Chapter 3: Leather and handbags in China
Where development starts
With Cissy at The Well, in the development office where samples are planned, costed and corrected before a single unit goes into production. Most of the problems I solve in a factory were preventable at this desk.
Quilting at volume
Quilted bodies waiting on the rack for the next step, each one with the same stitch line and the same puff. Consistency is easy on one sample and hard on thousands. This is what we check.
Days on the factory floor
Days in the factory, working side by side with the teams on the floor. This is where my experience comes from, not from a desk.
Visiting Henan Prosper, China 2018
A visit to Henan Prosper, a large tannery in China, in 2018, from the raw material and export areas to the selection tables. We walked the plant with the management and technical teams, then went hands on with the hides, checking grain, colour and defects under the light. Once everyone agreed on the standard, it became the reference for the whole order.
