With all the snow comes.............WHITE INSPIRATION

It's a marshmellow world out there, warmth is the thought of the day, and sweaters are the necessity with which to achieve protection against yet another of mother nature's fluffy blanket layers.  I watch Lacy during her morning ritual, out in the fresh powder. I'm bundled up in black but the sweater she wears stands out boldly against the backdrop of white.  Color is so uplifting when all around you is just white. 

I see too that white is not just stark white.  There are colors in the snow that are the palest of pale, sugar-coated mauves, taupes, blues and pinks.  They have a lucidity to them and as I look about me, I see that in nature as in fashion, where there's pale, there's a pop of contrast.  Plum and taupe colored tree branches and grasses, also dusted with new snow, stand in dark contrast to all the pale shadows that envelop them. 

Came across this image which really illustrates the feeling of dusted pales (Thanks to "allthebeautifulthings" by Zoreta).

I attended the Texworld USA textile show last week and (gratefully) it only rained one day so I was able to take advantage of two days of seminars and fabric & trim shopping.   I find myself amidst booths of fabrics, garments, embellishments and all things textile, and I get sense of being in the center of an exotic bazaar.   The technology in fabrications, the colors, the textures, are so delicious  I was like a kid running amok at FAO Schwartz. 

I sampled an amazing brushed fleece with cire nylon flowers; a denim with copper printing and a chambray and denim jacquard. The buttons and trims were just what I was looking for and some reps are located in NYC as well as Asia making it even easier to find and obtain  them.  We'll be making some very fashionable cloth harnesses for next season and I'm delighting in the whole development phase once again.  So with these new fabric and trim sources, my happy-go-lucky manufacturer in the garment district, and the color inspiration of today's musings, Lollypups will have much to offer in the future.  Onward we tread.

Pre-Westminster gala, February 11 at the Hotel Pennsylvania,  will have sweaters and some of the harnesses available.  We'll be there and I'm excited!

Sobering wake up call's are necessary now and then

After the holidays, I decided to take a much needed respite from the business of business and immersed myself in just creating for the past couple of weeks. But the brain is a stubborn organ and sneaks in little jolts of guilt mixed with reflections on how I can make this business work. Happily, I managed to get some new designs completed and figure out my next strategic move while doing it.I took the harnesses to a contractor in the garment district, no world traveling needed to cut costs right there. His name was Igor and he reminded me of a cartoon about a bee that I loved as a child. He was round, jolly, smiling, spoke with a thick European accent (not the bee) all the while flitting about answering employee's questions, overseeing the work room and signing for deliveries. He was quick with suggestions about how to do the harnesses correctly, coupled with long explanations to verify his points. I was grateful for that. He talked about his bulldog and how he would never wear clothing but praised the styling of the harnesses and even loved the sweaters, asking questions about them. We ended our meeting with him saying, why don't you take these sweaters to Bloomingdales?? I explained that they're too expensive to be sold wholesale, that I've been selling them on line and at vendor shows, to which he replied, "People who buy expensive items like this, go to stores. They don't shop on line". There is some truth in that (a lot in fact) The people who had purchased my sweaters at the shows, felt them and examined the details. It's the feel of the alpaca, it's softness and warmth, the uniqueness of them that can't be totally appreciated on a web page.

I wrote to Patricia in Peru telling her I was rethinking my strategy and that if we continue doing business we have to figure out a way to cut the cost considerably so I can offer new styles to wholesale venues. She’s working on it and will send me new materials to consider. Either way, I won't go into production until I get the orders to back it up.


A second blizzard halted my plans to go to the Indigo print show this week to do some color and trend research, but I did manage one day at Printsource before the deluge.  Because it's for Sp/Su.2012, there were no knit swatches and the same type of prints were shown, booth after booth. The kid's stuff was outstanding but the rest was just more of the same. 
Next step, I'll give Igor my specs and pattern information and he'll make up a set of samples for me that I can present them at the trade shows as well as figure the yield of the harnesses. I’m guessing 6 to 8 per yard. It’s on to the Texworld show next week to find suitable fabrics and vendors willing to sell me closeout couture fabrics at cheap prices.

Meanwhile, Lollypups sweaters are now being offered at Bark and Meow, a small pet boutique in Tarrytown, NY.  All these snowfalls may prompt a few local shoppers into purchasing a sweater or two for their shivering fur babies!