Sometimes nothing can replace face-to-face interactions. Especially when you're working with non-conventional materials, and "getting it right" is of the utmost importance. So, only planned two and a half weeks prior to departure, I got on a plane to Portugal to visit my factory.
My factory stint began with a welcome from our production lead. After months of emails and video calls working together, finally we were sharing the same room. Within minutes of the tour we were in front of a sewing machine, notes, and my in-progress sample, discussing adjustments to be made.
Even though our sewer spoke no English, and I no Portuguese, in moments we didn't even need a translator; we were speaking the same language through gestures. The value of this trip had instantly materialized.
The rest of my time with the factory was a buzzing mix of reviewing notes, fittings with the pattern maker, working through construction adjustments, and creative problem solving around the different shrinkage rates between our elastic and our fabric. A Portuguese lunch was shared with my factory team, with this American wanting to work through lunch and my Portuguese leads demanding I take a break and join them.
Tanga side strap construction mock-ups
The trip also brought an unexpected discovery. Forty minutes from the factory sits a dye house I'm now head over heels for. Their practices are top-notch from a sustainability standpoint, optimized to reduce water, gas, and electricity use. So much so, they haven’t needed to tap into the municipal water supply in over three years. Their dyes are innovative, derived from minerals of the earth. And while our tiny brand-that-could might not be ready to partner with them quite yet (mainly due to minimums), I’m giddy with excitement about growing into a partnership here.
Mineral dyes, in powder form
On my final day, our next round of samples — which I'm hoping might be close enough to production-ready to be our last — began construction.
Within the first hour or so of being at the factory, I knew I had made the right decision. The work we were able to accomplish in several days would have taken weeks otherwise. The ability to have conversations in the same room, to make decisions together, in the moment was so helpful. Spending several days together took our relationship from strictly a client relationship to a camaraderie in working towards the same goal.
Me, with my Portuguese factory leads.
We’ve still got work to do. Once our sample set is received, they’ve got to be measured, reviewed, fit, dyed, re-measured, re-fit, and comments logged to inform next steps. The path to launch, while delayed, is getting so much closer.
The detour to Portugal was the shortcut all along.
