Bobbin and Katy's STORY mfg.

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

Katy and I are going to India to meet with people who are involved in making our fabric, visit our mill, hand weavers, and traditional dyers.

We're also visiting our factory in the UK to see our first sample in the flesh either this week or next, and putting in our order for metalwear some time this week.

I know that I've been dropping references to this for a while, and it's been frustrating as hell not having anything ready to show, but from here on in it's action stations.

Our Brand name is STORY mfg., and we think that even if you don't buy the product, you'll enjoy the production.

[sknss]

Ahh that's so exciting. I'm looking forward to seeing the steps of the process.

Why did you choose the name STORY mfg.?

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

Because for us, the story of how something came to be is sometimes the most interesting thing about it. That isn't to say design isn't important, but we'd put it on a par with the story of the piece. The journey is the destination type of thing. In many ways the parts of clothing design we really like are the ones we can trace back to a story of how/why that element was created.

The story of indigo is an overarching narrative, which is why we're starting where we are. Indigo is widely believed to be traced back to India (the etymology of the name indigo is the same root as India), so we're hoping to illuminate some history as well as make something beautiful to buy.

Every piece we make will be documented, from flintstone to conception and sale, so you'll know exactly where and why it was made. Not everyone will care, sure, but we would.

Also, we don't want to make things that'll just fly off into the ether - we'd like the story to continue once someone gets the piece, and the wear denim shows typifies storytelling. So, yeah, it's all about the STORY.

[katy katazome]

Yeah. What he said ↑

The reason for our name is pretty simple though it can be interpreted in so many ways. My personal favourite interpretation is that we want each of our products to tell a different chapter of the story of indigo, from the local manufacturing traditions to the manufacturers themselves. There is so much to see and learn and we're fascinated by it. Each indigo or denim-producing country has such a rich history with the stuff so each denim we use will tell a different version.

[hunnish]

How much is production costing you guys? What price points are you hoping to sell your stuff at?

[katy katazome]

We have a figure now but it's not finalised so we don't want to disclose it. Because we're producing in England the prod costs are more on a level with Japan than say Turkey. That said we want as many people to be able to share our enthusiasm! We aren't doing this to take a salary so the first collection will be way more affordable than you'd expect to pay for super special artisan made-in-the-UK denim!

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

Mods, can we possibly split this into a new topic? That way I won't feel like a prat interrupting conversations when I want to update on our progress...

[Syeknom]

I refuse to believe you could ever be a prat Bobbin

[can-]

very exciting stuff. guys got me on the edge of my seat

[thomaspaine]

Looking forward to seeing and hearing more. What kind of minimums did you run into ordering your denim? Custom denim mins are usually really high (5000+ Yds) for most mills.

[katy katazome]

We've been really lucky (or savvy) regarding minimums. Because we already had good relationships with a lot of mills they have all been super keen to help us with small minimums, freebie sample yardage etc. We want to use this as an opportunity to promote beautiful, traditional fabrics that are not your usual Cone/Kurabo/Kaihara (we definitely don't want to jump on the overcrowded Cone bandwagon!) so have cut out the big players who would usually be way out of our budget. By using hand-loomed, hand dyed fabrics from small villages where they have been practicing their craft for centuries we can spend a bit more per meter, order a small run and offer something truly unique. God I'm getting excited about it just typing this!

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

Just to add/expand on that: 'the big players who are out of our budget' are only out of our minimum's budget, cost per metre + production wise we're actually spending far more than brands that can do big runs.

We're approaching it like any good story really, in that if you don't have anything to add to the narrative, no one will care to listen. Katy might not agree with me but it's getting to the point where there are so many "Americana! Japanese Raw! etc." denim brands that I just don't care about most of them. They're largely made using the same 'off the shelf' denim you can order from the mills with no minimums that may be drop dead gorgeous, but not hard to come by. This isn't to say we wont use Japanese (we 100000000% will).

Minumums are so so so high. I was floored in all honesty, but like Katy said we were able to work within our means and now people understand where we're coming from and it's flattering the way they're willing to accommodate us.

Also, the hand loomed, hand dyed garment is a supersupersuper special one, and our main run will be made in an industrial mill (although still supersuper special in another secret way). If we have decent internet in India we'll arrange a hangout for anyone interested in connecting with us while we're out there.

[ramseames]

Are you actually getting hand woven fabric in a similar vein to momotaro gold label?

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

Similar, yeah. I know, it seems crazy. That one will be really limited edition though, maybe as little as 10 pairs. We'll have some first hand info soon for you ram on the details of what goes into it.

...And they won't be 2000 dollars.

[katy katazome]

Can't wait to start posting pictures of this!! Mid January watch out!

[odradek]

my body is ready.

also my money.

[RycePooding]

My no-cop will end with you guys.

[bels]

Your story stuff reminds me of Hiut. I think they had some kind of story tag or something.
http://hiutdenim.co.uk/pages/historytag

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

What we're doing is quite different from huit but that'll become much more apparent once we get some stuff out there.

[YoungCanoeist]

This is so cool. Can't wait to see pictures, and I can't wait to get my hands on it!

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

Guys, me and Katy are really happy you're excited with us. The fact of the matter is that even though we aren't taking a salary, we can't afford to make them without any pre orders, so we're really counting on people buying them.

The fact that you haven't even seen them yet and you're excited means a lot to me, and I'm not just saying that, I am really enthused about the whole thing.

[bels]

You two are selling it on how passionate you both seem about it. Seems like surely something cool must come or of two cool people obsessing about something.

[sensodyne]

hope you make big people sizes

[YoungCanoeist]

hope you make small people sizes

[Syeknom]

I hope you make people

[can-]

what will the care labels look like tho???

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

Syeknom - me and Katy aren't ready to make people yet.

ben - Please, don't. The care instruction placement has been one of the longer sagas of this process.

[aucontrairearto]

If I recall correctly, one of you (or both) eats vegan. Will you be using leather patches?

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

No leather patches, but that doesn't mean we wont have something arguably more special in its place.

[Bobbin.Threadbare]