The most popular travel show Divas hit the road with the biggest celebrities from China happened to pass by our flagship store in Reykjavík when I was at the store. I was supposed to be occupied at our sewing studio, but we just received a new delivery , so Marika, Olena and Aleksandra from our sales team were arranging the new colors upstairs and I came for half an hour to the store.
I was changing our window display and saw 5 very beautiful women passing by the store and many of their admirers and some people with cameras following them. I just got very curious, took our bestseller Marshmallow beanie and went quickly after them. They were so sweet, but didn’t wear proper hats for harsh Icelandic weather. And my heart told me that I shall invite them to our store and give them warm presents.
I had no idea who they are and no one told us even while they were at the store, even though they spent like an hour with us. Girls rushed to help me with our guests and we all had lots of fun! First the stars tried many different beanies and then I created special combinations of hats colors and pompoms for them. It was such an emotional experience, and I still didn’t have a clue who they are. When I asked one of them about her name and where they are from, she said Roba. I always try to pronounce names right, so she said that the easiest is to think about a word “robot”, so I would get right sounds. She also said that they are all from China.
Only 20 minutes later after they left we started having many Chinese travelers showing us pictures of the ladies and the two young men and telling us that they are the most popular Chinese celebrities and that hundreds of millions of people watch this show. We were completely shocked. And we didn’t even have time to google all of this, because the shop was completely full of people and we needed to help them choose beanies. Only late in the evening we finally could sit down and read about who we actually met. They were :
Dilraba Dilmurat , a supermodel, actress and Global Ambassador of Dior. The most recognized and beloved celebrity in China. This sweet young woman is primarily known for roles in television series: 2017’s “Pretty Li Huizhen,” for which she won most popular actress at the 29th China TV Golden Eagle Awards and most popular actress at the 12th China Golden Eagle TV Art Festival, and “Eternal Love of Dream,” which further fanned her popularity in China and overseas. In 2020, she won a “rising star” award at the Busan International Film Festival. One of the most in-demand brand ambassadors in China, boasting tens of millions of followers on social media platforms.
Xin Zhilei , Chanel Ambassador, Montblanc Mark maker. The Chinese actress is known for her compelling performances in both film and television. She has made a lasting impression on audiences across China with her ability to portray different characters. She has also earned appreciation as an emerging icon in the world of fashion, frequently appearing on the covers of fashion magazines.
Qin Lan, an award winning actress, singer and model. She is Ambassador of Tory Burch and L’Oréal. She is known for her roles as Empress Fuca in Story of Yanxi Palace, Zhihua in My Fair Princess III and Mo Xiangwan in We Are All Alone.
I wish I gave beanies to the guys too. Somehow they were so shy. I thought they were fans of these beautiful ladies and just stayed in the store like several other people inside and many of their fans outside the store trying to see what we were doing.
If you read this story and know how we could reach out to Wang An Yu and Hu Xian Xu, please , send us a message through Instagram @mjuk.iceland or email to anna@mjukiceland.com . I would like to give special beanies to them too.
It was absolutely unbelievable when we saw the episode of Divas hit the road season 5 with our participation!!!
And it is such an amazing coincidence. First they went to Hallgrimskirkja, then they went down Skólavörðustígur and went into the first shop where they bought some products. Then they went a bit further down and saw our dressy shawl in the window and then our scarves and Marshmallow hats. They were so very sad that they spent all money in the other store and said “we shopped too early” and “there is no money left” and they were discussing how much cuter our hats are.
Then they walked further and came to Laugavegur street (the Main Street of Reykjavík) and passed by our famous house with Valkirja on a horse mural and again they saw the hats I was arranging in the window and became sad that they can’t buy them since the budget is finished.
Imagine how unbelievably funny it is that not knowing who they are and that they really wanted these hats I ran to them and offered them these exact hats as presents!!! I think, it can be considered that there was something special in the air that put us together with this series of coincidences !
I will never forget this day and what happened afterwards…
I , my family and our team believe that kindness is a superpower and if you share it with others, it will come back to you many times Since the show was released we have been receiving thousands (I can’t believe it, but it is actual thousands) of messages, letters and comments with kind wishes and greetings from all over the world. We read every single message and try to reply everyone as soon as we only can.
We also received many offers to expand our business and sell on big platforms. Companies from China have been reaching to us offering scaling our production.
Our decision was easy- we will keep the values and principles of our work the same as 32 years ago when my mom established the business. We design, produce and sell by ourselves , and this way we can ensure that every customer will get a special service and excellent quality of the products that we will personally create and customize for them.
We are very grateful for all the nice words and wishes you send us, for the chance the destiny gave us, so more people would know about our small family company in Iceland and more people will know about the values we popularize: kindness and care about people and nature, creativity for the sake of beauty and sustainability