ok so saving the world might be a little extreme, but as you know i've been seeking out more sustainable fabrics. Yesterday I visited 2 vendors that tout eco-friendly materials and it is quite sad how little effort seems to go into creating them. They tend to be bland and unexciting- of course the world is going to continue using toxic materials if nobody out there is going to take the effort to make the sustainable ones chic!
The first place I went to uses organic cottons and hemp and bamboo (which is actually not eco friendly at all) but still makes those fabrics with some polyester to keep the prices down. On top of it the fabric isn't actually all that wonderful. TRAGIC!
The second I went to is the only leather tannery in the country, perhaps the world, who has perfected a vegetable tanning process for more than just saddle quality hides. The leathers were actually gorgeous and I will use them in the future for jackets and purses, BUT they're much too heavy for the leggings and dresses I make - I will look into this a bit more to see if there is a way I can work with it, but sadly I am stuck with lambskin again this time around until I get the samples from the fish leather tannery in iceland (still waiting!) The other issue I had with the tanner was that in a huge warehouse full of hides, they had maybe 2 shelves dedicated to the eco-friendly ones. Granted they do take custom orders and I could request any number of colors or finishes, but it still irked me, especially because the regular hides come in so many different weights where the eco hides are only the one heavy weight.
The other problem I'm running into is that because my business is run on such a small scale, I am often at the will of whatever small quantities I can find. On the plus side, I wind up buying ends and deadstock of already made materials, not generating more energy to create something that is already there, but I still want to know that if something of mine winds up in a landfill it will not leach harmful chemicals into the earth. Still researching, but in the meantime continuing with the same materials I've been using.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Just Ask
I've spent almost 2 years now contacting strangers out of the blue trying to get them to help me in some way. I contact businesses for textiles, notions, and other situations where I am the customer, and I get responses. But more often than trying to buy things, I'm trying to sell them. It is not always so easy to get a response, but once in a while...
Linden has added 2 stores in the last 2 weeks. In September I went to Montreal and Quebec City with my family. I walked into Boutique Mademoizelle Sefra in Quebec City with my sister after a day of touring. It's a super chic boutique that, at the time, had a small rack of clothing and several jewelry cases. The clothing was their own line, and the jewelry was theirs and some other independent designers. We struck up a conversation with the two people working there who happened to be the co-owners. They told us they'd recently opened and in addition to their jewelry and clothing lines, they are running a styling business for customers in need of some head to toe fashion guidance. I'd taken a business card with me when we left, and one night when I was going through a huge stack of cards on my desk, i stumbled across it. That night I emailed them, and later that night, I got a response. Jean-Felix was, again, friendly and welcoming. After some back and forth, he and his partner Sefra, decided to pick up a few pieces to test out and, voila! New stockist!
The other store was a different kind of contact, one I've always had but never made the effort to cross the line from friend to business. My friend Grace, one of the few people I stayed in touch with post art school, and the ONLY one from the fashion department, opened a boutique in her hometown of Glenview IL called Stella + Grace. I visited a couple years ago and this boutique is ADORABLE. She carries some more mainstream lines, and some small unknown designers, hand picking everything herself. She knows her customer well. The same night I got in touch with Mademoizelle Sefra, I emailed Grace. I asked if we could test some of my stock with her customers on consignment (meaning she doesn't order from me, but I send her stock and she pays me as she sells). She got the first box 5 days ago, and has already sold several pieces, requesting a replenishment already!
It was great to get some encouragement after so many attempts to contact boutiques with no response. While there might be a lot of "NO", every "YES" seems that much greater and reminds me that even if most people say no, all I have to do is ask and sometimes I'll get a yes!
Linden has added 2 stores in the last 2 weeks. In September I went to Montreal and Quebec City with my family. I walked into Boutique Mademoizelle Sefra in Quebec City with my sister after a day of touring. It's a super chic boutique that, at the time, had a small rack of clothing and several jewelry cases. The clothing was their own line, and the jewelry was theirs and some other independent designers. We struck up a conversation with the two people working there who happened to be the co-owners. They told us they'd recently opened and in addition to their jewelry and clothing lines, they are running a styling business for customers in need of some head to toe fashion guidance. I'd taken a business card with me when we left, and one night when I was going through a huge stack of cards on my desk, i stumbled across it. That night I emailed them, and later that night, I got a response. Jean-Felix was, again, friendly and welcoming. After some back and forth, he and his partner Sefra, decided to pick up a few pieces to test out and, voila! New stockist!
The other store was a different kind of contact, one I've always had but never made the effort to cross the line from friend to business. My friend Grace, one of the few people I stayed in touch with post art school, and the ONLY one from the fashion department, opened a boutique in her hometown of Glenview IL called Stella + Grace. I visited a couple years ago and this boutique is ADORABLE. She carries some more mainstream lines, and some small unknown designers, hand picking everything herself. She knows her customer well. The same night I got in touch with Mademoizelle Sefra, I emailed Grace. I asked if we could test some of my stock with her customers on consignment (meaning she doesn't order from me, but I send her stock and she pays me as she sells). She got the first box 5 days ago, and has already sold several pieces, requesting a replenishment already!
It was great to get some encouragement after so many attempts to contact boutiques with no response. While there might be a lot of "NO", every "YES" seems that much greater and reminds me that even if most people say no, all I have to do is ask and sometimes I'll get a yes!
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