Van Journal - The starting of Vanjo: Inspiration

Van Journal is all about the process of starting Vanjo; and a honest look behind the scenes of how I'm going about starting the label again. 

This month November, I have started to design and think about the colours and fabrics and also draft out the patterns, sew the pieces together and start fits.

When I ran Vanjo the first time around, I would have a loose idea of the colours I wanted each season and would totally go off the fabrics I had selected. I went on the ethos of not using any new fabrics and would buy rolls of left over fabric other lingerie/fashion companies didn't use. When you're a bigger fashion house, you have to buy over the fabric amount you need as there are flaws in fabrics and to allow for errors in manufacturing. And usually these fabrics would end up in land fill sites or sit for years in factories. 

This time around, I'm hoping to run that ethos when I'm up and running, when I have the time (and room to stock them) to source the speciality fabrics I need on rolls of fabrics that are no longer being used. What I am doing though is sourcing all fabrics from UK companies first. 

Anyway first time round I would design solely from the fabrics I had, this time around I'm having to loosely design what range I think I want then source components and fabrics.  I find this way much harder, as it feels like you can design anything and it's hard to start and narrow it down. Also I like to design after I have the fabric so can feel what seems right in the designs.  I always put together a mood board to get going, even if the collection doesn't end up like it at the end (and they rarely do) but it's a time to sit and think about what I want and get excited about where to start. 

Here are the first thoughts about Vanjo may look like when I re-launch.

First look at inspiration of mood board for Vanjo Lingerie