Alright! Today's a big one...we've closed another chapter. Today we wrap up production with our silk-screen shop on our first order. We're currently sitting on over 200 onesies & T's, each as sharp and vivid as the next. I've really got to say "hat's off" to OneOff Apparel in Worcester, those guys work magic.
(I was about to post some shots via my web cam, then thought better of it...you'll just have to wait until next week to see them being modeled online ;)
So right now we've got stacks and stacks of six designs:
Pop Tot
Safety First
I Get Lifted
Kinder Keffiyeh
Lil' Grill
Tux
We're very proud to be able to present single samples of another 6, for a total of 12 from our 18 original designs! It really means a lot to have the product in hand rather than just on a screen or on the page. I just couldn't be happier with how our first line is turning out.
On Friday we'll have our first large order tagged and bagged and shipped off, and are planning on shooting the merch for karmaloop.com on Monday. Then, well, I guess we'll be up and running!
But we're not resting. Our next steps are our look book shoot (this Sunday) and approaching many other premier street & baby vendors with our samples.
Oh, it also looks like we'll be doing some PR pretty soon. Boldfacers, a beautifully done Web zine focusing on local movers and shakers (co-produced by Adam Larson, designer extraordinaire), just contacted us about covering Pre-K! Our first write-up!! :)
So that's the news for this week, kids. Thanks for checking in, we'll keep you posted.
B
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
the final countdown
WHAT A WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!
I cannot believe that we got through this alive! Maybe more Brian than me, because he had to deal with me being a stressed out beeeeyatch all week long...hahaha
anyways, the look book is falling into place nicely, all of our models have confirmed, we are finalizing outfits and let me just say...as per usual, no expense was spared to make this the dopest ever!!!
As Brian posted last week, we will be heading to the zoo with some of our dearest friends and their tots and we are going to dress them in some fly outfits that we have been building all week! So far the supposrt has been overwhelming, with WeSC, Reebok, Goorin Bros and Keds all pitching in to help us make this happen.
The styling will have some surprises for ya'all...but I guarantee it will be enjoyable to look at...I'm excited to give copies of these images to our friends so that they can have them in albums etc as their little ones grow up and show them what they were a part of from such an early age.
As far as production of our initial order for Karmaloop goes, we had some serious scares this week, but nothing we couldn't handle and didn't come out of...my parents threw us a life line too at one point so you gotta love that! thanks Moozie & Daggles!!!
So, yes...the countdown is on...how is look book gonna turn out? Will we have all of our clothes and shoes ready to shoot it? Will our order meet our Karmaloop deadline? Will our stuff even sell once it gets onto www.Karmaloop.com?
The next week will answer ALL of these questions...we will keep you informed...
I cannot believe that we got through this alive! Maybe more Brian than me, because he had to deal with me being a stressed out beeeeyatch all week long...hahaha
anyways, the look book is falling into place nicely, all of our models have confirmed, we are finalizing outfits and let me just say...as per usual, no expense was spared to make this the dopest ever!!!
As Brian posted last week, we will be heading to the zoo with some of our dearest friends and their tots and we are going to dress them in some fly outfits that we have been building all week! So far the supposrt has been overwhelming, with WeSC, Reebok, Goorin Bros and Keds all pitching in to help us make this happen.
The styling will have some surprises for ya'all...but I guarantee it will be enjoyable to look at...I'm excited to give copies of these images to our friends so that they can have them in albums etc as their little ones grow up and show them what they were a part of from such an early age.
As far as production of our initial order for Karmaloop goes, we had some serious scares this week, but nothing we couldn't handle and didn't come out of...my parents threw us a life line too at one point so you gotta love that! thanks Moozie & Daggles!!!
So, yes...the countdown is on...how is look book gonna turn out? Will we have all of our clothes and shoes ready to shoot it? Will our order meet our Karmaloop deadline? Will our stuff even sell once it gets onto www.Karmaloop.com?
The next week will answer ALL of these questions...we will keep you informed...
Monday, August 10, 2009
Look Book
Now that our samples are coming off the presses, we're finally able to move beyond showing blueprints of our line — in about a week, you'll start to see the actual product!
(We initially produced several samples digitally to get the general feel. We're proud to say we'll NEVER sell digitally printed pieces, however, as the quality of screen printing is far superior.)
So with our clothes in hand, it's time to plan for our look book.
Right now we're scheduled for an August 30th photo shoot at the Franklin Park Zoo featuring several children ranging in age from one to four-years old. Renatta is putting together outfits as I type this, coupling our pieces with those of WeSC, Cre8tive Rec, and more. I can't wait to see the final outcome.
