In waiting for our first round of samples to come through, our partners have had a chance to show some retailers and distributors sketches of our design. Any feedback we can gather will help us in this manufacturing journey and hopefully give us confidence that we are heading in the right direction.

We have received a good response to the designs of our first sample jacket, but we have also received requests for a slightly thicker jacket with more pockets – thus making it more ‘useful’ compared to our first light jacket. As we see it, there’s no reason why we can’t release the two designs, so long as the pricing is right.

So we’ve gone back to our three main suppliers with sketches of a second design. In much the same way we approached the first design, we submit sketches, pantone color codes, dimensions and material descriptions. Since this jacket will be more involved and complex than the first, we are expecting the cost and selling prices to be higher also. Obviously, the cheaper we can get them the cheaper we can offer them to our resellers and distributors.

As the days go by we are receiving pictures from our suppliers of mocks of this second jacket design. They want to get the design right before they send us off the samples, so effectively once we see the samples we can go straight to ordering the bulk amounts without many changes to the design, if any.

At this stage, we are hoping the cost price of this second design won’t be more than $75 per piece landed (including all import taxes), but it will also depend on the method of shipping used. Since the packed profile of this design will likely be double that of the first design, the shipping volume and price can also be expected to double. Whilst the first design will be shipped via express air courier, it might not be feasible to use the same method for the second design. Once we have the second sample finalized we will know more about the cost price and shipping size. In the end we would be more willing to pay a little extra for express air courier than wait an extra month having the items shipped via sea freight.