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Zam Barrett Dialogue/ Zfactorie - Official Affiliate Thread.

Zamb

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As many of you know, and it has been announced already,
this is my 20th year in America, coming to the US as a fashion student from Jamaica,
Its also my 10th year of owning Zfactorie, which has evolved so much,
Started with myself and one other person in queens.
evolved to become a 13 person factory between 2013 and 2016.
then having a lot of struggles, we downsized. now we are 5 persons, with a much bigger factory in terms of space, and a retail store that is about 6 to 7 months old.

We are expanding again, as we look to hire more people for both production and retail...……….BUT

Most importantly, we are building a factory in Kingston Jamaica, which we hope to expand our production capacity up to 3 times our present capabilities.
We of course are starting small there, but operations should begin in June/ July and some of the first FW20 Items will be produced in Jamaica!
 

notwithit

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Ok, lame question, but I'm trying to use the Q+A code, and the President's Day code is automatically applying to my cart with no option to remove it. Any idea how to get around that? I've tried switching devices and browsers.
 

Zamb

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Ok, lame question, but I'm trying to use the Q+A code, and the President's Day code is automatically applying to my cart with no option to remove it. Any idea how to get around that? I've tried switching devices and browsers.

come ask me lots of questions here...……...LOL
the code is Q+A40
With no spaces.
should work fine, i remeived all other codes so there is no issue
 

notwithit

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Cool, thanks. I'll try again in a bit.

Other than your personal connection and the aforementioned increased capacity, is there anything in particular that excites you about starting production in Jamaica (stuff you haven't been able to do in New York)?
 

Zamb

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If you are in NY or specifically Brooklyn this weekend
Cool, thanks. I'll try again in a bit.

Other than your personal connection and the aforementioned increased capacity, is there anything in particular that excites you about starting production in Jamaica (stuff you haven't been able to do in New York)?

Well i'm from Jamaica, that's where it all started.
Now I will be there 1 - 1.5 week out of every month.
there are a lot of trades people in Jamaica and I will get to collaborate with them and make stuff in a manner that I want
Like for example I am developing a way yo dye products with real charcoal, using Sea Salts and Mineral Water........

I also behind the scenes do some humanitarian work there, I will get to do more of that, also one of the reasons why i left was that there was no really developed fashion industry there to speak of. it is changing now, but there is a lot to be done. id like to work with some of the local based designers and industry professionals to take it further...........
 

Zamb

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Labor cost is significantly cheaper in Jamaica than here, but we will also be creating Jobs for people.
of course import/ export and the costs/ logistics that comes with that is something to figure out, but we hope to make it a 15 to 20 person factory making some incredible stuff.
this is not something we can do presently in New York.
 

Tsujigiri

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Hi Zam! Any chance you'll expand more on the product descriptions on the site? I notice that many of the pages have very little info about the construction of each item, and almost never anything about the stories behind them. That's a shame considering how much thought goes into your designs. Especially with the upcoming work that focuses on Jamaican culture that most of us aren't familiar with, I think some backstory would get people more excited and engaged with the line.
 

Zamb

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Hi Zam! Any chance you'll expand more on the product descriptions on the site? I notice that many of the pages have very little info about the construction of each item, and almost never anything about the stories behind them. That's a shame considering how much thought goes into your designs. Especially with the upcoming work that focuses on Jamaican culture that most of us aren't familiar with, I think some backstory would get people more excited and engaged with the line.
Yes,

this is also possibly one of the first issues we will solve by hiring someone in Jamaica, as early as next week.
We had an employee in NY who took care of that. but last year in building the shop, and the new factory here in NY, we had to downsize, and some of our employees, a few who have been with us even 8 or so years, are no longer with us.
With 5 people, 4 of them sewing, we will have to fill out certain areas in expanding this Year,
And we will be hiring someone in JA who will manage all info on the webshop like descriptions, spelling and grammar, measurements, removing sold out items etc. so look for updates in that regard for the New Spring Season.
Ideally, a 7 person set up in NY and a 12 to 14 person In JA in about a Year should do wonders for us, as we have some expansion plans for (SMALL) shops across the US.
 

Zamb

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Something I need to also point out.
SIZING.

