Today we went about Lima to different wool manufacturers to choose colors. This is the funnest part of designing knitwear! It is fun because The Brungers is not only about fit and clever detailing, but also about a certain irreverent (but carefully chosen) color story.
Pulling the right colors that will work for each piece is a joy, although it can be difficult to find the right color palettes within one material (say Pima Cotton or Baby Alpaca), within the right gauge of thread for the item in question (say a 24/2 used for a 10 gauge knit or a 40/2 for a 7 gauge knit) and within the right minimum quantity. But with persistence, and by taking our handlers (drivers, translators, sourcing experts) out frequently for cold beer and Yucca fries with mayonnaise, one eventually succeeds.
After a long day we returned to the factory with bags of skeins, each in their own color.
One of the trickier considerations is minimums. Why is it that designers carry a color through their collection? Is it just the color story? Yes, but it is also minimums. If Sally would like to put Lavender as an accent on a dress or sweater, that is fine if the minimum for that fabric is 2 Kilos or 10 kilos. But what if the Lavender has a minimum order or 25 kilos (enough material for say 100 sweaters)? One’s only option is to abandon the color or to integrate the color throughout the season’s collection.
Footnote:
Ahh…..just listening to the Lawrence of Arabia soundtrack on the television. Love the music, but strange to hear Peter O’Toole charging on his camel with his Arab army against the Turks, screaming in Spanish “Take no prisoners!! Take no prisoners!!”
Andrew Brunger (www.thebrungers.com) (knitwear for men and women)
The first day at a factory is always hard but rewarding. We are here to start production on Fall 09 of The Brungers and to make samples for Spring 2010. The day is spent planning this production, workers, final changes, wool supplies, and hardware. We failed to anticipate a two-day holiday in Peru for workers next week, which may mean we may have to extend our stay from 15 days to 19 days!
Luckily, all of the wool we require for Fall 09 production is in supply except one batch that will need to be dyed, a process that will take 35 days. Making sure that the colors we presented as samples to buyers are in stock come production time can be a challenge. Luckily, buyers show some flexibility in this area and may accept a Lavender mélange thread instead of the presented Lavender thread if it comes right down to it.
Sally and I are accustomed to the ups and down of business and of manufacturing. Compared to our first manufacturing product, our body and bath line Kol (www.koldesign.com), apparel is logistically quite easy. As we always plan for the business we want, not the business we have today, we launched Kol as a globally compliant product from the outset. It took one year before launch just to bring our first 32 SKUs into compliance (labeling, containers, European office, dermatology testing, stability, preservative challenge, etc) for the three major global markets (U.S., Europe and Asia). Lucky we did! As it turns out, some 80% of our annual sales today come from Japan and Hong Kong.
This type of global perspective is often overlooked by the new entrepreneur. What if Roger Dodger, as an example, created the new winning men’s fragrance and it becomes a hit in the United States. Roger had developed his product for the U.S market, which has fairly loose cosmetics regulations (the FDA has not sued a single cosmetic maker since the days lead was a primary ingredient in lipstick). Then interest in Roger’s fragrance grows rapidly in Europe and Asia. He is excited and wants to sell in Europe and Asia as well, but one of the key ingredients in his product is banned in Europe, and another key ingredient is under consideration for being banned in Asia. Suddenly Roger has a problem. He has to develop 2 new versions of his fragrance, one to sell in Europe and one to sell in Asia. As both his European fragrance and his Asian fragrance smell slightly different from the original U.S. fragrance, his entry into those markets does not go as well as expected. To further complicate matters, he has to produce 3 different formula versions of his fragrance, each requiring their own factory minimums and their own product labeling and outer packaging (ingredient list). This leaves Roger with an administrative morass and a deep hole in his profit.
But I digress…back to Peru and to fashion!
Andrew Brunger (www.thebrungers.com) (knitwear for men and women)
The artist is rarely seen. His home, a constant work in progress, claws and slopes and extends and grips its way tentatively across the face of the cliff below the main house. Each level of the home is touched by paint, tile, sculpture or water. The artist, a short barrel-chested Peruvian Indian, with long flowing gray-white hair, has clear themes in his work. Nude Peruvian women. Nude Peruvian men. Peruvian women and men making love. And horses. It is a comfortable backdrop. Open. Pure. Flowing. We quite like the artist’s daughter. A pretty and pleasantly brusque woman who seems to have taken something of a liking to me after I asked to borrow her shampoo. “Is your handsome boy-friend coming?” she will growl to my wife over the phone when we reserve a place at the guest home. And when we leave, “You go get your boy-friend now so he kiss me bye-bye.” There is a certain charm in her no-nonsense direct approach.
Just arrived in Lima. 10:30 PM.
One of the interesting aspects of flying to Lima, Peru from New York City is that one travels due south for 8.5 hours and ends up facing the Pacific Ocean (albeit the South Pacific). Further confusing to ones perspective after such a long journey is that there are no jet-lag effects as Lima and New York City are longitudinally aligned and therefore both in the same time zone.
Lima shocked us when we first came to Peru. Sally and I were on our way to visit an apparel factory in Arequipa, Peru, The White City, located 8,000 feet high in the Andes mountains and surrounded by three immense snow capped volcanoes. When one arrives in Lima it is hard not to be taken aback. A heavy curtain of pollution spewed out by rusting cars and busses hangs in the air. A throng of humanity mingles and walks through the choking blanket, dodging vehicles and carrying bags and children under dim streetlights. The road into town from the airport is lined with large factories. Every factory has 12-foot high walls and guard turrets positioned on each of the four corners. Imposing gates and gate turrets mark the entrances to these bleak super-structures that produce everything from the syrupy sweet Inca Cola to children’s’ toys.
There is little in Lima that is not fortified. All residential structures are protected with electric wire, barbed wire, gates and window bars. Businesses that might have cash on hand (car dealers, restaurants, etc.) have guards or armed police on duty outside. And wherever the sliver of middle class congregates residentially, one finds each street blocked and protected with a guardhouse and chain to prevent access. Wider Lima is even trickier. On our first visit we travelled to neighborhoods of Lima that had no plumbing or streetlights and we were later scolded by locals for having travelled so far out into the city; “You simply did not have the right to visit those areas” they admonished us.
But we are back in Lima. We come to Peru because Peruvians know wool and are experts at knitting. We come because we have come to care deeply for the Peruvian people, who maintain great dignity and character despite some challenging poverty. We come because Peru has the strictest labor laws in South America, putting us at ease that workers earn a fare wage, health care benefits, unemployment and all those things that are not always supplied to workers elsewhere. We come because we find Western business partners who take extra steps to care for their employees. We come because Peru is one of the fastest growing economies in South America and we like to feel that we contribute in our own very modest way to this. We come because the Indian Peruvian, the Japanese Peruvian and the Spanish Peruvian are slowly but steadily working through their issues of class and opportunity. We come because despite the scarred and rough veneer of the city of Lima, we find great beauty in the smiles and the values and the hopes of those who occupy it.
Andrew Brunger (www.thebrungers.com) (knitwear for men and women)
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