What can we say about producing the Spring/Summer segment of Collection #8? The highs the lows have been many and we’re so pleased we’ve got such a rewarding and popular collection at the end of it.
First let me tell you about the drama of the ‘new necks’… You may have noticed the stunning new detail on our Linen Slouch Dress (in Coral & Indigo) – well, they didn’t come easy! From a construction point of view, loosely woven fabric looks amazing but is very delicate once cut, especially into thin strips. There was a great deal of product development that went into making sure the detail remains strong and sturdy. We’ve now got the technique down to a T, but we won’t tell you how many attempts it took!
A very exciting day was coming across such beautiful lightweight fabrics for our summer Epic Trousers (in Gold, Pinstripe and Silk Polkadot). The slippery navy polkadot silk is a favourite so far with our customers although the artists and bands that we dress go for the statement gold option every time!
A new addition to the Antiform team during Spring/Summer production has been Niko, our wonderful springtime intern. Niko has a penchant for wearing a multitude of bright colours and her disposition always matches her sunny outfits, so she fits into the Antiform studio perfectly! We asked her what she had found challenging about the collection:
“The labels! Conquering the speed of the foot pedal on the straight stitch machine is a real skill to master – as there is only room for 4 stitches either side it can really run away with me. The day I got the hang of it was so satisfying!
A whole day of cutting is a new one for me; at university we only cut one thing at a time. The tension in the crook of my thumb at the end of the day is a surprisingly nice feeling as it means a job well done for that day.
My favourite piece didn’t actually go into production – it’s an experimental box jumper we made up where every different panel is a different bright colour. It’s amazing and totally unique!”
One brilliant aspect of this collection was getting through so much of our fabric archive – by simply adding a few complementary fabric we found that loads of our existing fabrics now worked together. It’s a very reactive way of working – as we don’t know what kind of waste our suppliers will have when we get there it’s always a bit of juggling act between what we already hold and what we could pair it up with. Deciding what’s too much of a clash and which combinations create the perfect storm! It’s very satisfying and slightly scary seeing our fabric stock going down but it’s good to know we’re not hoarding too much – tempting as it is!
We hope you love the new collection as much as we enjoyed creating it!