When we originally started our company, our sizing was predominantly size 44 to 50.
a lot of our 44 and 46 sizing was based on us having a significant portion of our items being sold in japan when we wholesaled the brand
we have slowly offered less 44, and added 52 and 54 in select products.
However, as of this year, predominantly FW20, the core of our offerings will be from size 46 through 54 as standard offerings.
We will still offer size 44 in some items, and we will also be testing size 56.
Along with this we will be tagging items on both US and American sizing, so that a clearer understanding is given to both markets regarding the produucts
 

Odd I/O

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Zam, any sneak peeks at the upcoming anniversary items? And the Spring/Summer collection that’s about to drop? Any particular item you’re really excited about?
 

Zamb

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Zam, any sneak peeks at the upcoming anniversary items? And the Spring/Summer collection that’s about to drop? Any particular item you’re really excited about?

A lot of items are ready, but waiting on our photographer to come from japan.
I have just resigned to wait on him because he does excellent work and I prefer the professional look of his work than me taking bad photos without proper lighting. the first release of spring items should be out nextr week by weekend.
We are still working with the theme from last year, and some of the new products.

the RNA Jeans sold incredibly well for us, along with the new proctological Archetype range, especially the pants.

here is what you will see
1. New RNA, Overlocked Iteration (exited)
2. Protological Archetype Jeans
3. Protological Archetype Pants in lighter weight for spring
4. Nice Proctological Archetype Unlined long Coat in Linen (exited) that's I will own both the Black and Maroon Color as they are that good!
5. the weightless range of products that do well in summer because of their lightness, those return, in shirts, tees, shorts, a lot of stuff
6. a GOOD ASSORTMENT OF LEATHERS, mostly without a lining, so you can wear in summer.

I AM EXPERIMENTING WITH CHARCOAL DYEING, here in NY, and there MIGHT be some items done like this, if its a success, lets see.

Oh, and my collab work continues with Rohan O. Henry, the artists as we do some printed, painted stuff for SS20




For anniversary items, we have more products to release but thought it best to release the remainder sporadically throughout the season
 

Tsujigiri

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Excited to see what you have coming up. I don't know if you answered this before, but what designers do you admire?
 

Sartorium

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After 20 years in the business in America, and more than that in Jamaica (I'm a little hazy on the exact timeline but I read your life story with interest), what still gets you excited about making clothes?

Was there ever an item that you made that you were really high on but that for whatever reason didn't sell well? From a design perspective, did you tweak it and try again or give up on the pattern?

Was there ever an item you made that you weren't that high on but sold really well? Did you bring it back continually or let your design instincts guide you?

What items from the past AW and SS do you think will continue to make an impact in your collection for years to come?
 

Zamb

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Excited to see what you have coming up. I don't know if you answered this before, but what designers do you admire?

THAT DEPENDS

my all time 3 favorite designers are
Cristobal Balenciaga
Azzedine Alaia
Richard Tyler.
All technical masters.....at my core i am a technician, a tailor. I'm not the best businessman, and i would not fool myself into thinking that. im getting better and have to, because this company is 100% owned by me and its success or failure depends on me being on some level, good at business. however, when it comes to making clothing, that comes easy.

i admire GBS, he is a good friend, and Ihave very good colleagues like Leon of Leon Loius, L.EB, Oscur, Alexander William of Atelier Aura, etc whom I speak to all the time, we share ideas,
Roibert Geller and I are cool, we are same age, have similar family set up and talk all the time even though its ben a while as he is more in Europe now than NY.
they respect me and I respect them. im comfortable knowing that i am one of the last true artisanal designers left in the US, and my work now is to strengthen that
 

Zamb

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After 20 years in the business in America, and more than that in Jamaica (I'm a little hazy on the exact timeline but I read your life story with interest), what still gets you excited about making clothes?

Was there ever an item that you made that you were really high on but that for whatever reason didn't sell well? From a design perspective, did you tweak it and try again or give up on the pattern?

Was there ever an item you made that you weren't that high on but sold really well? Did you bring it back continually or let your design instincts guide you?

What items from the past AW and SS do you think will continue to make an impact in your collection for years to come?


I don't do this for money, I do it because I really love it.
fashion for me is a kind of therapy, if I am angry, happy etc the work becomes an outlet to funnel that.
Im exited about the creative process, every little detail of being able to execute an idea, its a joy for me.

Im happy about the fact that after building this brand and becoming very successful in the first 4 years (2010 -2014) we had some rough times where I was heavily in debt, almost closed but was able to tough it out and pay of most of my debt and to keep my company. I don't take that for granted.
Now Im exited about rebuilding here in NY
expanding the Store
building the factory and also looking to over time open small shops in other locations.
Im JUST starting......................LOL
 

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