MAKING OF WEAR LEMONADE
Ohlala my little cats!
Thank you so much! It seems so trivial and common to write thank you, I'd like to invent a more powerful word to thank you for the welcome and the encouraging words we receive from all quarters for this collection. Wear Lemonade ! A year ago, I met Laure for the first time, on the precious advice of Patricia, a great person who officiates between her multiple activities in the "Sacrés Coupons" boutique in Paris.
Laure came to meet me at my home, because at the time I already had this desire to start sewing patterns... But "real" ones, not DIY like I'd been doing until then. And in life, the hardest thing is to accept that you can't do everything on your own, and that to advance and be legitimate, it's better to know how to work in partnership. That's why I wanted to work with a real patternmaker who knew her stuff, and so I asked Laure to take care of the sewing patterns and their gradations. How does it work? Well, I draw up the patterns, and we discuss together how I'd like things to fall, what details and finishes are possible, while keeping things as accessible and simple as possible. That's my hobbyhorse, so as not to scare off beginners...
And then Laure, with her long hands, traces, cuts and assembles drafts of the garments, we have fittings in the office, everyone puts in their two cents and we validate a final canvas. Then, Laure the pattern queen (her new title) modifies her paper patterns, scans them, vectorizes them and turns them into sewing patterns. Wear Lemonade…
Reading your feedback, your comments, your suggestions by e-mail, the idea of the collection was born. Wear Lemonade A collection of patterns, yes, but also finished garments for those who don't have the time, two left hands, or are allergic to the sewing machine... I think subconsciously, I knew that this would be the next logical step: imagining a quirky, practical wardrobe in which you feel pretty but not dressed up. In short, a sort of ephemeral collection of essential clothes that smell of lemonade.
Once we'd drawn up the designs and technical specifications, we had to look for garment makers, and that was no easy task, because each month the pieces come out in very small series, and it's complicated to find factories willing to work on our project without offering us crazy prices, given our limited quantities. I'm well aware that not everyone can afford it, but as you already know, we're not a Spanish or Swedish giant... But all the same, I wanted the prices to be fair, in relation to the work done on each piece, the materials used, and the limited quantity of products. If you've looked at our product sheets, you'll see that they're Made in France and Made in Portugal. So in an ideal world, I'd have liked to find our sweatshirt manufacturer in France, but I wanted us to make our own loose fit, with a wide neckline, a "sexy" sweatshirt with a bouclette embroidery that I love, but in France the supply of sweatshirts is pretty poor and it's rarely possible to develop your own fit.
Today, we do Made in France, even Made in Paris, but if by some misfortune our workshop can no longer meet our orders, or if tomorrow we find a workshop in Europe that does a great job in sublime quality, with a great ethical charter, I reserve the right to have our collections made elsewhere in Europe. It's really important for me to tell you this, because I'm not particularly attached to Made in France, I'm delighted when there's this label today, but quite honestly, there are two things for me that come first and foremost, and that's the quality of the work and materials as well as the working conditions of the little hands...
For this launch, I wanted to honor the strong DIY pieces that have been featured on Make My Lemonade for the last 3 years, in remastered versions by Laure's expert fingers: the Frida dress, the Mona perfecto, and the Ava tutu... The pieces are produced in two colorful declinations, a classic version and a printed version in our own patterns that we developed just for the occasion.
To make all this possible, we needed a real e-shop! And we were lucky enough to work with the Colorz agency, who made us a little lemon box. Charlotte has been working with me for over a year and a half, she's really the head of operations at the studio and she's now in charge of online sales, so she's the queen of the e-shop! Today, there are still some minor image adjustment bugs, but they're being ironed out. What's more, as of next week, there will be another credit card payment module (youhou!!!) and Paypal will no longer be the only way to get your orders! In short, don't hesitate to send us your comments: your opinions are really important and make us better!
We'll see you every month for a new limited-edition piece, and when it's gone, it's gone, but if you really want a piece, you'll have to take up sewing! See you tomorrow, birds, for a Happy Friday!