I've never thrown so much effort into a party as I did for the opening of our first boutique. Anyone would have thought the opening party was the basis for the entire business the way I was carrying on. I didn't have a lot of money to throw at it - ok I hardly had any - but what I did have I put into champagne. We served Moet & Chandon with Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. So me!! I tried not to focus on the doughnuts too much......
Mid party we ran out - I realised that night that if you serve the good stuff they neck it and stay for the duration. I knew the owner of a bar around the corner so I called him and two minutes later a couple of barmen came trotting over carrying back up cases of Moet.
Everyone came - Terry de Havilland and his wife Liz who have made me countless pairs of shoes and are two of the most supportive people on earth, press from Vogue and Tatler were the first to arrive and we even had press from Japan! There's a beautiful picture of Lovisa who was our very first Donna Ida girl and still works in our Chelsea boutique. She's a firm Donna Ida supporter and friend. The party spilled out onto the street and late into the night.
I look totally knackered in the pictures. The next morning I woke up and went in to open the shop - and that's when life really started.
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