Last week was so much fun. Launching a collection is always so exhilarating and it feels really special to reveal a project I love so much. This week, we’re focusing on catching up with our service which I equally love, just in a different way to making products. The list over the next few days involves turning a dress into a top and skirt; adding contrast pockets, collar and hems to a suit; and finishing off a dressing gown that started out as a wedding veil! Each one has its challenges and moments of satisfaction.
A few weeks ago, a customer sent us two identical coats. Her husband had bought her a second identical coat because she was so in love with the first one. Unfortunately they were both too small for her and so we used the fabric from one coat to adjust the fit of the other and then with the excess fabric, we made a matching mini skirt. I received an email this morning that said:
“Wow wow wow, I am so over the moon with the end result, they are amazing. I feel so happy that my coat fits me again and I can wear it with joy once more.”
Feedback for our service gives us so much energy, it reiterates the fact that people love and want to be part of what we're doing, and it makes all the hard work so worth it.
Our product range and custom rework service have so far functioned quite separately and this has led to a difficulty in managing our workloads. When we focus on one, then the other slightly lags behind. For example, over the summer, our service enquiries went up in number quite dramatically and we had to create a waitlist. We were spending so much of our time keeping our heads above water and managing the service, that our products had to be put on pause and so our website stock really lacked.
As a small business, we’re always learning; what our customers want (to buy or have reworked), how quickly we can upcycle something, what can even be upcycled, how to maintain our brand identity through our products while keeping the service neutral and accessible, the list goes on! Problem solving is at the heart of Re_considered’s existence and it’s what I thrive on I think. We problem solve in the way we upcycle - seeing an item of clothing that isn’t loved anymore and figuring out a way of making it into something with value - and we problem solve in the way of figuring out a business model that retains its circular and sustainable core values while reaching more people and more waste textiles.