The Maison Bent 5-Year Celebration: A Guide to Fashion Event Planning

Celebrating 5 Years of Maison Bent: Lessons in Fashion, Events & Entrepreneurship

Why Celebrating Milestones Matters for Small Fashion Brands

Maison Bent celebrates five years as an independent fashion brand in London. In this post, I share key lessons from my entrepreneurial journey, why marking milestones is essential for small businesses and my top event planning tips for fashion brands and creatives.

The entrepreneurial journey of building an independent fashion brand like Maison Bent can be both treacherous and extremely rewarding. The past 5 years has taught me so much about fashion entrepreneurship and a lot of things that can only be understood through direct experience. According to Forbes, “20% of small businesses fail in their first year and 50% of small businesses fail after five years”. I felt this sufficed as the perfect excuse to throw a celebration to mark this milestone as a small fashion brand existing in today’s rocky economy.

The brand would not exist today without it’s community so I wanted to create a celebratory fashion event experience for everyone to network and enjoy themselves as a huge thank you for their continued support. I felt this energy really helped to manifest a great event as it was probably the most enjoyable and authentic thing I have done under the brand. It was from the heart and the main motivation I communicated from the beginning of planning was to have FUN.

I often get asked for advice on how to curate a successful fashion-related event. With the brand still in a very early stage, this allows me flexibility to do the event planning myself with a few close associates and without a PR agency. Here, I’ll share my top event planning tips for fashion brands and entrepreneurs looking to create memorable experiences.

Top Event Planning Tips from Maison Bent

  1. Secure a Venue that Fits Your Vision

    Consider where you want your event to take place. How many people would you like to invite? What vibe are you trying to create? Make a list of all of the things you want your event to encompass and search for a venue accordingly.

  2. Build a Strong Target Guestlist

    After confirming how many people your venue can hold, curate a guest list of fashion industry creatives, editors, entrepreneurs and influencers. A well-curated guest list is one of the best event marketing strategies for small fashion brands Due to capacity restrictions, it will unfortunately be difficult to invite everyone in your life. If you are inviting a fairly professional and senior crowd, they will want to see other people there within their remit. One mention that I kept hearing was “you had a very good crowd!”. I did have a great mix of a few close non-industry friends, models, content creators, other entrepreneurs, Industry creatives, editors, other businesses that I want to build rapport with and sprinkled eye-candy here and there. Whilst it is a party, it does fall under brand marketing so, you do want guests to talk about it on socials as this helps with brand visibility. For this, consider inviting those who are quite active on social media and who enjoy sharing the events that they attend (preferably on the day, day after but latest that week!).

  3. Personal Invitations & RSVP Tracking

    Most people are extremely busy so I have found the cold and generic invites do not work. A lot of industry professionals receive a tonne of invites each week Monday- Sunday so, they are often in a position where they have to weigh up their options and more then often, priorities lay with those they already have a personal relationship with. To ensure they don’t forget the invite - I have recently learnt that sharing a calendar invite does wonders! Having the event cemented within their diaries ensures that all other plans are curated around your event that has been in their diary for the past 2 weeks at least. A quick e-mail reminder on the morning or day before may also be useful - particularly to share any any updates and the @ for partners and sponsors so that guests can look them up beforehand and ensure to tag and mention during the event.

  4. Create a Memorable Guest Experience

    I go to a lot of events within the fashion and art industry which has helped me to understand how to curate engaging experiences. Alcohol and non-alcoholic drink options are a must. Will you have your drinks served or have your guests help themselves? Food is always a necessity. You don’t want people to leave because they are hungry in hope that there will be something to eat at the next event. Think of all the things that will encourage your guests to stay and have a good time. Is there music? decide on if you will have a DJ, a live band or a playlist playing in the background. Entertainment options are endless and will all completely depend on your budget or network. A few things that we had at the Maison Bent 5 Year celebratory brunch:

  5. Capture the Moment with Great Photography

    After all of that work putting an event together, you want it to have a lasting impact. Whilst word-of-mouth is always the best resource, photos are so powerful. People love having their photos taken (even if some may be shy to do so) and often enjoy sharing these after the event. These can also be shared with Press and used for general marketing purposes after. Do not let all of that hard work got to waste!

    Conclusion

    Celebrating five years of Maison Bent reminded me that fashion is not just about clothing, it’s about community, creativity, and connection. These event planning tips are what made our milestone celebration such a success and I hope they inspire other independent fashion brands to create memorable experiences.

    We also offer bespoke event production services for other brands, helping to craft stylish and unforgettable experiences that reflect their vision and values. If you’d like to stay updated on future Maison Bent events, fashion collections and industry insights, subscribe to our newsletter by emailing info@maisonbent.com with newsletter in the heading or follow us on Instagram @maisonbentofficial.

Events, Behind The ScenesShanna Bent5 Years of Maison Bent, Fashion Events, Event Planning, Fashion Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Advice