This weekend we've got to get ourselves over to the zoo to scope out some potential locations, and of course we're in the midst of coordinating with parents, kids, photographer & crew, but I think we've got it all in hand.
More to come!
(We initially produced several samples digitally to get the general feel. We're proud to say we'll NEVER sell digitally printed pieces, however, as the quality of screen printing is far superior.)
So with our clothes in hand, it's time to plan for our look book.
Right now we're scheduled for an August 30th photo shoot at the Franklin Park Zoo featuring several children ranging in age from one to four-years old. Renatta is putting together outfits as I type this, coupling our pieces with those of WeSC, Cre8tive Rec, and more. I can't wait to see the final outcome.
This weekend we've got to get ourselves over to the zoo to scope out some potential locations, and of course we're in the midst of coordinating with parents, kids, photographer & crew, but I think we've got it all in hand.
More to come!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Man Hands
Hi friends!
As we at PreK apparel get ready to go into production, and we fuss over the details big and small, we are also striving to keep on top of our day jobs….me handling the Karmaloop Merchandising department and Brian designing and concepting for another new brand KLP (Klothing Liberation Project)…while we’re stressed and strapped, I feel like it has been bringing out the best in us…I myself find that I am better under pressure, and Brian, well it’s teaching him to organize and discipline himself and his methods.
It seems as though this is all not enough for us, we are constantly sticking our fingers into other pots... looking for new and unique ventures to get involved with, ( we have been speaking to a charitable organization to raise awareness on “baby shaking”), we are constantly seeking reasons to throw parties (last weekend was my “10,000th day alive” surprise beach bash, followed by a “we can’t finish all this food” BBQ), and of course new and interesting ways to get ourselves noticed, (Brian designed a Shephard Fairey inspired “911 is a joke t-shirt” to commemorate Shep’s arrest in Boston last February and was the talk of the town last Friday night). It's a good thing we both have such big hands, they just can't seem to get full enough!!! But like I say...it's better to have "man hands" than to get manhandled hahahaha!!
We both seem to hear a clock ticking somewhere and are working like devils to stay ahead of it and everyone else; every design trend, every seemingly pop phenomenon, every catch phrase, every idle thought and suggestion we sock away in our minds and notes for a possible RE-appropriation on a onsie or a tee…like I said it forces us to stay sharp and not discard any exposure that we find ourselves getting.
And there’s more…we started rounding up our troops today, babies, models, photographers, new parents; for the next step in the launching of PreK Apparel…OUR LOOKBOOK! I am heading up this project and am SUPER excited about it! The concept we have come up with is pretty freakin dope I think, and we cannot wait to execute it with all of our favorite people.
We are still working out the dates and details, so stay tuned and you will see what we have up our sleeves!!
More as we do it,
Renatta
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
The new coolness
It's becoming clear. Two distinct markets. Polar opposite challenges.
On one hand you've got a thousand kids boutiques selling rock 'n' roll clothes to baby-mamas, but barely ever rap or R&B. So while every parent/uncle/friend wants to be "the cool one," we've got to wait for the shopkeepers to get with it, and honestly most haven't heard of M.I.A. (and no, she ain't wearing Ed Hardy)
On the other hand you've got a thousand street wear vendors on the razor's edge of street fashion, but they're too used to being niche. Their clientele traditionally consists of young, early-adopters who would likely see the novelty in getting a kid they know hooked up, but most street vendors haven't considered any audience outside what's worked already. If it ain't broke, don't fix it — not a very forward-looking stance for trend-setters.
Here's the thing — I hate being a convincer. You either see something or you don't. But it seems crazy to me nobody is thinking about how every single trend in fashion history has somehow "trickled up." Same old story; youth stakes out some territory, and then slowly it seeps upward into older, more conservative generations until it finally gains "normality" in some altered form throughout society.
Take baseball caps. In the '80s if you're wearing a hat you were probably of college age or younger (unless you were at a game or a truck driver). Now I swear there's an army of dudes in their 60's wearing that shit in their BMW convertables. Sure, maybe it helps hide the bald spot, but that wasn't happening even 10 years back.
Flash forward to today, and older generations "don't get" kids wearing the same hats kicked to the side. Here's a message to all you older folks: we wear it that way because you don't get it. We do it to separate ourselves from you. As always, youth creates the new coolness. You broke in long hair — thanks for that.
And it just so happens that the new coolness of the moment is street wear, which happens to be Pre-K Apparel's advantage, and our challenge.
