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snoops
Zoa hat, we couldn't find anywhere/anyone to manufacture* that would translate to a reasonable price on the shelf. We did get some costings, but retail would have been sky-high, so I ended up cutting and sewing them all myself (20 I think) in Deptford**. I can honestly say at that price they're a bargain. Obviously we're looking to scale now the style is setup, but even working with a technical hat manufacturer, they might have mq's and pricing terms which could be prohibitive.
*hats (and most accessories) have supply/costing idiosyncrasies due to the relatively small consumption, and sit on a spectrum between 'economic' through to technical make. Economic cycling caps (Apis) are £15-20 because they're die-stamped out, buzzed through an overlocker, and then finished with a twin-needle clear-thread around the brim, with scaled pricing for quantities. Technical make will involve more care and detail, with each step in the line adding more cost.
**With this being a slow-growth model for some future products. Design > develop/pattern perfection > proto > limited production run in Deptford > placed into a small volume factory > finally scaled to bigger factory if needed. I'd like us to have a designation for Made In London (like the blank grey reflective on the backpacks and musettes), ideas welcome.