“Everything is an experiment.” - Tibor Kalman

Work-board week of May 20th, 2022

I have enjoyed writing these pieces every week and would love to hear more from you in the comments about any (specific) things you would like me to touch on. This week had many moving parts, so bear with me as we move through the things we made progress on.

Sunglasses Sample

Last week, I talked about finishing the first sunglasses sample that I did not have in hand. They finally arrived, and I am happy with how they turned out. The most significant focus for the first iteration is the shape. Ultimately a pair of sunglasses will only be worn if they look good on the face / the form is correct. This should be close to the final shape. I will, however, need to finalize details in the temples and the interior branding on the temples. The temples have a piece of metal that contains the torch (from the statue of liberty) engraved into it. The issue is that the tortoiseshell is too dark to see the detail. I might re-sample with the metal closer to the surface of the temple.

T-Shirts (Finally)

T-shirts may be our most requested item to date. The fit design of the t-shirts has been going on for about 7-8 months now. Each time one detail was changed, the rest of the design had to be altered to accommodate the change. We will most likely be releasing the three colorways below (all including the graphic)

Pallet Racking + Warehouse Setup

12 pallet racks were delivered on Monday of this week. With space being our most significant issue, we have decided to go vertical as much as possible with storage. The initial outlay of capital for the racks seemed to be well worth it since I would like for us to continue to be able to use this warehouse space for a bit longer. Our lease requires 100 days to break, and the thought of having to move the entire warehouse to a bigger space is a massive logistical headache. Since we don't have much room to work with, we have been setting up 1 rack, adding many organized products to it, and then setting up the next rack in the space that was just made free from the first rack. It's been a slow process, but I feel better about the overall flow and efficiency gained when it comes time to ship orders out.

Mules

I picked up the mules that Clay hand made this morning from the package room. It is incredible to see the detail in both design and construction. We are fortunate to have a young design talent like Clay on the team. (Below) is a shot of all 3 together. I have been in contact with 2 factories out of Portugal that may be able to help us in production. The frustrating part is knowing that the process will most likely take a good bit of time. Side note: I think designing the packaging for this product will be fun. I have become obsessed with packaging as we continue to try and improve in all aspects. It seems that packaging for such a bespoke and unique project like this will be icing on the cake, and I want it to be memorable for anyone who purchases a pair.

Hand Embroidered Short Sleeve Shirt

Below are some pictures of the hand embroidery process for this short-sleeve button-down shirt. Clay shot over a sketch in slack one day, and I had already been working on this short-sleeve button-down, so I thought it would be cool to have him sketch the subway scene onto the front of the shirt and then have it hand embroidered. This will most likely be a 1/1 piece that goes up for sale. I am not sure how economical it would be to try and produce something like this. The size of the shirt is a Men's Large. We might be able to pull off a small production run. I will need to speak with my manufacturer.

Tote Bag Update

As many of you know, we have been working on getting the prototype tote bag into production while maintaining the structural integrity of the bag Clay designed. The first prototype came back from a manufacturer in LA, and we lost all structural integrity. While this is undoubtedly part of the sampling process, I no longer remain confident that the factory understands what I am looking for. I decided to cut our losses with factory A and located a new factory that seems much more hands-on in listening to what I am trying to do with the bag. (There is nothing wrong with the first manufacturer, I feel that the second one can see my vision more clearly, and the zoom meeting we had was quite productive).

Running Shorts

The second sample of the running shorts came in. The main changes are the addition of a phone slot in the inside liner, the addition of (2) zippers pockets on the back of the shorts for (cards, keys, gels, etc.), and zipped side pockets. I took them out for 14 hot and humid miles today. They performed well. I brought a credit card, my keys, and my phone, and none of it bothered me. I will note that I want to move the drawstring inside the waistband (instead of in the front) and make it shorter.

Mesh Shorts

For those of you not familiar with the first production run of mesh shorts… essentially, I had a sample that I was happy with but felt that I needed to add a second layer of fabric. I went into production without re-sampling the shorts with that second layer, and when they arrived, the fit was completely different. I was taught a good lesson about making sure every detail is correct well before production starts. We now have version 2 in production in 3 colorways (black, yellow, and baby blue). Renderings below (note) that I will be changing the "M.NY" because I feel that something different is needed.

Training

This week's training block was 56 miles with 4 lifts:

1. Monday: Rest (Lift - Push)

2. Tuesday: 10 Miles Aerobic (Lift - Pull)

3. Wednesday: 6 Miles Aerobic (NO LIFT - REST) - added a rest day for the legs here since this was a de-load week, and I didn't feel the need to put them through any added strain

4. Thursday: 12 Miles Endurance (Lift - Push)

5. Friday: 5 Miles Recovery (Lift - Pull)

6. Saturday: 9 Miles Threshold (No Lift)

7. Sunday: 14 Miles Endurance (No Lift)

14-mile long run to cap off the week. This run was brutal. Mile 9.5-14 felt like a slog. It was hot and humid, and I was sweating profusely. I believe next week I need to start well before 8:30am

Articles I found interesting this week:

The ‘E-Pimps’ of OnlyFans - NYT

EXPOSED BY A STRAVA KOM: THE MANY LIVES OF A FAKE PRO CYCLIST