The behind the scenes story:
On the 6th of April 2021 we got a message on Instagram from the SOG Europe account asking if we could have a conversation about getting some SOG exclusive hanks made. This was something that we of course jumped on! Our first collaboration with none other than SOG Knives Europe, what an exciting first project!
Dates were scheduled for our first face to face (Skype) conversation on the 21st of April. This was a very exciting and flattering conversation with the head of marketing for the European side of SOG, where they proceeded to explain the reasons we were chosen to do this project with them, and their expectations. We now had the objective and needed to find the fabrics!
One of the trickiest parts of the whole project was creating 150 microfibre hanks which were all different. Every. Single. Hank. Different! Sustainability is one of the key pillars to the Pentley Park brand, so we wanted to find a way that we could produce 150 hanks that were all unique and have no fabric wastage as we wouldnt be able to use this for another project. we found a way to have different coloured microfibre cloths and fabrics that were all similar and followed the same pattern, but different colours and stitching, with no fabric left over.
The next part of the project was something that was going to be a big step/investment for us as a small starting company. SOG preferred the idea of having woven labels for this collaboration instead of our usual printed labels. So we had to make the decision to invest in professionally made woven labels, (which also had its challenges in production times and deadlines!) Nevertheless, we designed and sent off the designs for the SOG x Pentley Park labels and they couldn't have turned out better! Above are some of the different variations that were considered, before settling with the second from the left.
The next few stages of the process were:
- Getting all of the hanks made up and sewn
- Folding the hanks
- Making up the boxes
- Adding the wood wool
- Putting the hanks, freebies and stickers in the box
- Finally closing and sealing the filled boxes with the SOG x Pentley Park stickers (seen below)
Finally they were ready to send off on the 19th of May, a turnaround time that we were super happy about! The woven labels alone were supposed to take 2-3 weeks but we managed to get them in less than 2 weeks. The final stage of the process was to send them directly over to the guys' at Heinnie Haynes for them to launch the promotion. This was done and launched within a couple of business days and the outcome has been amazing! From start to finish for 150 individually unique, handmade, microfibre hanks, with custom woven labels sporting the SOG and Pentley Park logos, sent across to the Heinnie Headquarters and ready to go in 32 business days. What a success!
Pentley Park on the front page of Heinnie Haynes
We couldn't thank the EDC community enough for sticking by a new company and supporting us, helping us get to the point where we have now launched our new website, an active and successful Etsy store, and a great and active social media following!
Thank you all!