photo: wowozine.com

Did you ever crave to be a little princess for a day, an evening, a night? Then Isabelle Dumortier and Nathalie Beeckmans-Cop have – literally – something in store for you: a fascinating collection of tutu’s, which will soon be extended with form-shaped bodies, and with more to follow. In May this year they launched their new label, BE ALICE, and today, the 1rst of July, this was celebrated with the opening of a pop-up shop in the Volksstraat 9, right in the heart of fashion city Antwerp.

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Isabelle Dumortier (left), Nathalie Beeckman-Cop (right) photo: wowozine.com

The collection was – and still is – available via the webshop tutu-shop.com, but now can be seen and tried at their pop-up shop, which will remain open until July 31st. An instant hit…

photo: wowozine.com

“It all started on a bachelor party of a friend in Dubai”, Isabelle and Nathalie told us. “We brought along tutu’s for the ladies, and they proved an instant hit. On social media we got 2000 likes and 300 reactions, and the girls were delighted with their tutu’s: they felt princess for a day…” they continued.

Isabelle Dumortier at Be Alice pop-up store photo: wowozine.com

Tutu’s are indeed all the rage now, but aren’t you afraid it will be temporary? What will you do next?, we asked.

“Of course we will continue to evolve, and develop the theme further. The tutu’s will have other looks, new prints, patterns and more sizes. We will allso expand our collection with other items, but we will always offer that something extra. Even when we focus on the basics, they will always offer that something more for the women who wear it.”

Could you explain this a bit further?

“Well, we will offer bodies where it will be invisible from the outside that they have form and shapeware, we will also offer tops in combination with the bodies. We want women to feel good in our tutu’s, that it enhances them, and that it invites them to wear it on many (festive) occasions, and be sweethearts or rock and roll chicks. But you can also don yourself with a tutu, a nice T shirt, leather jacket and sneakers, and go afternoon shopping… We want to make the tutu fashionable for all seasons, and will soon, as we said, launch a line of assorted tops.”

You also offer your products online?

“Indeed, about a month ago we started with our webshop tutu-shop.com, where you will find our complete range. Of course you can return items, order other colors, sizes, etc. Starting from this webshop, we now opened our pop-up store.”

photo: wowozine.com

Where your clients asking for this?

“Of course, our clients are keen to see, feel and fit the products, and when we got the magnificent opportunity to open this pop-up store, we took it with both hands. ”

Isabelle Dumortier (left), Nathalie Beeckman-Cop (right) photo: wowozine.com

What makes a good tutu?

“Layers, layers and layers! You start with a smooth top layer, and you further build it up with layers of tulle, alternatingly firmer or softer, and the basis is of course a good underskirt. Tutus look fragile, but they are anything but. In fact, they are sturdy, you can wrap them up in your suitcase where they take up a minimum of space, and you can even swim with them in the sea. They then only take five minutes or so to dry!”

What are the points to watch for when you buy a good tutu, in terms of length, size?

“Of course, it depends on how you want to wear it, on your waist or your hips, and the length is also a matter of taste.”

Isabelle, you are professionally also active in a different sector?

“Indeed, I am a consultant in digital transformation, and during my 10 year professional career I have build up a wealth of experience in building webshops. Running this webshop is now a good opportunity to put my experience into practice. I use this expertise to make this project succeed, or at least learn the lessons from this business venture which I can then put to good use for my future clients. I am delighted to have met Nathalie, who has joined me since a few weeks, she focuses on images, colors, etc, whereas I concentrate on the business side of things, taking care of the digital and the online aspects, so we complement each other, and we have actually become friends…” To be continued.

www.tutu-shop.com