Unfunded Liabilities: a/k/a The Cloth Thread

[Cantabrigian]



is there some kind of special not-immediately-obvious Tailor Magic involved in cutting rolls of cloth? because, you know, you'd think someone could rustle up a tape measure and a pair of scissors.

Srsly.

Like if you really want to pay someone to do it, I'll do it.

 

[kulata]

So I ran into the liverano gun club fabric again on tumblr and based on the link below it's a Loro Piana cashmere cloud. Is that a book?

http://regentbespoke.tumblr.com/post/82769217308/cashmere-cloud-in-loro-piana-great-soft

 

[TM79]



is there some kind of special not-immediately-obvious Tailor Magic involved in cutting rolls of cloth? because, you know, you'd think someone could rustle up a tape measure and a pair of scissors.

Go for it and let us know how it turns out for you.

 

[NorCal_1]

these group buys would be a lot easier for the cloth companies if there was only one or two options for length, rather than 20 or 30 random individual lengths

5 yards for suits, 3 yards for jackets and the cost of the extra cloth is the tarriff we incur for participating and making it easy for them to cut one standard size

the other thing we could do as buyers is have the sections mailed in one shipment to the main organizer, who then parcels out the individual sections and mails them off

a lot of work for the organizer, though, but makes it far easier for the cloth company and them more willing to do it

 

[edmorel]



So I ran into the liverano gun club fabric again on tumblr and based on the link below it's a Loro Piana cashmere cloud. Is that a book?

http://regentbespoke.tumblr.com/post/82769217308/cashmere-cloud-in-loro-piana-great-soft

I have a jacket in that fabric, it looks a lot nicer in tumblr pics, which are probably touched up, then it does in person. I actually don't wear the jacket anymore.

I have not read through all the posts on the special run so I may have missed something but if this is with Reid and Taylor, I'd be a bit cautious as they are in the middle of a liquidation, there books seem to be a bit of a mess, and I wouldn't be so quick to send them a ton of money right now.

As to the person who asked what the big deal is with cutting up different lengths, I did something similar once here, purchased a large amount of fabric and then sold off 15 or so lengths. Its a gigantic pain ********** and leads itself to mistakes when people are ordering in 1/4 yd/mtr increments, mistakes the seller has to eat.

 

[patrickBOOTH]



I am not sure what you are asking. I contacted the person you told me to and still haven't heard back. Obviously, I now understand why.

I have wondered how much the mills' reluctance to deal with individuals is because it is too much trouble, they don't need the extra sales, they have lockups with distributes, or whatever. It seems foolish and a remnant of a prior era where the end-users had no idea who they were or any interest in buying cloth direct. there is clearly a market for this and I am not sure why they aren't jumping on it. If it costs a little extra to deal with individuals, they should simply charge for it - say $10 per cut or something like that.

And they are foolish if they think they are cannibalizing sales. This thread is witness to the fact that people who buy cloth, often do it because they like it. Buying this length does not mean I won't buy any more cloth.

I would think they don't want to do this because it is kind of screwing over their reps that work hard representing them and getting their books and cloth in tailor's shops.

 

[dopey]



I would think they don't want to do this because it is kind of screwing over their reps that work hard representing them and getting their books and cloth in tailor's shops.

This may be how they look at things, though if it is, they are mistaken. It is hard to imagine how Reid & Taylor's distributor or rep did anything to contribute to this sale, and 100m represents about 30 individual orders from tailors. that is not insignificant. The distributors are still useful, but if this is how customers wish to buy cloth, this is how mills should sell it. It is foolish to ignore changing demand patterns.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

I understand that logic, but then again looking at it in terms of a business relationship: Salesman X made us $100,000 last year and we did nothing other than have him to make those sales. Now here comes along a bunch of dudes on the internet wanting to buy directly from us. We could, but it takes effort on our part, they have demands, and furthermore what does this say to Salesman X who made us that sweet $100k last year? We don't value him any more? If you keep taking business away from the reps, then there won't be work for them anymore, they will stop being reps and the mill has to handle all requests themselves in the future. I just kind of see it as shooting themselves in the foot in a way.

