Making of the band is a feature chronicling the journey of some of Spark*l’s more notable drops: from the initial idea, to concept, to a working prototype and—finally—the assembly and naming of the perfect accessory.
A lot of things need to come together just right in order for a new band to see the light of day and make it from our studio to dropping into your mailbox!
We’ll hear from some of Spark*ls creative team, makers, and especially our head designer Naomi Grant, who spends all of her time—waking and asleep—dreaming up new ways to make our squad Spark*l and shine!
Today we’re introducing the Luxe Quilted Leather in Black
An original design that evokes the heyday of Coco Chanel and her house, which produced so many iconic looks of the early and mid-20th century.
We’ve been trying to source more of the Chanel brand, but they don’t do a lot of logos on their bags. We love their quilted patterns, so we got inspired and made our own.
It’s a fine line when [accessories are inspired by] designers. It has to look different, but that’s usually the case in many of our patterns. We always have to tweak or change colors or change movement in patterns. It’s not just to stay out of trouble, but it’s because of the materials we work with, the size, and the quilt; they have to be just so.
Our supplier is really nice and does our patterns on different leathers so we can envision it on different types, different colors, different thicknesses. He sent a few different versions of this band on black leather, and the one we chose, we knew right away. We thought it was gorgeous.
An original design that evokes the heyday of Coco Chanel and her House
We’re doing about 200 designs per year right now. I’ve been here since October of 2019, and that number keeps getting pushed; it continues to increase.
Supply chain has always been a challenge and that doesn’t seem to be going away. Right now, they’re tightening up. Labor is an issue. Cutting down on the number of times they can chip a week is an issue. Getting power is an issue. COVID did make it really hard, and then it got better for a little while, and now it’s the hardest it’s been. Our vendors work really really hard, but it’s a constant challenge.
We’re trying to incorporate more classics. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll see fewer patterns, but we’re definitely [making] more bands you can wear with multiple outfits—that’s a very conscious choice.