{"id":4565,"date":"2019-05-01T11:36:25","date_gmt":"2019-05-01T10:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fashioninsiders.co\/?p=4565"},"modified":"2024-02-19T19:36:36","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T19:36:36","slug":"parasel-hardware-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fashioninsiders.co\/manufacturing\/parasel-hardware-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Parasel: An Insider’s Look into Hardware Development"},"content":{"rendered":"
Hardware accessories! We all love them and they often contribute significantly to our buying decisions. But no one really speaks about their provenance. They often are the unsung heroes in the products we covet and buy.<\/p>\n
And yet – hardware development is a whole huge industry in itself, where competition for quality and price is as cutthroat as with manufacturing and raw material sourcing.<\/p>\n
I studied for a BA in Fashion Design at Ravensbourne College and spent the first 5 years as a designer for a high street supplier, mainly ladies RTW. A colleague then left to work as a head hunter and placed me at Burberry in the accessories division, when it was just beginning to morph into the beast it is now.<\/p>\n
After nearly a decade at Burberry, I needed a change and had been offered a role working for a variety of brands under the Tommy Hilfiger and Pepe Jeans umbrella.<\/p>\n
I set up a company sourcing, designing and manufacturing accessories (leather goods, gloves, silks, scarves, belts, jewellery etc) to brands like Karl Lagerfeld, Hackett, Twenty8twelve, Aston Martin Racing and the Andy Warhol Foundation.<\/p>\n
When the financial crisis hit, business slumped fast for the whole industry, so I partnered with an American company who made metal components like cufflinks, jewellery and charms. They had been one of my suppliers at Burberry. I worked as an agent for them and took the Europe business from about $500k to over $6m in 3 years.<\/p>\n
Contacts and perseverance. Agencies as a business model are changing as technology is allowing more people to work directly with factories, however, being able to email someone directly in China doesn\u2019t mean you will get what you want or make it a success.<\/p>\n
Brands and customers want more than a salesman today, they want to experience, guidance, options, technical and design support and above all, honesty.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What does your company specialise in?<\/h3>\n
We specialise in hardware and trims for the leather goods industry. We also make trims for the beauty and beverage world, for example, metal or plastic badges and caps\/closures to go on bottles of perfume, or whisky. We recently did a global rollout for Guinness beer pumps.<\/p>\n
Where are the factories you work with situated in?<\/h3>\n
Mostly China as it remains the hub of global capability, but we have a few partners in SE Asia for specialist products.<\/p>\n
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How do you ensure the quality of the products made and delivered to your clients?<\/h3>\n
The quality process starts well before any production can begin. Audits and factory visits are first. Well before we start manufacturing at a new plant, we visit, inspect, look at the product, open our own tools and do small runs to see how the teams perform.<\/p>\n
We look at their raw material sources and their suppliers. If all of these are functioning well, we start limited production to test them. All products are developed over a period of months with the clients to meet their design specifications and also their requirements such as fit and function, in the background, we are performing technical reviews and tests to make sure that the parts will do what we need.<\/p>\n
For example, we recently changed a retaining screw from brass to steel, which the customer knew nothing about and never will, but if it had remained brass, it would have failed on the bag.<\/p>\n
What is the biggest misconception people have about hardware?<\/h3>\n
It\u2019s about \u2018off the shelf\u2019 hardware or existing styles. There seems to be an assumption that there are bins of hardware somewhere in China you can just select from and still get the quality, colour, compliance and exactly the right design you want and that the same style will be there next time you want it.<\/p>\n
The only way to guarantee quality and consistency is to invest in your own tools and own your product.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Customs also think you can just etch logos onto existing hardware.<\/p>\n
The etching process alone can cost more than the original piece of hardware, so it\u2019s best to put the logo into the tool (mould) and then the cost remains the same, you just pay for the tool adjustment.<\/p>\n
Why hardware MOQs are so high?<\/h3>\n