Ever wondered why sometimes you will see an image of an outfit from a collection and then never find it in-store?
Well there are several reasons such as what a store buyer will select, some designers create items just for show or there is the reason that frustrates me the most which is that a fabric will no longer be available even though it was offered.
Let me explain.
Each season I see a bunch of samples from fabric wholesalers from which I order sample lengths and then create my collection.
Wholesalers offer a bunch of fabrics but there is an unspoken rule. They will only order the fabric from the mill if a certain amount (in this case 200m) is ordered. If a label wants the fabric exclusively they order the 200m themselves or the 200m can be made up of several different designers. So what happens if you don't order 200m and not enough other people order it?
Then you are your customers are just tough out of luck!
Unfortunately, as a designer who isn't ordering hundreds of metres of fabric, there have been a few times when a fabric that was offered for sampling is then unavailable for bulk. So what we have sampled, photographed and invested a lot of time and money into is no longer a saleable item. In other words money and visions down the drain.
I cannot tell you how frustrating this is. It is so disappointing to put so much time and effort into something and then have it fail through no fault of your own.
For those who know me you will be well aware that I don't give up without a fight. I went through every possible way of getting this fabric from checking every wholesaler I know of, to trying to recreate the fabric. Unfortunately no one in New Zealand can do gold foiling on a large scale so I even went to an overseas manufacturer. Still didn't work.
Eventually I had to realise that I had tried absolutely everything I possibly could but I was just not going to get the fabric.
Thankfully the retailers who had ordered items with this fabric were very kind and happily accepted an alternative fabric but it doesn't make me any less saddened by the situation.
The Fashion Industry has so many wonderful aspects and can be very glamorous at times but it also has some very difficult and frustrating aspects especially for the smaller labels. Such as the biggest fabric wholesaler in NZ tripling their minimums without any warning, but that is a story for another day.
So why am I showing you these pictures you ask?
Because I put heart, soul, time and money into creating these pieces so I wanted to share them with you.
xx Désirée