Ready To Launch

Hey lovelies! As promised, today I want to share some insight into the makings of a new collection. So often the behind-the-scenes of a brand remains shrouded in mystery, so I love being able to give you an inside peek at what my day-to-day as a designer looks like. While jobs in the creative field can sometimes appear to be all play - the fact is that for many designers like myself, making our art comprises only a small fraction of our time. Here's some insight into the process of creating - and launching - a new jewellery collection:

Fall '13 Gemstones

1.) Conceptualizing a line -- including the overall mood of a collection, color palette, inspiration, etc. This process can evolve over several months or longer, before a new collection hits stores. It's kind of strange to find yourself thinking about Fall before the warm summer weather even arrives, but in order to keep things on track, planning needs to start early.

2.) Purchasing gemstones and other supplies -- While buying supplies can happen on an as-need, ad-hoc basis, I have to be mindful of what items I require in order to create a new collection - and then be able to fulfill demand once orders start arriving. There's nothing worse than only realizing after a collection has launched, that you can no longer get a hold of a specific cut of gemstone or that you need an item which will take two weeks to arrive via post. In other words, organization is key, which for me, means lots of spreadsheets, planning and budgeting in order to stay on track and avoid future stress. 

3.) Making the new designs -- This process can take anywhere from a week to several weeks. My first go around I create one of each design, until I'm satisfied with both the piece itself, and how it fits in with the broader collection. Check out this recent post for the full scoop on how I create new pieces.

4.) Photographing the designs -- let me be honest here: photographing jewellery sucks (wanna know how I really feel?!). While I have a wonderful friend who does a great job photographing all of our designs, capturing the subtle sheen of metal, or the facets on 3 millimeter gemstone, is a tough task for even the most seasoned photography pro. Jewellery is notorious for being one of the most difficult things to photograph, and being the perfectionist that I am, this aspect of the business has caused me a fair amount of angst. The problem is, jewellery rarely looks quite as good in photos as it does in person, but nonetheless, I want to give the best, most accurate representation of my designs possible, and this often means multiple attempts to get it right.

Photographed & website ready.

5.) Getting photos website ready -- this means editing, cropping and uploading the jewellery images to our website (where they'll hang out behind the scenes until launch time).

6.) Pricing the designs -- so, how much to charge? I need to keep close tabs on all of my costs, time, etc. in order to ensure that my pricing makes sense. 

7.) Creating the Look Book -- our first look book was Spring 2013, when I was fortunate to collaborate with To Vogue Or Bust. Coming up this Fall, you'll be seeing another gorgeous gal modelling our designs...

8.) Putting it all together -- this includes snazzy descriptions on the website and a line sheet (fancy industry speak for catalog) - plus look book - for buyers.

9.) Order taking time -- the collection isn't live on the website just yet. First, I will meet with our retailers to find out which items they'd like on their shelves.

10.) Make, make, make & sell, sell, sell -- pieces are created, orders are filled and everything is ready to go public!

Of course, none of this happens in perfect, consecutive order and there are many factors that contribute to a successful collection launch; I will connect with media, get designs into the hands of my favorite bloggers, and more, all the while getting you excited and anticipating the arrival of the new line...Get ready to see the results in early September!