I learnt the hard way through so many trials and errors that sometimes what you envision may not be successful in the first sample, in my case, I’ve lost count at this point as to how many times my samples were a complete disaster. I had gone through two different patternmakers as well as two different manufacturers, as helpful as some were, others won’t. The amount of money I had wasted due to my poor decision to not change patternmakers and manufacturers earlier was the biggest life lesson for me. It wasn’t even about the cost at this point, all the time that was wasted (two and a half years to be accurate) was the toughest part for me. My biggest takeaway from all of this is, in business you need to be ruthless, know when it’s time to fire the business or businesses that are not meeting your requirements and standards.
We initially started under a different label name and wanted to design clothes for womens, mens and kids. We later realised it wasn't going to work as the cost of materials, trims and manufacturing were high and therefore kidswear costs just as much to make. As an emerging label I didn't think this was viable. Through so many failed attempts to get our products right I decided to rebrand and try a whole new approach, changing the designs, the visions, the materials, patternmakers as well as manufacturers. Thankfully, that was the best decision I made for my business as the results were astonishing. After so many knock backs and being in complete despair, I was ready to give up.
I’m so glad I pushed through and now I can't believe we finally made it. WE'RE FINALLY LIVE! So grateful to have found such an amazing team to help me build my slow fashion label. Can’t wait to introduce the made-to-order ranges to our label.