Anyone that works in product development, retail or press will tell you that Christmas preparation starts in July! Similarly, our Creative Director, Erica Siegel, has been working with a women's cooperative in Peru to create adorable hand knitted Christmas decorations as apart of The So Just Shop Collection. And so we wanted to share the development process behind them:
"For these Christmas decorations, I wanted to design a few classic Christmas ornaments, as well as one quirky ornament more unique to the area they were being made. After thinking about the general direction and design I wanted the products to go in, with a bit of research, I finalised down to three major ideas: mini mittens, cable knit Christmas baubles and mini Alpacas. The Christmas ornaments were all hand knit and sourced from an ethical knitting co-op Peru."
While the product development process may seem easy enough, it is not uncommon to experience a few "road bumps" along the way. When I first handed over the technical packs to the co-op (information with product specs, sketches, measurements, margin goals, etc.) it was only July, which means I started working on this project at the end of May! Working with artisans ethically is always a longer process with a longer lead time, it has to be by proxy due to the fact that these women are working 9-5pm, instead of round the clock, like many big fashion brands that churn product out in a matter of weeks. But considering the beautiful products we receive at the end and knowing our artisans are happy and healthy, is a Christmas gift unto itself"
"For these Christmas decorations, I wanted to design a few classic Christmas ornaments, as well as one quirky ornament more unique to the area they were being made. After thinking about the general direction and design I wanted the products to go in, with a bit of research, I finalised down to three major ideas: mini mittens, cable knit Christmas baubles and mini Alpacas. The Christmas ornaments were all hand knit and sourced from an ethical knitting co-op Peru."
While the product development process may seem easy enough, it is not uncommon to experience a few "road bumps" along the way. When I first handed over the technical packs to the co-op (information with product specs, sketches, measurements, margin goals, etc.) it was only July, which means I started working on this project at the end of May! Working with artisans ethically is always a longer process with a longer lead time, it has to be by proxy due to the fact that these women are working 9-5pm, instead of round the clock, like many big fashion brands that churn product out in a matter of weeks. But considering the beautiful products we receive at the end and knowing our artisans are happy and healthy, is a Christmas gift unto itself"
