Friday 28 November 2008

An update and stuff...

Okay, well updates have been few and far between in this blog and our in-world group lately. That isn't because we're lazy, but because we've been working overtime - crazy hours (20 hours the other day!) trying to complete our projects. So I thought I'd write this post.

Our mystery project is about 70% complete now at a rough estimate. We're really excited for it and think it'll be an awesome example of what our brand is all about - color, creativity, visual/virtual beauty. Okay, so we are a store by concept, but we also like creating stuff that is just cool to look at. So this project will have its own exhibit/event area that I think will make it interesting not just for shoppers, but for people who just like getting out and about, and seeing stuff.

Anyway... the first half year of Zanzo has been amazing for us. It has grown way faster than we expected and we've worked incredibly hard, so we sort of think we deserve the mini-fame it has gotten us so far. We look at the big brands of SL and realize, well, many may be awesome but lack a certain... fun factor. High street/high fashion or factory-style builds/concepts dominate the upper tier of SL fashion (Muism and Armidi being good examples), though there are exceptions like the uber fun Gritty Kitty, which I'd say was one of the inspirations behind Zanzo's colour-driven theme.

Our new "Kakkoii!" range is probably our most eye-catching line yet, and I'm so happy to say that it has been a huge success so far. We were a bit iffy on whether this sort of fashion would sell well in SL, but sales have been incredible and we think we've found our latest niche with them, so will probably expand the range when we get chance.

Our to-do list at Zanzo never shrinks. We finish a project and then think, "Oh, wouldn't (something) be cool...!", and add another project to our list. After our mystery project, we have a few things we want to get done. Two more skin sets for females to companion our "Madame de Pompadour", for example. Our best-selling skins at Zanzo have been the "Androgyny" range that give a flawless, smooth look to male avatars and have been especially popular among SL teens and young adults. But the thing is, since we made them, our ability to create and present skins has improved tenfold - and so we plan to create a sequel to "Androgyny" with the same sort of concept, but far more detail and refinements.

Tuesday 25 November 2008

Our new "Kakkoii!" line at Zanzo!

We've been multitasking between two projects at Zanzo - our big one and the addition of a new line in our main store.

Introducing Kakkoii!, a colourful and stylish line offering full outfits (generally male with unisex leanings). Inspired by Asian youth fashion brands, each offers a unique look with careful thought into colour and presentation.



We've launched the area with 10 complete outfits and its to the right of the teleporter as you enter the store. A fatpack of the whole freakin' line with 20% off full price is also available.

Friday 14 November 2008

Two shapes added to the Lucky Chair!

We've added two free shapes to our main Lucky Chair near the main store landing point.

Gareth


... and Yvette!


Come and see if your letter pops up!

Wednesday 12 November 2008

Strolling the Great Wall


After working so hard to finish our new range of female skins and a bunch of new shapes to go with, we've been relaxing a little in the past couple of days. Today we visited the Mao region that has a replica of the Great Wall of China filling much of an OpenSpace sim (Dru and I wondered if the Lindens' plan changes for these will deprive Second Life of another great sim). Stretching around the sim, this was a great way to relax and just roam, and with Brian Eno ambient music playing on my Winamp, I was really chilled out. The wall itself is for sale at a whopping $95,000L, which is out of my price range, but its certainly a sight to behold. Check it out!

I said several posts back that we wouldn't be releasing anything else of note before our big mystery project, but then we went and put out the "Madame de Pompadour" skin range. The amount of girls visiting Zanzo has shot up, so we've brought forward some of our female-oriented projects. Not sure what has caused the sudden influx - possibly because of popular satellite stores at Juicy Bella Plaza (now moved to Juicy Del Mar, with the Lindens' plan changes killing off another great sim) and Horst von Starlustinberg, or because of our exposure in Vain Inc., or maybe me fiddling around with keywords in our classifieds constantly. Anyway, at first Zanzo was almost 100% for guys, male visitors and male goods, but little by little we've introduced stuff for girls and much more is coming (including "Nell Gwynn", companion skins for "Madame de Pompadour", a paler skin tone with other makeup variations). Our "Pink Bubble" t-shirts and jeans have proved to be a massive success, with lots of sales, so we'll be adding more similarly themed stuff there when we get time.

We've added two Lucky Chairs to Zanzo. The main one is near the landing zone, but there is another down by the Sakura trees, opposite the sale stall. Right now, the main one has five offerings and the other has two offerings, but we plan to add more and more stuff as we get time. Included so far are a skin, eye combo, two photoboxes (great for photographs/modeling), and full outfits for guys and girls. Everything in these chairs isn't on sale in the store, so may be worth waiting around for. Here are two examples of whats on offer and what is to come (pardon the squished textures, I had to export them from SL).

Union 82 Palm Beach (long sleeve polo shirt and low-rise damaged jeans)


Scarlett's Mistake (bodice, sculpted dress, sculpted sleeves)

Saturday 8 November 2008

New "Madame de Pompadour" skins @ Zanzo!

It has been a long time in coming, but we've finally released a new range of skins for ladies at Zanzo. Titled "Madame de Pompadour" after a famous French courtesan, they are super high quality skins that come in three lines Beauty, Metallic, and Naturals. Each pack includes a Bare and Freckled variation of your choice. At just $800L, these are hot value for money and fatpacks are available for each of the three lines. We've also released a bunch of new shapes optimized to them, so come and check 'em out!

Monday 3 November 2008

Zanzo featured in Vain Inc. issue 15

Issue 15 of the SL-famous magazine Vain Inc. features... Zanzo!? Whoa, yes it does. We were lucky enough to be offered a feature in Vain, which is read by over 20,000 people each month and is one of Second Life's most stylish zines. Six and a half pages are devoted to us from page 55 to 61 and focuses on some of ours shirts, jeans, and eyes. I'd like to send thanks and much <3 out to Nykki Heartsdale and Faadal Mokeev for taking the time to visit our store and run a feature on us. As a growing brand in the fiercely competitive world of Second Life, publicity like this is great for us and will hopefully bring new people to our always expanding store.

You can read the magazine online at: http://issuu.com/vaininc./docs/vaininc.issue15 (we're page 55 to 61, remember!)

There are also in-world issues that you can read on a HUD, and I have it if anyone would prefer to read it that way. Just IM me and I'll send you a copy.