Textile Insight

50 • Textile Insight ~ January/February 2018 textileinsight.com MY DAYS ARE SPENT IN A SEW SHOP THAT does the development and small batch pro- duction for an emerging Colorado outdoor brand. Apparel, packs, bags, we do a little bit of everything. Every week or so someone with a conundrum finds us and reaches out to our little band of sewn goods warriors. They usually need help with an idea for a product that they want to "make" and are having trouble getting it "produced." I put the verbs in quotes because the pilgrims who seek us out almost always share a universal trait; they have no interest in actually making the product themselves nor are they very invested in how it should be made or even what materials to make it from, however there is a clear vision of the product in the marketplace and the accolades of success that are sure to follow. If we could just help them get it, ahem, made. Granted, we use the word "made" indis- criminately. In the Outdoor Industry we might say some big so and so brand makes the best clothing when, in fact, most outdoor brands don't own a single sewing machine. The brand in question might design and market great clothing, but they don't physi- cally make anything at all. Yet we also marvel about how Tesla makes cool cars. Tesla actually does make cars, start to finish, just like Boeing makes planes and Benchmade makes knives. Then there are those companies in the middle that produce some of their own products and source from other factories as well. The whole idea of being a maker is a foggy concept, however the latter two groups share a single value; a passion for how commercial products are conceived, controlled and produced. They belong to the literal version of the term maker. Our culture is moving towards recognizing the value of locally made goods; food, beer, and music are all seen as richer if they come from the community's hands and rather than from some f a r a w a y p l a c e . At the same time our virtual world marketing based existence means product awareness is often limited to a screenshot, a price cut and the offer of free shipping. The challenge is to acknowledge the divide between those who design and market and those that craft and create. Many people are beginning to crave meaning in their consumption— a desire to touch and appreciate the morphology of vinyl records, or know the name of the farm that raised their lettuce. There is a growing apprecia- tion of craft and skill. The issue is that at the same time we revere the contribution of the individual to music and food we often turn a blind eye and buy the cheapest pos- sible imported clothing. It seems everyone responds to marketing. Virtually all of the apparel sold in the United States comes from somewhere else. You will never meet or share any connection whatsoever with the people who put together your high-end outdoor jacket. The compa- nies that "make" and sell these goods are composed of groups of people who are very good at imagining product, however just like the folks who arrive on our doorstep, the plan is to buy it from someone else. They are middlemen. Now as you might expect, the budding entrepreneurs that find us almost always disappear after we give them the initial to-do list. They bail after realizing that the action plan for introducing a product to the market entry is full of difficult, expensive and obtuse decisions. Difficult decisions that take very hard work. Most designers simply vanish when you bring up the word...seam. Disclaimer: Mr. Gray is uncomfortable sewing anything with zippers and his eyes glaze over whenever someone describes how pockets are set. His opinions and alterations are his own and the Publisher may not share in them. O When Product Is a Verb By Kurt Gray Some People Confuse Talking with Working OUT OF CONTEXT

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