Happy belated Thanksgiving!
I finally received samples and swatches from many vendors, so no harm came to anyone (thank goodness). Right before Thanksgiving I spoke to another textile mill who is willing to weave to order. That makes 2 companies who have offered to build the fabric from scratch! One offers recycled polyester, the other offers organic cotton and bamboo. I have some great options– woohoo! I am happy that fabric procurement is working out well. Too bad this process takes so damn long.
One minor problem about the fabric procurement stage is finding room to store the boxes of samples. Right now I have a tall, leaning tower of fabric and leather squares that just need someone to mildly huff and puff to make it topple down. I knew space would be a concern once my manufacturing began, but I didn’t realize I’d have a space crunch so early.
I caught up on my industry reading today. As expected, the retail sector is nosediving, and companies are cutting costs left and right just to stay afloat. It seems that this situation could work to my advantage as companies are becoming more risk averse and only spending on necessities. Hopefully my competition will not have the luxury to experiment with ecofriendly fabrics and/or manufacturing in the US. And hopefully this means I can wedge my big foot in the slowly widening door.
Another interesting thing I’ve learned from reading the trade pubs is that the prices for cotton, wool, and polyester are way lower that they were a year ago. With fiber prices falling and demand lowering, it’s no wonder that these textiles mills are actually wanting to work with me.
I’m feeling pretty good about things. I think a lot of things are working out in my favor and I am happy about that.
Thanks for stopping by!