How Do We Choose?

We often get asked if a particular garment comes in another size, or a specific colour and so I thought it was about time that I explained exactly how we bring our garments to you. So, grab a beverage of your choice and sit back and relax. I’ll fill you in.
 


The whole process starts with a design and the question of whether something sits within our range or not. Additionally do we think the proposed garment will translate nicely into sizes ranging from 10 to 28 (US 6-24)? Assuming it does (that’s a big assumption as we have to have a very good reason for not doing the full-size range), and the individual garment is complimentary to our range and not too similar to existing or other proposed pieces, a pattern is then made. Now this sounds like a small thing but getting a pattern created doesn’t come cheap.
 


This pattern is then sent to one of our artisan suppliers. (I will be bringing you more on them soon). Once the pattern is received a single sample is made in a size 10-12, because that’s my size and I will be the first guinea pig to try it on. It’s shipped from India and we see how it looks.

To give you an idea, about 50% are killed as an idea at this stage with probably another 30% requiring an amendment to the pattern and resampling for a host of reasons. For example a neckline change, arm length/cuff change etc. Once we are happy with the resample of that size, we then sample in the other sizes as well. At this time we have a test group of people that try on all sizes. At this stage around 30% don’t translate as well as we hoped and that gives us a real dilemma - to bin the idea or change the pattern and go again? Phew!
 


Assuming for a second that it’s all good and the samples all get approved, an order is placed. Yay! Our small suppliers buy recycled saris in lots of around 1000 from sari traders, usually in Delhi. They don’t pick individual saris, nor do they deal with the people whose saris they originally were. They simply select a fabric content and quality standard of sari, and as we have discovered over time some sari traders are more reliable than others. We ask our supplier to always buy saris from the highest quality available, and they are always silk blend, but the exact percentage varies from sari to sari of course. Every sari is a sample of one and this makes fabric testing not commercially viable, hence we make no claims other than they are silk blend. Also important is the degree of use - no holes please!
 


The garments are then made and shipped to us here in New Zealand. When we open the box, it’s the first we know of what colours and patterns we have. In other words we don’t select them ourselves. 



There is nowhere more contentious an area for this than the double layered skirts. Trust me, some of the matching does leave us scratching our heads, and we will have some exciting news on that soon.



I hope that explains a little more about how our garments are chosen for you.