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2021 - Adversity will introduce a man to himself
What a year this turned out to be. I remember at Christmas 2020, I told my brother I need 3 months off to design as I hadn't done so in a while and the last few months I was on go mode constantly without any breaks. So I took some time to really go deep into design and do what it does. I'm sure I designed about 70+ pieces of various styles/colourways. That took up pretty much the whole of Jan and Feb and by March I was ready to get busy. Ahhh little did I know what was in store for me...
With all the trouble we had last year with the t-shirt company and printer, I knew I had to move on and find another way. My old way was so expensive that profit wasn't making sense, it was like I was working for exposure only. So my brother was telling me about someone he knew that had a brand and that he had a link to a good manufacturer. He showed me, other people, the guy worked with and I was convinced. I thought surely if he's doing these mans' clothes, surely he could pattern mine. Boy was I wrong.
My people, months was wasted going back and forth with this guy, money was wasted, albeit we got refunded for some of it because the samples weren't actually produced. But for me, it was the time that was wasted because every day that goes by I was losing momentum. In this ever-changing world, we live in, you gotta keep up with the rat race or they'll leave you behind, unfortunately.
By the time I got rid of my man, I'm sure spring was here, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I went searching for my own manufacturers with no external help. One of the big reasons I did this is because of how particular I am about quality, that is one of the most important things to me. I had to vet these new manufacturers one by one, and I made a few samples but more time they disappointed me.
I can't lie, it was such a tough year, it's like I was facing a losing battle, it's like every time I thought I got to the top of the mountain I was either kicked back down or there was another huge climb before me. I wanted to give up so many times but there's a scripture that stayed with me. John 16:21. With Jesus' words in mind, I saw this brand as my baby and I was determined to not give up, I just had to keep pushing...pardon the pun.
Just like the scripture says how we won't remember the pain after is how I can't really remember the pain a year on, I just remember it to be very dark and depressive.
Fast forward to August, The summer's almost done, I missed the season that I know the brand is ready for and I remember one point where I was so distraught. I bought a t-shirt sample from a manufacturer I found and it was all great until I wash tested it. The fit wasn't the same, it had pilling (the little bobble things), it just wasn't it. And one night, I laid on my bed almost in tears if I'm not mistaken, just crying out to God for help, I really didn't know what to do, then a still small voice in my mind says I should go back to my old blank t-shirt manufacturer. Then I deeped, the price is the same or similar to my new failed blank t-shirt production price and my customers are very familiar with the sick trusted quality. It's crazy cuz it never hit me until that moment, just like when my cousin told me to start the business, I had never thought to do it.
I remember before I ordered the t-shirts, my brother was saying I should do half black and half white order, but I felt God tell me brown. I also wanted to order half of the amount I did, but I felt God ask me if I have faith in him. So I got myself together and ordered the blank tees from my old people, and unlike recent times apart from the early days, they dispatched within 72 hours or so and I had the t-shirts in less than a week. Now it was time to find a printer and I'll tell you first I was not going back to my old one, they caused way too much unnecessary stress for my liking.
I knew I wanted to move from Direct-to-Garment printing to screen printing because when done well, it last longer, it's historically known and it can be cheaper. After doing my googles and asking for quotes none of them made sense. They were either shutting me down or giving me a crazy price. So I thought lemme DM some people that I know use screen printing and I'm a fan of their work, but obv they didn't reply, cuz who wants to give up the plug. That same morning I did some more googles but I had to use wisdom this time, and just as I was looking at various printers instas I came across a t-shirt I've seen before. After 18 months or so of looking for my inspos printer, I finally found him. Look at God.
So I DM'd him told him I'm a fan of his work and asked for a quote, and it turns out his quote was cheaper than all the others I got. Without hesitation I booked in the job, he said it'll take like 6 weeks to fit me in but I didn't care because I found the guy I needed! I even told him we'll drive up to him, it's probably 2+ hours outside of London but one thing I learnt during this now 8 months wahala was from the boys at Cole Buxton. They have a thing where they like to work in an old school way despite the methods available today. They like to meet their manufacturers in person and shake a few hands, so I decided to do the same. So I took a trip with my mum and brother and we went into the countryside, not even to pick up the final product but to drop off blank t-shirts.
6 weeks or so later, it was my turn. The printer booked me in for the day and once again we drove up, bar my mum. I remember that day it was supposed to rain but miraculously the sun shone in mid-September like we were in the height of summer. The t-shirts looked so sick, I was over the moon, broooo you should've seen me. Finally, after almost 9 full months my baby is back, my baby is here. As the scripture says, all joy, no pain. Our new printer is such a cool guy, very welcoming, very helpful, basically your dream business partner. We got to shoot film pics in his mancave, we got to chill and talk, it was a vibe. When we left just after 5 only half of the tees could get printed but that's all good cuz he promised to get the rest done and sent out the next day and he did just that.
We had content, we had the tees, we were ready. We dropped the announcement and it went off! It felt so so good to be back. We got to marketing and selling and things were a bit slow at first but to the glory of God we sold out after about 2 months and maybe 3 drops or so.
The initial plan was to drop consecutive JCSL tees back to back to back for the next 3 months or so until the year finished but I decided against it. Just like the year before I wasn't sure if I wanted to rinse it and possibly ruin it or take time and extend the shelf life of the design. And as I'm typing this, I'm seeing I'm part of the problem...damn.
During this time we also made some shorts. In my opinion, it was too late in the year for shorts, it was October and it was getting cold very fast. I had an opportunity to get out when my shorts manufacturer messed up in production but someone who won't be named encouraged me to go ahead with the shorts and that they'll sell well regardless of the brand's current position and the weather. Omo! *sigh* lemme digress...
So we carried on to smaller drops, releasing first the 7 STARS t-shirt and trucker hat then the Stand Firm T-Shirt. I soon learnt after these drops that I'm running from the essence of myself, in terms of the loud, bright colourful designs. I was also running from the "Christian clothing brand" title. I felt like it was limiting my reach and so were some of the designs. And honestly, it probably is but I now know realise that's fine.
I knew my next step had to be big, I had to do something I had never done before and that was tracksuits plus winter-based items. So just as I was going to get into sampling I realised just like the initial JCSL t-shirt, the tracksuit without the stars on the sleeves wasn't enough. I was racking my brain thinking of what I could add and not getting anywhere, then that light bulb moment came. I found the stars on an old hoodie design from 2020, I just duplicated it over and it fit perfectly, no colour changes needed at all.
But just before I got into sampling, I showed my brother and cousin, at first they agreed then a few days later after confirming with my manufacturer they were against it. I was annoyed and rightfully so but I thought to myself that I want to be better, so let me humble myself and let them have their way and the blank arm tracksuit sample was ordered x2.
In December, I finally got the samples a few weeks later and I tried it on and they were like 90% there but something was missing. It didn't give me that oomph I wanted and needed. It was the missing stars. After a heated 3 way conversation I decided I'm just gonna do what I wanna do, I went ahead with the stars on the sleeve and there was a long wait over Christmas and New Year for this delivery, but all shall be revealed soon...