Cosmopolitan.

Check out ShowStyle website and Facebook page for having more information about Damien project and being the first to learn about discounts and event. Moreover, on Thursday 19th November, ShowStyle will sponsor the incredible Beaujolais after-work at Jakob’s House by MixInLux and you can meet and chat with Damien there!

Fashion Days Luxembourg – Day II

November 3, 2015 ~ Corie Bratter ~ 1 Comment

I have already talked about how glad I was to be part of Fashion Days Luxembourg event here. As said, Friday night was dedicated to the consolidated designers, while the Saturday event started with fashion shows of stylists with less than three years of experience who were participating to the Startup Designer Awards.
The collections were really different one from the other and the all evening had a more professional allure compared to the night before – even if the first part was a bit too long, without any break.
My favorite designers were Enora Hiernaux, who resulted to be the winner of the Startup Designer Awards and Bastien Sebillot, who, with his combination between mesh and leather was one of the most supported by the public.

During the second part of the evening, before the winner was elected, the consolidated stylists who have seen also the day before, have a further catwalk.

Check out some more pictures of the Saturday show by Kochi Wz and check out Fashion Days Luxembourg FB page to be updated on the next edition.

Fashion Days Luxembourg – Day I

October 27, 2015October 27, 2015 ~ Corie Bratter ~ 1 Comment

I was very excited to attend the Fashion Days Luxembourg last week end. Even if I am not a fashion blogger and my knowledge about fashion stops to what I like and what I don’t like, I was indeed motivated to see new designers – above all young ones – and to be part of a totally new concept for Luxembourg. It was the time, finally, that also Luxembourg had a fashion event and after attending the whole week-end, I can definitely see the organizational effort was huge (bravo!) and I really enjoyed it.
Barefoot in Luxembourg is always interested about “what is going on” and “what new is happening in town” and the Fashions Days Luxembourg were definitely something new, refreshing and cool.

If you are following me on snapchat, you probably had already an idea about the catwalks we attended. Below you can find a picture-reportage of the first day, Friday 23th, taken by my partner in crime Kochi Wz, who was part of this adventure with me.

The first day event was dedicated to consolidated designers that presented their collections. My favorite one was the one by Marie Schweisthal, as her collection was feminine and really “my style”, something I could definitely wear on regular basis! But all the other collections presented were cool, we also appreciated the mermaids of the Ocean collection of Phillipe Haussman, the sophisticated gown of Sasha Cooper and the colourful ladies of Antonio Rocha.

Luxembourg will have its Fashion Week End: The Fashion Days

September 29, 2015September 29, 2015 ~ Corie Bratter ~ 3 Comments

I was always surprised that, in a cosmopolitan and international place like Luxembourg, where people are interested to fashion trends and more and more new brands have been created, there was not a renowned Fashion Week, like in most of European and world capitals.

Finally, this year I get the possibility to get introduced to the Luxembourg Fashion Days, an extraordinary event that will happen on the week end of October 23rd at Casino 2000 in Mondorf-Les-Bains.
The event will take place on Friday evening, starting from 7 pm, and Saturday afternoon, starting from 5 pm, and on the program there will be fashion shows, work shops, presentation of young stylists and a designer fashion award.

You will find a complete list of the designers that will be presented to the kermesse here.

I am personally coming from one of the world fashion city, Milan, where mostly only well-known and famous brands made it on the news. Hence, it is definitely refreshing to see so many young designers and a real focus on the “country sector“, as on the Luxembourg Fashion Days. In particular, the 1st StartUp Designer Awards recognized the talent of young stylists with less than three years experience.
I had a small tour among stylists that will be present at the event, and I have to say I cannot wait to be there! I cannot hide that I am particularly excited also to see again Passe-moi l’ sel cherie collection, after getting in touch with the brand at last Janette event.
I will be there with my partner in crime Anna and we will provide a detailed chronicle of the fashion shows.

Do you want also to participate to the Fashion Days in Luxembourg?

You can either buy your ticket here or you can participate to the ticket giveaway on Barefoot in Luxembourg FB page here. There are 2×2 tickets for Friday 23rd October and 2×2 tickets for Saturday 24th October for free, so, hurry up!

Hope to see you there!