Epaulet shop - Official Affiliate thread

[kevinftwman]

Got the denim ones now, should have the linen ones by the middle of next week. We're going to be shipping a ton of Doyles and Rivets starting on Monday!



I don't have anything planned but we can do appointments at the Redondo Beach studio any Monday, Wednesday, or Friday

Hi - this was over a month ago and I still haven't received my denim doyle that was scheduled for June delivery originally and it's now almost August?

 

[Epaulet]

Hi - this was over a month ago and I still haven't received my denim doyle that was scheduled for June delivery originally and it's now almost August?

My apologies, we were short shipped two Doyle's from that delivery... your size 34 and a size 46 for another customer. We have them running through as individual pieces, but it's going to take a few weeks. Ming just went to check in on it today.

He's going to drop you an email to follow up. I'm really sorry about this, honestly size 34 outerwear pieces have proven really difficult to get through these group buys. It's a difficult size for our factory to make here because of how condensed all of the individual pieces are. They pretty much have to do them on their own, and if time is short, they'll simply skip it without asking us. I know that we faced the same issue for you with a Sashiko piece last year. When the big stock delivery comes in, it's really difficult to fill in any missing pieces that were ordered but not made.

I don't want to disappoint anyone going forward, so we'll start all of our future group at size 36 to avoid this happening. If you're okay waiting a bit, we'll deliver this particular jacket around the end of the month. And it will be no problem to do individual size 34's as fully custom pieces with Rochester Tailored Clothing in the Fall.

 

[Epaulet]

Hey guys, real quick!!

1) Our new round of preorders for Rivet Chinos are going to close tonight and go into work around the end of the week.

2) As a last minute addition, we added in the "Hematite Slub Twill) that you see in the video above. It's a Japanese cotton from Kurabo with this really boss dark grey tone and slightly irregular weave. It's going to make up into a beautiful chino, and we've got enough for about 20 units in total.

3) I'll do some open stock in these fabrics... probably Moonstone Bleach, Olive Cramerton, Navy Duck, and Hematite Slub.. provided that last one doesn't sell through in preorders. But open stock is only going to be size 31 through 36. If you like the other fabrics or you need a size outside of that scale, then preorders are the only way to go. This preorder price is about 25% to 30% less than the future MSRP too.

 

[joydivisi0n]

He's going to drop you an email to follow up. I'm really sorry about this, honestly size 34 outerwear pieces have proven really difficult to get through these group buys. It's a difficult size for our factory to make here because of how condensed all of the individual pieces are. They pretty much have to do them on their own, and if time is short, they'll simply skip it without asking us. I know that we faced the same issue for you with a Sashiko piece last year. When the big stock delivery comes in, it's really difficult to fill in any missing pieces that were ordered but not made.

As a follow-up to this, I've been waiting for my size 34 sinclair in gunmetal sashiko since the late January, 2021 delivery window came and went. I was then told in late March that my jacket would be ready "soon." At this point I am really frustrated with the lack of communication and repeated delays. If I pay for a jacket shouldn't it be made and delivered at some point? I hate to be negative, but I also spent a lot of money on this jacket, and I'm having a hard time remaining excited about receiving it. I feel like I threw my money away at this point, and it's frustrating that such a significant delay isn't communicated to the customer without their their pestering the vendor for an update.

 

[FLW]

I hate to pile on the requests for updates, but are we still waiting for Hertling linen trousers? I'm still owed one from the end of March.

 

[Epaulet]

As a follow-up to this, I've been waiting for my size 34 sinclair in gunmetal sashiko since the late January, 2021 delivery window came and went. I was then told in late March that my jacket would be ready "soon." At this point I am really frustrated with the lack of communication and repeated delays. If I pay for a jacket shouldn't it be made and delivered at some point? I hate to be negative, but I also spent a lot of money on this jacket, and I'm having a hard time remaining excited about receiving it. I feel like I threw my money away at this point, and it's frustrating that such a significant delay isn't communicated to the customer without their their pestering the vendor for an update.

Very sorry about that... Ming is going to PM you so that we can work something out for you

I hate to pile on the requests for updates, but are we still waiting for Hertling linen trousers? I'm still owed one from the end of March.

