What a year it has been! Whilst 2020 has been an utter whirlwind with many obvious low points, we wanted to take this time to reflect on how lucky we have been this year and celebrate the strength of our small business. 2020 has been another incredible year for Hiro + Wolf and we couldn't have done it without our loyal customers so thank you! Join us as we sit down and chat with Hiro + Wolf Founders Amy and Bee to talk all things 2020 and what to look forward to moving into the new year...
Hiro and Wolf modelling our Emerald City print for our Wizard of Dog photoshoot earlier in the year
What was your favourite memory with Hiro + Wolf from 2020?
Amy: My favourite memory has to be our Wizard of Dog photoshoot. It was such a glorious sunny day and just brilliant to have all the pack back together after the first lockdown to do something really colourful and creative.
Bee: As we have not been able to hold our usual exciting events due to lockdown, it is a recent memory. We had such fun doing our end of the year photo shoot. We were so lucky that we scheduled it just before we went into the November lockdown. The dogs were the stars as usual - Wolfie shone in every picture - of course I am a little biased but Hiro and Milly also did outstanding jobs. They are such professionals and the other member of our team, the other Bea, came up with some brilliant ideas for pics. We all had such fun!
Our crochet rainbow dog toys being made by Cheyenne
What was your favourite product release this year?
Amy: Working on the toys with Cheyenne was really exciting for me. It’s been something we have been talking about doing for such a long time and it was great to work with Cheyenne and support another British maker.
Bee: It has to be our Over the Rainbow print. Beautifully designed by Amy this print is full of rainbows and colour. Rainbows, as we all know have come to symbolise hope during this year. Again, the photoshoot was such fun. We shot on a glorious sunny day just after the first lockdown in local locations. I think the passers by enjoyed it as much as we did!
What achievement are you proudest of this year?
Amy: I’m most proud of our wonderful team for getting us through this year. The fact that our business is still going strong, with the help of our growing web sales and loyal customers has meant that we’ve managed to keep everyone’s jobs safe and carry on creating new products.
Bee: Just getting to the end of it with a smile on my face!
Bee, Wolf, Amy and Hiro outside the front of our Margate shop
What was the most unexpected thing (other than covid!) to come out of this year for Hiro + Wolf?
Amy: I think that Covid-19 actually taught us a lot and that was unexpected in itself. Bee and I had to go right back to basics during the first lockdown when everyone else was furloughed. We were a two woman warehouse and although it was exhausting at first, it actually made us see so many ways to improve our business. Seeing the website sales grow in a way we were not anticipating also gave us the confidence to take some difficult decisions like closing our London store. Although this was a very tough decision it allowed us to refocus our efforts down a new path, focus on our Margate store and also keep ourselves safe and well this year.
Bee: Our website and how much it has grown so much! Our lovely customers continued to support us through it all.
Millie wearing our 'Combs' jumper (shop last few remaining sizes here)
How would you like to see the brand grow next year?
Amy: There were lots of new product ideas that got put on hold this year due to not being able to travel to meet new suppliers. So I’m particularly excited to resume our plans to expand our cat collection, add a vegan range and introduce jumpers, coats and bedding for next year.
Bee: We are launching our vegan range early in 2021 and I am very excited about this. Also we will begin to work on our dog jumpers early in the year as we were unable to get them done for 2020 and there are some brilliant designs on the way.
What is your main inspiration going into 2021?
Amy: I’ve been looking at botanical art and floral prints for Spring and really excited to design some fresh new prints to brighten up the new year. We’re also looking into our heritage as a UK made brand and have another exciting collection based around this to follow!
A huge congratulations to Amy and Bee for the success they have had with Hiro + Wolf this year. It has been fantastic to see our customer base continue to grow and support us even through these challenging times. We're so excited to be stepping into 2021 and show you, our customers, all the exciting new products and prints we have for you. Happy New Year!