We're sick of all the cliche kids' wear out there and are trying like hell to break the new coolness for them. But to do that we somehow need to do two things: help kids' apparel stores be okay selling street wear and help street wear stores be okay selling kids' apparel. As of right now it seems both vendors are too busy with business as usual, so nobody's breaking through to be down with both (except you, Karmaloop, you nasty visionaries —props!).
I guess being the first ones to the party can really blow sometimes, but we're not trying to wait around for company. Fuck it — I may just have to suck it up and become a convincer.
On one hand you've got a thousand kids boutiques selling rock 'n' roll clothes to baby-mamas, but barely ever rap or R&B. So while every parent/uncle/friend wants to be "the cool one," we've got to wait for the shopkeepers to get with it, and honestly most haven't heard of M.I.A. (and no, she ain't wearing Ed Hardy)
On the other hand you've got a thousand street wear vendors on the razor's edge of street fashion, but they're too used to being niche. Their clientele traditionally consists of young, early-adopters who would likely see the novelty in getting a kid they know hooked up, but most street vendors haven't considered any audience outside what's worked already. If it ain't broke, don't fix it — not a very forward-looking stance for trend-setters.
Here's the thing — I hate being a convincer. You either see something or you don't. But it seems crazy to me nobody is thinking about how every single trend in fashion history has somehow "trickled up." Same old story; youth stakes out some territory, and then slowly it seeps upward into older, more conservative generations until it finally gains "normality" in some altered form throughout society.
Take baseball caps. In the '80s if you're wearing a hat you were probably of college age or younger (unless you were at a game or a truck driver). Now I swear there's an army of dudes in their 60's wearing that shit in their BMW convertables. Sure, maybe it helps hide the bald spot, but that wasn't happening even 10 years back.
Flash forward to today, and older generations "don't get" kids wearing the same hats kicked to the side. Here's a message to all you older folks: we wear it that way because you don't get it. We do it to separate ourselves from you. As always, youth creates the new coolness. You broke in long hair — thanks for that.
And it just so happens that the new coolness of the moment is street wear, which happens to be Pre-K Apparel's advantage, and our challenge.
We're sick of all the cliche kids' wear out there and are trying like hell to break the new coolness for them. But to do that we somehow need to do two things: help kids' apparel stores be okay selling street wear and help street wear stores be okay selling kids' apparel. As of right now it seems both vendors are too busy with business as usual, so nobody's breaking through to be down with both (except you, Karmaloop, you nasty visionaries —props!).
I guess being the first ones to the party can really blow sometimes, but we're not trying to wait around for company. Fuck it — I may just have to suck it up and become a convincer.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
baby steppin in style
Since Brian's last blog entry in June it seems like everything has happened yet nothing has happened...but in the grand scheme of things we have taken a million baby steps and every single one of them has brought us that much closer to making this brand the entity we want it to be and launching it in the style we feel it deserves.
from shooting our birth announcement (see my profile pic), to getting our line sheets together, to making sure the website meets our standards, to getting picked up by Karmaloop.com...(yes even I cannot fully believe that we are going to be launched next to the likes of WeSc, Hellz Bellz, Crooks & Castles and LRG)...it has really been a labor of love...not just on the parts of Brian and I...we've probably never fought so much trying to agree on designs, treatments and marketing etc...but from our friends, family and business contacts, all of whom have offered some part of themselves to help us make this happen, and for that we cannot be grateful enough.
so you can be sure, once Pre.K drops in late August on www.karmaloop.com all of this love will be evident because as we've been saying from the start, we do it the right way, or not at all, we sped the time and the effort to make it happen or we just sit on it and let someone else live our dream...in essence we go big or we go home...
and we are not readyto go home just yet...
More as it happens!
Renatta
from shooting our birth announcement (see my profile pic), to getting our line sheets together, to making sure the website meets our standards, to getting picked up by Karmaloop.com...(yes even I cannot fully believe that we are going to be launched next to the likes of WeSc, Hellz Bellz, Crooks & Castles and LRG)...it has really been a labor of love...not just on the parts of Brian and I...we've probably never fought so much trying to agree on designs, treatments and marketing etc...but from our friends, family and business contacts, all of whom have offered some part of themselves to help us make this happen, and for that we cannot be grateful enough.
so you can be sure, once Pre.K drops in late August on www.karmaloop.com all of this love will be evident because as we've been saying from the start, we do it the right way, or not at all, we sped the time and the effort to make it happen or we just sit on it and let someone else live our dream...in essence we go big or we go home...
and we are not readyto go home just yet...
More as it happens!
Renatta
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