Parts are arriving!
One of the most difficult things about manufacturing in the United States is the “brand” is responsible for each and every part needed to make the final product. If we went to Asia and told them what we wanted, they would source the fabric, the buttons, the snaps, the chamois, everything. American factories don’t work like that at all – they require the client (in this case Conation) to source every piece and don’t start production until all the parts are on hand.
We’ve had the big parts for a while now, but the small ones are proving quite difficult on their own. We bought snaps, but didn’t know we needed a special die to perfectly match the curvature and avoid breaking the finish. We had to find a specific interfacing agent that would melt at super low temperatures and add structure to collars and pockets. We tested different sublimation printers and even needed to change the type of thread that was being used.
Three print runs, three different saturations
Wildly different colors and scale is not good for production
But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. With all the snaps, thread, interfacing, and fabric sorted it’s time to build the next – and hopefully final – round of samples. They’re roughly a month away, but they’re on their way!
Leave a Comment