Good timing - an overnight box just arrived from Hertling with about 16 pairs of linen trousers. We didn't receive any of them for anyone before today.

The excuses and apologies from Hertling are sort of like a broken record at this point, but everything got delayed with their move and with their lead cutter quitting. I've been on them about this weekly, but ultimately they're finally arriving.

This is going to be our last rodeo with Hertling for the foreseeable future, and possibly forever. I'm their oldest client and I really do love the product and I want to support them, but I can't deal with this uncertainty any longer. We'll move all of our custom trousers to Hickey Freeman in the Fall. Price is a bit higher, but we'll have a four week production period, better quality, and a vastly expanded selection of fabrics. Plus you can choose things like buttons and waistband liners too.

And also... if anyone on here has an ancient Wilhelm order in an LA fabric (natural sashiko, wabash stripe, denim, etc), then all of those orders are in Hickey's hands right now. We haven't forgotten you, and you'll have your trousers by mid September.

 

[FLW]

Good timing - an overnight box just arrived from Hertling with about 16 pairs of linen trousers. We didn't receive any of them for anyone before today.

The excuses and apologies from Hertling are sort of like a broken record at this point, but everything got delayed with their move and with their lead cutter quitting. I've been on them about this weekly, but ultimately they're finally arriving.

This is going to be our last rodeo with Hertling for the foreseeable future, and possibly forever. I'm their oldest client and I really do love the product and I want to support them, but I can't deal with this uncertainty any longer. We'll move all of our custom trousers to Hickey Freeman in the Fall. Price is a bit higher, but we'll have a four week production period, better quality, and a vastly expanded selection of fabrics. Plus you can choose things like buttons and waistband liners too.

Apparently I have the magic touch.

FWIW, I was thinking the same thing as a customer. I have more trousers than I can count and I would bet that Hertling has made close to half of them, but the current state is just untenable. Prices are too high for the turnaround time and fabric selection on offer. Sorry to hear it has come to a similar state on your end, as well.

 

[Epaulet]

Apparently I have the magic touch.

FWIW, I was thinking the same thing as a customer. I have more trousers than I can count and I would bet that Hertling has made close to half of them, but the current state is just untenable. Prices are too high for the turnaround time and fabric selection on offer. Sorry to hear it has come to a similar state on your end, as well.

Agreed, yeah... we had a really on time delivery right before this, but the current batch was ordered and paid for around the first week of March. It's exhausting to just ask every week and get told "two more weeks." Neither me nor any customer wants to hear this.

There are some very wide-spanning problems in the industry right now. COVID messed up everything last year. This year it's been a combination of labor shortage and materials shortage. With less operators, things are slow and factories are prioritizing larger quantity orders just to keep the lights on. We've been playing a constant game of cat and mouse where we're trying to offer the things that can most realistically get made.

I am optimistic that this is going to get worked out after the Summer. Hickey has a really tight operation, and we should be caught up with everything... including the old orders that Southwick dropped... by mid September. New ones will track though quickly. And we'll send ALL of our custom work there so there's one factory and one communication channel.

Here in LA, we'll focus on group buys and stock runs only. They do better with larger quantity orders, and our delivery times for that stuff have actually been pretty good.

Aero Jackets have actually been pretty great. I had a few pieces from old orders that got held up due to leather shortages, but the last round got delivered pretty much right in the window and they're BEAUTIFUL. We're going to do a new order round for Aero customs in a week, and I can confidently promise a mid October delivery for that stuff.

 

[Epaulet]

As promised, here's some pics of the trousers that we sent out today! Be sure to wear some sunglasses before looking directly into the brilliance of @FLW 's cherry red linen Walt's....

 

[scurvyfreedman]

I hate to pile on the requests for updates, but are we still waiting for Hertling linen trousers? I'm still owed one from the end of March.

