more insight into the textile industry

why was i so afraid of calling reps and mills? you can read about my phone fright in an earlier post.

so far, I've talked to 3 reps and they have been helpful, informative, and all-around wonderful.

i have many, many samples on the way. they should be here next week.

they are coming from envirotextiles, kendor, pickering, and sextet.

i also still need to put a phone call into a rep i met at a local soiree. he and his wife own four lines, as well as a brick and mortar here in Asheville. they do all their design, product development, manufacturing, and selling (both wholesale and retail).

basically, they are living my dream life.

his wife covers most of the design work while he covers the sourcing and manufacturing aspects. he offered me a 15-minute free consultation at the party -- probably the serendipitous result of too much champagne and a very naughty burlesque performance from the lovely Queen April.

i came away with a solid figure to get through the product development phase, a strong local contact with over 30 years in the industry, and a potential partnership. he asked me to wait until july to call, and here we are -- july.

i am learning all kinds of fascinating things, among them some basic vocabulary:

PFD (prepare for dye)
PFP (prepare for print)
lab dip
asking dye facilities to reframe into a roll after applications
asking facilties for whole package quotes and CMT quotes

i am also wrapping up the preliminary market research with a final push for respondants going out next week. provided my dance teacher samiTe' agrees to helping out via her facebook page, i could expect between 15 and 20 more of those. another of my teachers, the fabulous Lisa Zahiya asked her followers to take my survey and many of them did so i know this is a successful approach.

i would be interested to know from any readers who are into marketing what a good ballpark number is in terms of marketing survey responces.

it will be a pleasure to wrap the survey research up, finally choose my line ambassadors, and give an IPOD gift certificate away.

it will also be a real joy to get into the actual design and sampling work once i have chosen my fabrics. i learned about this practice at Kathleen Fasanella's Fashion Incubator site.

this is a great resource for people who want to design and profit from their designs. this is all the stuff fashion schools probably don't teach you.

you may exit with a strong foundation in design, an introduction to retail and marketing, and intermediate sewing and construction skills after leaving a fashion design program. but Kathleen's site is a wealth of information as to how to translate that to the entrepreneurial and manufacturing worlds.

well, it's time for me to practice my choreography and work on the head piece, which i am also exploring as a one-of-a-kind couture product for dancers. in that vein, i need to purchase some display heads and vintage saris in the very near future.