Step into a department store to buy clothes and you’re confronted with every possible style of design, yet never quite the style that you’re looking for. Styles that skim the surface of your skin and make you feel natural, yet sexy, are illusive, at best.
Michelle Ludik returned to South Africa three years ago after a successful five-year career in Canada as a senior designer creating unisex youth ranges. Ludik’s passion, however, lay in her ready-to-wear collection for women by women – a collection inspired by her love of South Africa's natural environment and textured landscapes, as well as the effortless flair of Europe. Ludik’s label isn’t about the mass-market, but about signature pieces for the modern woman that allows her to design ageless and quality clothes to make women feel beautiful.
Feeling inspired by having attended every Design Indaba Expo since returning to South Africa, Ludik decided that 2010 was her year. Falling pregnant with her second child and only three weeks to go to the event, she nonetheless managed to put together, with the help of her production team, five new winter styles. Intending to create enough garments to get her through March, the end of the weekend saw Ludik with barely enough stock to send to retail stores, a host of new buyers and a much larger customer base.
“I met a number of local and foreign buyers and retail owners and the response to my product was phenomenal,” says Ludik contentedly. “My intention was to grow my wholesale business and increase my brand exposure, and I achieved both.”
