Ask Giles and/or Alex Anything
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It's easy for me to forget that your team has a focus on business and that we aren't all just here sharing pictures of beer, food, bread, and IH outfits from across the globe.
I'm really pleased that you think this way, and I hope that it is a common feeling amongst the members. Yes, it is a business, yes it does have to be profitable, and yes we have a duty to try and make it as successful as we can for the sake of Haraki, his business, the workshops, and not least of all for our staff.
BUT, at the end of the day, I want our customers to enjoy what we make and what we do and if this forum helps do that, then that is another tick in the box.
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Based on those long answers, it seems like Giles has lots of time to kill these days. Much different than the abbreviations you used to reply with
For some reason, Triple Works came across as Iron Heart Lite. Maybe you should have made it more expensive than main line IH instead of cheaper.
One of my favorite stories you've told is about when Haraki went to a denim party in the west for the first time and was surprised how many different ways people were wearing Iron Heart.
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when Haraki went to a denim party in the west for the first time and was surprised how many different ways people were wearing Iron Heart.
Yep, I think it was a a SELA party, though it could have been SESF. All these dudes came in wearing Iron Heart in all sorts of different ways. Haraki just sat, stared and took it all in. The following day, he said to me, "I never imagined my clothes would ever be worn like the way people were wearing them last night, I love it, I will think differently from now on"…
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Ironically @Giles - those photos from the SELA grand opening was what made me buy my first pair of Iron Hearts.
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I will admit it was a bad buy.. I bought some
“Two sizes too big” 9301 and tried to boil them.Funny enough, a few years ago someone asked for help identifying a pair of super black jeans, and based in the arcs, the forum agreed they were some 9301.
When I asked where he found them, he said he purchased them from a guy in Louisiana… I sold mine to a resale shop in New Orleans in 2013.
Kinda made me happy to think that one pair of mis-sized jeans help introduce at least 3 people the brand [emoji170]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I hope that you start posting videos again. I miss them…(much love and respect)
I'm very sensibly not allowed into the office at the moment. We need to ensure the people who actually do something, are protected, as far as we can, from Covid.
So yes, I have more time on my hands that I used to…..
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It just never gets old
And serendipitous gold
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right at the end. "I was in the middle of a decent take"…
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Good question.
I am a complete and utter control freak, and "I'm always right"…
Alex is the only person who will say, "you are wrong", or you are a complete and utter tosser". That's hard for me to deal with.
But fundamentally, I know that often he is right. I have struggled to deal with that, and it has caused some real issues between us.
But, in my heart of hearts, I know I need to devolve responsibility to Alex, and I think I am getting better at letting go.
Alex will take IHUK to new levels, levels that I could not, or can't be arsed to go to.
But he has his fathers DNA so I'm comfortable with what and where he is taking us.
Haraki dotes on him, so that makes things a lot easier.
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The business I work for is a small business (10 people) started by the father in the late 70’s and taken over by the son about 5 years ago. I don’t think a bank vault would have been sound proof enough to keep us from hearing the screaming matches coming out of their offices when the transition was happening. I know at least @Giles if you are eventually less present on the forum, we will still find you on the “catch of the day” section.
G: order 1000 pairs of straight leg double knee hickory stripe pants
A: but they want slim tapered denim
G: ORDER THE HICKORY STRIPE!!! -
1. When you buy Iron Heart from a retailer, how does it differ from buying direct from Iron Heart? Say both places have the exact item in the same price and size, does your team benefit more when we buy direct? I’m assuming SE works different than others since they have some of the same products, and some proprietary as well, correct?
2. How does the Stockist relationship work? I noticed that Canoe Club in Boulder, Co no longer listed you as a stockist. Do they sign a contract with you? What can you share about the way the system works with stockists?
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Firstly, you need to understand that the margins in this business are not large. We make tiny margins from our retailer (or wholesale) business, and they make much smaller margins than is normal in retail clothing. So when we work out costing and pricing, we have to juggle these 3 dynamics 1) Does the wholesale price make it worthwhile for us to sell? 2) Will the retail price be acceptable to the customer? and 3) Will the retailer make enough money at those wholesale and retail prices to make it worth his or her while stocking the product. Sometimes, it is simply impossible to get a yes to all 3 of those questions, if that happens, we either do not stock the product period, or we do not offer to retailers.
Retailers are a vital part of our business because they spread the love and expand Iron Hearts physical presence. But as a stand-alone business, it would not be viable, the margins are too small. None of our retailers carries more than 20 or 30% of our SKU's (Lot numbers or unique products), so we see the retailers in some way as fuelling demand for the products we sell online, which is where we make a more acceptable margin. Look at it this way, someone goes into a retailer, buys some IH, falls in love with it, Googles Iron Heart and finds IHUK. The weekend that Mildblend launched Iron Heart, we got 7 direct orders from the Chicago area, the same weekend. I'm certain that was not a coincidence.
All business outside of Japan comes through IHUK, many retailers have unique products or collaborations, they all come through us. The majority of retailers like IHUK to sell their collaborations because typically we have a greater reach than them, so they see us selling their product as a way of reaching an audience they could not or would not touch, that is why for instance we carry most of the Pronto collabs.
All retailers are treated the same, we do not have contracts with any of them and they all pay the same price for product nevermind what their volumes are. I want them to stock and sell Iron Heart because they want to, a signed piece of paper makes no difference. However if they do things that they should not, like dump stock or have frequent sales which undermine other retailers, they just don't get supplied again. We're a family and I won't have some black sheep wreck things for everyone.
Finally, I have no contract with Haraki. It's simply not needed.
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Thanks for all the info, it’s a very interesting read. You talked about Mildblend, and before you had I was thinking of a follow up question to ask. I’m assuming they wholly own the products? I ask because on their website, they have some very old Iron Heart skus from past collections, and a coaches jacket that I have never even seen before. Do you ever reach out and discuss moving product to get new items in?
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Not really. They buy the stuff from us, they own it. We don't make large enough margins from our retailers to bail them out of their buying mistakes. And frankly, if we did have a "you-fucked-up-we'll-buy-it-back-off-you-policy", then what would stop them taking purchasing risks (with our money), that they would not otherwise take? Retailers make much higher margins on selling product than the wholesaler (us in this instance), they have to own their own issues. However, if we see that a retailer has some good stuff that they can't shift, but we know we can, we'll take it back from them, but it has to work for us as well as them for us to do that. When Iron Heart Vienna had to stop trading, although we had no financial interest in the shop, we bought everything back off them, some of it was golden, some of it we really did not want, but by doing so, it helped them out, and it also stopped Iron Heart product being dumped onto the market, therefore pissing off all our other retailers. And keeping a retailer community that is happy, does not worry about being undercut and knowing exactly where they stand, is one of our key goals. We have had retailers buy from us, who think they can do what the fuck they want and not give a shit about other retailers. When that happens they get asked politely to play by the rules once, we never ask a second time, we just stop supplying them.
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@Giles I woke up to a problem this morning.
Last night I wore my new white 1600 T-shirt tucked into my 666-21s as it was pretty chilly here in Berlin.
This morning I see there is basically a ring around the lower part of the T that were tucked into the pants.
Any chance of that indigo coming out in a wash or am I looking at dying the shirt in another color?
yikes.