 

[kulata]



I have a jacket in that fabric, it looks a lot nicer in tumblr pics, which are probably touched up, then it does in person. I actually don't wear the jacket anymore.

.

Would really appreciate if you can share close up pics if you have any.

 

[Slewfoot]

Ugh. Sorry this got all messed up. These things are never as easy as they seem.

 

[jrd617]

Another option. I'm really hesistant to use this one because I'd feel bad about asking Greg (gdl203) to do this at cost when Reid & Taylor is the one profiting off the sale of the fabric.

@gdl203 has generously offered to donate NMWA's domestic order fulfillment capabilities to the cause. They could set up a product page on the site to gather the orders and payment, leave it open for a few days and then close it out and send the lengths to the mill. We'd have to factor in a little bit of $$$, but NMWA would basically be doing it at cost.

This would only be for domestic US orders. International orders are very tricky to fulfill (customs, insurance, etc)

Ugh. Sorry this got all messed up. These things are never as easy as they seem.

Amen.

 

[bertie]



I understand that logic, but then again looking at it in terms of a business relationship: Salesman X made us $100,000 last year and we did nothing other than have him to make those sales. Now here comes along a bunch of dudes on the internet wanting to buy directly from us. We could, but it takes effort on our part, they have demands, and furthermore what does this say to Salesman X who made us that sweet $100k last year? We don't value him any more? If you keep taking business away from the reps, then there won't be work for them anymore, they will stop being reps and the mill has to handle all requests themselves in the future. I just kind of see it as shooting themselves in the foot in a way.

I'm sure you're right about the fear of cannabilizing their normal distribution model.. I would say though that it seems to be to be quite short-sighted. The internet has changed many things and that includes both retail models and, maybe more importantly, information about things. In the past, the reps you mention were both the source of th fabric and the source for information about the fabric. Now that information is available to anyone with internet access. This then creates a demand for the product outside of the traditional distribution channels. I have access to one, maybe two tailors. Neither carries Reid. Even if they did, neither would request a custom run of a fabric bcause they don't want 60m of it.

What we are trying to do would significantly expand Reid's exposure (it already has to some extent - I had not heard of them before this run was proposed) and provide a new revenue source that was previously unavailable. The smart play would be to allow custom runs to retail custoers but keep them apart for normal distribution to ensure that the reps don;t feel direct competition (or use them as a test bed for new fabrics). If the fabric is good and prices are good - people will seek out the regular products lines. If this falls through I, for one, would not go to that trouble.

 

[AdamWill]

Go for it and let us know how it turns out for you.

Sorry, wasn't asking for myself, just making a suggestion for the group buy.

 

[sprout2]

Another option. I'm really hesistant to use this one because I'd feel bad about asking Greg (gdl203) to do this at cost when Reid & Taylor is the one profiting off the sale of the fabric.

@gdl203 has generously offered to donate NMWA's domestic order fulfillment capabilities to the cause. They could set up a product page on the site to gather the orders and payment, leave it open for a few days and then close it out and send the lengths to the mill. We'd have to factor in a little bit of $$$, but NMWA would basically be doing it at cost.

This would only be for domestic US orders. International orders are very tricky to fulfill (customs, insurance, etc)
Amen.

I'm not interested in this particular fabric or this latest episode, but I had been pondering this idea for some time. I would pay cold hard cash if NMWA continued expanding its "benchmade to measure/MTO programs/hybrid fusion of RTW e-shopping with bespoke sensibilities" setup and offered unique fabric runs that didn't compete with or cannibalize their existing lineup of Formosa/Rota/etc. This could be rolled into the Formosa visits for some, while others could just buy the cloth for their own use. I would love to be able to click and order both a leather jacket and a length of flannel in one shot. It would be a welcome antidote to the LL formula of arcane secret handshakes, chummy exclusivity, and tedious order process.

 

[jrd617]

Is the Minnis flannel worsted or woolen?