When I started my business I didn't really think about the idea of manufacturing--I was just excited to make things I was passionate about. But when I got some larger orders last year I realized I needed figure out how to manufacture on a larger scale. I guess the easy route would have been to find a factory that already existed, but I really wanted to tell a story through my production.
A year ago my assistant, Alex, (who has now become my business partner) and I began to seriously investigate manufacturing opportunities in the Northeast. Alex had worked with a group of Guatemalan artisans in New Bedford, MA for a project while he was at Brown U. When we traveled there to train them to make samples it was very clear we had found our answer. They are a group of women and men who are extremely skilled with their hands. They make beautiful back-strap weavings, do embroidery work and were eager to learn how to block print.
Over the last year we have built a working factory that I am immensely proud to be a part of. Without this amazing group of individuals I couldn't do what I do.They give me purpose and drive me to continue to create well designed products. Perhaps that is the wrong way of thinking about design but I have always been interested in people and their stories. And because I think of myself as more of a painter than I designer I always knew it wasn't enough for me to make things just to make them. I found my answer in New Bedford.
We have some really exciting things in the works for 2014. Soon we expect to take on new designers and create small runs of products of artisan products. The pics below don't tell much about our community of workers, but for now you can see a few glimpses of the town that has become a sort of second home to me.
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