Giving Birth Again

It has evolved and developed over the past few months. So many have awaited its arrival. It is a composite of blood sweat and tears - a piece of me and a piece of Ken. We even had what seemed like Braxton Hicks contractions over the past few weeks – ya know like a false start that faked everyone out. I am talking about the release of our Collection 5 Spring/Summer ’09 catalog!

Well, to be more accurate, it’s actually in “sell sheets” format – a layout, if you will, from which the official catalog will be printed. We’ve released it to our independent sales rep force for their use to sell-in the line to boutique retail stores and to generate some buzz (and even pre-orders) from customers. The additional sets of eyes (besides just Ken and I’s!) have proven to be helpful in catching any typos or errors before the official catalog is printed. Amazingly, you can get a little fuzzy on the details when you’re doing this kind of work at 3am!!

This is the 5th time we’ve done this - catalogs anyway (I’m not including the birth of our 3 children in this count!) - and I must say it does not get any easier. Given that neither Ken nor I have any real background in catalog production, we’ve both certainly learned a tremendous amount (and if I do say so myself, improved the final result an even more tremendous amount) since Collection 1. That said, there are so many bumps along the way… blurry photography – go back and reshoot, too many pink tank tops – go back and redesign, not enough options for boys – research and find new blank garments (and ones that meet all our strict criteria!), licensors have changes to the creative – rework designs, resubmit and “re-wait” for approval. The entire process is 2 steps forward, 5 steps back. It is so difficult not to lose your footing along the way. Especially when there are so many other things to work on simultaneously… web site construction and launch, new Consumer Product Safety Commission guidelines that directly impact our business, implementing a new accounting program, updating and modifying our GuideBook, staying in touch and motivating our sales force, attracting new independent sales representatives, etc. But, all those other things really mean nothing if there is no product to show and sell, so completion of the catalog had to resurface as our top priority.

We’ve now entered the post birth groggy phase where all you can do is stare in awe with bleary, exhausted love-struck eyes at what has been created. A little dramatic? Perhaps. But it’s hard for us not to be excited about LikeWear’s Collection 5. You can download a copy of it here. It’ll also be up on the website soon. Oh yeah, and please let us know if you find any typos!