When Hertling was running a 1/2 special on direct trousers, I bought some. Or I guess I should say, I ordered some. It was supposed to be ready in 6 weeks from mid-March. Still waiting. They keep offering more discounted garments to make up for their delays, but I haven't taken them up on the those offers, because I'm afraid they won't deliver and maybe worse, go under before delivering. I don't want to throw good money after potentially bad. I'm still holding my breath that my original order will be delivered "soon."

 

[Michigan Planner]

When Hertling was running a 1/2 special on direct trousers, I bought some. Or I guess I should say, I ordered some. It was supposed to be ready in 6 weeks from mid-March. Still waiting. They keep offering more discounted garments to make up for their delays, but I haven't taken them up on the those offers, because I'm afraid they won't deliver and maybe worse, go under before delivering. I don't want to throw good money after potentially bad. I'm still holding my breath that my original order will be delivered "soon."

That’s good info to have. I keep getting their emails offering deeply discounted MTO stuff but I’ve been wary. It sounds like those fears aren’t without cause.

 

[Epaulet]

When Hertling was running a 1/2 special on direct trousers, I bought some. Or I guess I should say, I ordered some. It was supposed to be ready in 6 weeks from mid-March. Still waiting. They keep offering more discounted garments to make up for their delays, but I haven't taken them up on the those offers, because I'm afraid they won't deliver and maybe worse, go under before delivering. I don't want to throw good money after potentially bad. I'm still holding my breath that my original order will be delivered "soon."

That’s good info to have. I keep getting their emails offering deeply discounted MTO stuff but I’ve been wary. It sounds like those fears aren’t without cause.

I honestly think that things will stabilize there in the next few months. Relocating a factory across multiple states is difficult even in the best of times. And managing factory staff is REALLY hard right now for a lot of places.

This Summer has been exceptionally difficult for making things. We all felt the loss of 2020, so once people started feeling more free a few months ago, I think most of us tried to make up for lost time. See family and friends. Take a trip or two. Most of my factories had record amounts of employee absences and vacancies. Even some of the salepeople that I work with... guys who were absolutely tireless and always grinding... took it easy this past Summer and were far more hands-off.

I'm confident Fall is going to be better. The pandemic isn't over, but we can see an eventual end point. Kids are largely going to be in school... even in my area, where the local public schools were closed (I think) for more time than anywhere else in the United States. I know that we (Epaulet) have a lot of trust to rebuild, and we're working to get all the old backorders sorted and hitting our projected dates for any new merchandise.

But yeah, for the time being, I'd echo exactly what @scurvyfreedman and @Michigan Planner said... you don't want to order anything from Hertling that isn't in stock and ready to ship immediately. Regardless of the deal or promotion offered. I won't be doing that at wholesale until the workflow has completely stabilized there, and they can reliably deliver on time.

FWIW, the pants we shipped today were absolutely beautiful. I've been a Hertling account for 12 years, and their production quality has never been better. Justin will get it together over there, and we'll be back as a wholesale partner.

 

[CommodoreMarvel]

That’s disappointing news about Hertling. I ordered several custom Wilhelm rivets from them well over a year ago and while I received two of them, the other pair seem to be constantly delayed. I’m sure there’s a reason, but it’s frustrating to see other orders that were placed much more recently, be completed and not see your own finished. Nonetheless the trousers have always been good quality and I hope the factory issues get sorted out

 

[Duke Silver]

When Hertling was running a 1/2 special on direct trousers, I bought some. Or I guess I should say, I ordered some. It was supposed to be ready in 6 weeks from mid-March. Still waiting. They keep offering more discounted garments to make up for their delays, but I haven't taken them up on the those offers, because I'm afraid they won't deliver and maybe worse, go under before delivering. I don't want to throw good money after potentially bad. I'm still holding my breath that my original order will be delivered "soon."

FWIW, I had a similar situation a while back. I kept emailing and emailing and getting no response. I checked either reddit or the Hertling thread on here and someone had recommended emailing Julian rather than the generic address on the site and that seemed to do the trick.

 

[Epaulet]

In the world of good preorder news… Sashiko blankets are well in work!

1) We’ll close the preorder this weekend
2) I think we can ship natural blankets as soon as next Friday
3) The other colors will definitely be mid-August as quoted

There’s still time to order if you want one!