Most new clothing brands launch with a range. Six or eight pieces, a couple of colourways each, enough to photograph as a collection and enough to give a shopper something to browse. There are good commercial reasons for it — more entry points, a higher average order, a shop that does not look empty.
We launched with one tee. It is worth explaining why, because the reasoning has costs.
A range is usually a record of what was not decided
Every additional piece is a set of decisions you did not have to finish. If the fit is not quite right, a second cut hides it. If the fabric is unremarkable, a print carries it. Breadth lets you avoid the question of whether any single thing is actually good.
One piece removes that escape route entirely. There is nothing else on the page to look at. If the tee is mediocre, we have nothing.
What it cost us
It took eleven months longer than planned. We went through fits we discarded, a collar construction that failed on the second wash test, and a stretch where the mill stopped returning calls. A wider launch would have let us ship something in half the time.
It also makes the shop harder to run. A single product means no cross-sell, a free shipping threshold that is awkward to reach, and a browse experience with one thing in it. We know. Those are real costs and we took them deliberately.
What comes next
A second piece when it is finished, not when the calendar says so. We would rather be slow and specific than arrive on schedule with something we would not defend.
If that sounds like a constraint, it is. It is the one we chose, and it is the reason the first thing we made is worth your attention.
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