Having generously been sent a pair of MudDz wellington boots it is true to say they really are as good as they look on the website. So we asked Erika, the creator of these amazing wellies to take a few minutes out of her nonstop social media day to answer a few questions for Celebrities in Marbella.
1. With the growing list of celebrities being spotted in your MudDz boots you must feel very proud that your hard work is paying off, but going right back to the beginning what gave you the idea to ‘sparkle up’ wellington boots?
Last summer we were watching live coverage of Glastonbury on TV and started chatting about festival fashion, and specifically wellington boots.
They had already evolved from purely functional footwear to fashion footwear and you could spot them in every colour of the rainbow, with various designs such as polka dots and flowers etc, but in my opinion they needed something else – SPARKLE!
All the huge fashion houses, including some big names, had started selling their own version of the welly. Giants such as Missoni, Gucci and Burberry had all brought out their own design of the classic welly! Yet even with these big designer names attached to them, for me they still lacked glamour! Why shouldn’t the humble welly look as good as other footwear? Us ladies like to look good all the time……even when splashing through mud and puddles!
2. How did you come up with the name MudDz?
We wanted the name to be short and memorable which I think MUdDZ certainly is! We played around with a few variations to start off with including the not so memorable PUdDZ! You can get the puddle connection but I was rather worried that it sounded like a dessert company instead of a welly company, and so MUdDZ was born!
3. Who was the very first celebrity to be spotted in a pair of MudDz wellies?
The first celebrity to be spotted in MUdDZ was Chloe Sims from the hit TV show The Only Way Is Essex! We were thrilled as Chloe is so gorgeous and always looks fabulous whenever she is seen out and about.
That first *papped* shot of Chloe is still one of my favourites and is still being used in the media, recently appearing in Reveal Magazine on the 13th August even though it was taken back in June!
4. Name the celebrities that now have MudDz wellies?
Wow, there are a growing number of celebrities who are wearing MUdDZ! I think all the beautiful girls from The Only Way Is Essex have a pair! Lydia Bright, Lauren Goodger, Lauren Pope, Gemma Collins, Jess Wright, Chloe Sims, Maria Fowler, to name but a few, all have at least one pair and we recently made a very Unique pair for Amy Childs! We personalised a pair of the heeled crystal MUdDZ with her name down the side of each boot!
We were thrilled that she phoned to say thank you and how much she loved them and then went on to tweet about them online too!
The original Essex girl, Denise Van Outen, has 2 pairs of MUdDZ, the Skulls and the Crystal crowns, unfortunately although she is always tweeting about wearing them she hasn’t been photographed in them yet! We were hoping that she would be going to V festival last weekend, as she had promised to wear them there, but she is filming a movie at the moment and the shooting schedule meant she couldn’t attend!
Style Queen Meg Matthews, a well known face on the festival and music scene, has a pair of Skull MudDZ and daughter Anais has a matching pair!
Beautiful Model mum and star of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Nicola Mclean has a pair of crystal Crown MUdDZ.
We have just had amazing feedback about MudDZ from the beautiful Katie Piper who wore hers to a festival last weekend she has the Detachable Strap MUdDZ boot which comes in 3 different styles. We are hoping to get photos from her soon!
We are very excited as we have just sent a pair of MUdDZ to Tulisa one of the stars of Ndubz, and one of the new much talked about Judges on X Factor, so watch this space for photos!
Other celebrity MudDz wearers include Katie Price – heeled white crystal Band, Cher Lloyd, Crown boots. Rebecca Ferguson has the Black heeled crystal band boots and Katie Waissel has the Crown MUddZ. The Xfactor contestants were living in our road last year…..so never one to miss an opportunity, LOL
We are very lucky here at MUdDZ that we have so many Glambassadors for our brand!
5. You are a wife and a mother, where do you find time tomake your wellies and market them via social media?
I am always busy! Luckily I am supported in the business by my husband and our fabulous business partner Lynne. Between us we manage to promote, and process orders!
I decided in mid June this year to start advertising our business through Twitter, something I hadn’t even looked at before and it proved to be an invaluable marketing tool for us! We could deal directly with both celebrities and the public and it’s a fabulous showcase for our beautiful wellies!
It also means I can work from home which means I am still around for my gorgeous son, although it does have its disadvantages as well as sometimes it feels like I am on the computer 24/7!
My husband sometimes emails me from downstairs to ask if I want a coffee!!!!
The awful weather in the UK has meant that we have been busy all through the summer months, which is fab, but with the flip side being we haven’t managed to get away to the sun and relax!
6. I follow you on Twitter and see more and more people (in your own words, ‘rockin their MudDz’) what is your ambition for the brand?
Wow my ambition for the brand knows no limits! Would love to develop the brand to encompass clothing, such as waterproof jackets, with sparkles of course, umbrellas……wellington socks, you name it and we’ll bring some sparkle to it!
7. If you could pick a single retail outlet to stock MudDz what would it be?
I would LOVE to see MUdDZ in Selfridges, I love the store! I used to work very close by and would always pop in there. I have been known to spend the whole day there! Starting in the morning on the ground floor, lunch in Ladies Fashions and finishing up with a glass of champagne in Gordons bar on the menswear floor! It is a fabulous iconic store and although it has been around forever it is always reinventing itself!
Every time I visit Selfridges I always make a point of visiting the Shoe Department, wearing my MUdDZ and asking them if they stock them……It’s only a matter of time before I wear them down with my persistence!
8. Now let’s put you on the spot as your answers to questions are always so colourful and creative. If you turned up to Dragons Den with MuDz wellies what do you think they would say?
I think for sure they would see the merit in sparkly wellies, especially the ladies in the Den! I think that MUdDZ USP, which is appreciated by women everywhere, is that MUdDZ are the first wellington boots ever that you wouldn’t feel embarrassed wearing for a lunch date or shopping with friends etc….In other words, before MUdDZ, wellington boots were purely practical items of clothing, something you’d wear to walk the dog etc…..BUT you would always change your footwear if you were going out afterwards…..
With MUdDZ you don’t have to, a lot of people comment about how glamorous they feel wearing MUdDZ….I don’t think that has EVER been said about wellies before!
And there is one Dragon in particular who we already know is a big fan of MUdDZ and that is the glamorous new Dragon my personal favourite, Hilary Devey, who saw MUdDZ on twitter and is now the proud owner of the stunning heeled crystal band MUdDZ! So we definitely already have a fan in the Den!
9. What is next for MudDz?
Our next project for MUdDZ is definitely getting the children’s range which will be called MiNi MUdDZ launched! I recently posted some sample styles on twitter and had an unbelievable reaction to them! Everyone wants them for their little princesses! Mum’s love the idea of their daughters having matching MUdDZ so we will definitely be working hard to bring those out as soon as possible!
We would also love to launch a range of MUdDZ umbrellas, Black and Pink, like the MUdDZ lining , with our company logo and of course a glamorous sprinkling of crystal SPARKLE!
10. How and where can people buy MuDz wellies?
We are also stocked by some well known retailers like ToxicFox and have just sent our first delivery into Debenhams, to be showcased in their designers at Debenhams Shoe Department. We are also expanding into Europe.
We have a chain of boutiques in Germany stocking MUdDZ and have just sent out a consignment to Rome for a boutique there!
We would love to find a retailer in Marbella for MUdDZ as we think the glamorous ladies who live there would appreciate their style and sparkle for the winter months!
We are definitely aiming at Worldwide Sparkle Domination!
