The constant demand for new

I love this business that we are in. To be able to work with what I love is nothing I take for granted and I thoroughly enjoy working with textiles, color and interiors on an everyday basis. I cherish the people and factories that I get to work with and I look forward to many more years of developing my brand and business. But there is one thing I struggle with. Especially as it goes against our way of producing; the slow and conscious way of producing. And that is the constant demand for “new!”. It is so easy to get caught up in this and feel the pressure and stress to constantly present new products or colors. Feeling the need to do it all and say yes to every single opportunity. I have to force myself to pull the breaks and remind myself to not fall for it. It’s also a one way ticket to burnout.

This never ending demand for new seems to stem back to a time when we didn’t know better. (Social media and the absolutely horrible algorithm that promotes reels, carousels and multi brand stories is not making things easier). But today we do know better. I feel that the industry, and especially press, are slow to adjust and pivot. There needs to be a broader conversation around this. How can we still generate interesting reads and images without having to constantly push for “New collection!”, “What’s new?” and so on? I often feel the need to produce and deliver newness but I don’t want to feel that pressure. I want to add slowly and let our collection grow organically, without me and my team working around the clock in order to keep up with industry standards and not lose out on potential sales. It’s all pretty mad to be honest.

Someone who questioned this and did it exceptionally well was the late Tara Craig of Ensemblier London. She was educated and outspoken regarding sustainable design, materials and craftsmanship. Regarding this industry’s responsibility and tendency to greenwash in order to retain advertisers in their said publication. Her acceptance speech for her Homes & Gardens Design Awards in 2022 is one of the best ones I have ever heard, linked here. Please take the time to listen to what Tara had to say.

Consumers play a major role here too. We do have the power to shift. Recently when I was looking for new tops for my rapidly growing daughter I was browsing Zara’s website and I was appalled by the sheer amount of clothes. A fifth (or even more actually) of the selection presented had been more than enough. Instead I found myself scrolling further and further down in a never ending mass produced hell hole. Why do we need this endless variation? This is actually one of the main reasons we decided to do a sample sale recently, we had too many cushions to choose from. Too many variations. Personally I feel the choice is easier if I don’t have three different versions of the same cushion to choose from. I am nowhere perfect myself, but I try to place my money with smaller brands that have a slow, small scale production. I feel with the kids it’s harder. The pace in which the grow… they need new clothes and shoes all the time. So I try to purchase as much as possible second hand. I know Vinted is a great source for this! In Sweden we also have Sellpy, Tradera and Blocket. But it takes time to find the right garment there so I think that many of us just go to H&M and Zara because it’s quicker and easier. It’s hard to change habits but we all need to and I’m trying to change my own bit by bit.

As consumers we need to start questioning the brands we shop from and the media we consume. It’s like one beast feeding off the other. And just because something is expensive does not mean it’s produced in a sustainable and ethical fashion. It can be, but definitely do not take it for a given. Start asking questions. If a brand you like can’t provide you with the answers, you might want to consider placing your money elsewhere.

I once had a lovely, very elegant lady come into our shop. I found myself almost apologizing and justifying our fairly high prices. She looked at me and said. “No dear, it’s not expensive. It’s a lot of money, yes. But it’s not expensive given the way that you produce your products.” This stuck with me and I am forever grateful to her for that. For this post I only used photos that you’ve seen before. Nothing new. But I love them because what we sell will never "go out of fashion”.