—— How I design
From a rule about details to a garment in a box in Spain.
Every SUEDE1988 product went through the same twelve steps. I did all of them — design, spec, sourcing, sampling, supplier communication, production, launch. Hover a step for the image, click to enlarge it.
Step 01
Brief & direction
Who the piece is for, where it gets worn, what detail carries the brand. Colour direction is locked here against the seasonal palette.
Step 02
Logo & brand identity
The first logo, then its evolution into the other marks — cloud, globe, laurel. The italic wordmark came first and everything after was built around it, so one family reads across garments, packaging and store, at trim size as well as on a banner.
Step 03
Sketch & ideation
Curated, not loud. No oversized logos — quality of make and the small details carry the piece. That restraint is my style, and it's decided at the sketch stage: silhouette, panel breaks and where the suede flap lands.
Step 04
Illustrator flats & tech pack
Every product drawn as a flat with artwork placement, colour specs and construction callouts — one full tech pack per collection before production.
Step 05
Material sourcing
GOTS-certified cotton at 340gsm and 250gsm, suede trims, hardware. Sourced and specified for European manufacture.
Step 06
The suede flap
The one detail every garment shares — a small scalloped suede tab, cut and stitched at the hem. Finding a supplier who would run it took the longest of anything in the project: most tanneries wouldn't touch an order that small, and the ones that would couldn't hold the scallop clean. Locking that flap is what made the collection a collection.
Step 07
Samples & iteration
Fit and construction reviewed on real samples, corrections sent back to the factory, then re-sampled until the detail read right.
Step 08
Manufacturing
Produced locally in Spain to GOTS standards. Direct supplier communication on quality, pricing and lead times.
Step 09
Launch & retail
Packaging, campaign imagery, suede1988.com, a pop-up activation and press — the product taken all the way to the consumer.
Step 10
Pop-up launch
A physical drop: space, fixtures, rail and table layout, packaging and signage — the collection sold in person, face to face with the people wearing it.
Step 11
Worn in real life
The last check on every decision: the pieces out in the world — on the hill, on the street, on people who bought them because the details held up.
Step 12
Ready to expand
With the make and the mark proven, the brand can split into sections without losing itself — Skateboarding, FreeSki, Snowboarding. Same wordmark, same suede flap, a discipline-specific line under each: room to grow the range while every piece still reads as SUEDE1988.
@suede.1988
Drops, sales and the pieces worn in real life — the brand as it actually runs.
