Part 2: From setbacks and frustration to the right production

Made for the Stands – the story behind Casualline · Part 2

We realised early on that there are two kinds of “own brand”. One buys ready-made blanks off the rack and prints a logo on them. The other develops every piece itself. It was clear to us that only the second path leads to what we had in mind – even if it’s more involved and, above all, more expensive.

At the end of Part 1, the first samples arrived from South Asia. Given our level of knowledge back then, they looked pretty good. We were happy, released the bulk order – and the shock came immediately. Logos sat crooked. Cuts were off. Suddenly there was nothing left of the care we’d seen in the samples. The idea of producing in South Asia was dead for us on the spot. The unsellable zip pieces are still gathering dust in storage crates to this day – a few thousand euros in lessons learned.

What’s easy to underestimate: half a year of work was riding on it. Research, communication, sending samples back and forth, anticipation. And then you’re standing there with boxes full of goods you can’t sell to anyone. It gnaws at you, and you start asking yourself whether this whole own-brand thing is even realistic, or whether you’re kidding yourself. Goodwill or even refunds? In this industry you can pretty much forget about that.

Giving up still wasn’t up for debate. But starting all over after you’ve just fallen flat on your face – that takes some effort.

So back to the partner search. Who actually produces the way we want, and who’s honest when a quantity or a standard doesn’t fit? We got quotes, had samples sent, rejected them again. Some manufacturers said yes and delivered something completely different. Others weren’t the right fit on a personal level or couldn’t meet our requirements. In the end we found what we were looking for with a partner near Frankfurt.

Through this partner we then had our techpacks created – a kind of blueprint for every single piece, with cut, fabric weight, colour down to the exact Pantone shade, every seam, every label. A few weeks after the first on-site meeting, the finished techpacks came back. Result: roughly 70 % of our ideas depicted correctly, the rest unfortunately not. So back into rework, corrections, fine-tuning details, round after round, until everything was in there exactly as we wanted it – the heavy, brushed hand of the hoodies just as much as the position of the woven neck label or the size run from S to 6XL.

Then it got down to the nitty-gritty: back for an on-site meeting, this time to choose fabrics. There were plenty of alternatives on the table, in terms of both quality and price. And that’s exactly where we decided to reach for the top shelf – whatever it takes. The written quote hit us at first like a warm beer in the midday sun. But we saw it through. Casualline isn’t meant to become run-of-the-mill, but something special. And that starts with the fabric.

For the functional jackets we deliberately rely on specialised operations, because that’s exactly where their strength lies. In the end, the whole South Asia saga even helped us. Ever since, we know very precisely what we want – and even more precisely what we don’t want.

Good for us and for you readers, because we hope you’ll feel the difference when you hold the first pieces in your hands.

In the next part it’s about further setbacks, schedule delays and first glimmers of hope.