Proposal: Metafactory x DECODE (ZW MetaBlanks)

Products
#1

  • Description: The advantages to Metafactory and DECODE MFG moving into the same space are yet to be fully uncovered. But what is immediately apparent is the synchronicity of ethos.

    1. Mutual understanding: our current fashion industry is rigid, wasteful, and has crumbled at the hand of major world events. A new solution is required. Metafactory & DECODE have built their entire existence on this premise.

    2. Opportunity: With clients moving towards ethical, sustainable & transparent fashion, Metafactory and DECODE are perfectly positioned to win. With Metafactory’s Web3 prowess and DECODE’s cutting edge Zero Waste Design & Manufacturing, we’re set to hit the market with products that not only don’t exist, but that the industry is unable to answer to.

    3. First step: The first step is developing finalized, polished Zero Waste MetaBlanks ready for Metafactory to run with. First batch of blanks: Short/Long sleeve Tee, Hoodie, Crew Neck. Our first goal is to achieve a $50 solid baseline Zero Waste fleece hoodie (wholesale), with upgradable options.

  • Problem:

    Danielle Elsener (DECODE ), has years of corporate design experience, including Reebok, Urban Outfitters, & Nike. She has experienced firsthand the rigidity of design & manufacturing in the industry.

    Right now there’s a collection of Zero Waste Garments Danielle designed specially for Nike, showcased front and center at their yearly company-wide Creative Launch. Nike Creative Launch effectively sets the tone for the entire year, for the entire company. Safe to say, the reception was substantial.

    The collection to this day is still constantly referenced within the company, with Danielle’s name regularly mentioned, as if an urban legend, four years after her departure. But those designs were never manufactured due to “manufacturing unknowns,” despite the widespread inspiration the collection still brings to current Nike designers.

    However, to mix some irony in with the salt, this is still uttered by high-level Nike Execs: “We should do something like this.” >>points to Danielle’s collection

    What a waste.

  • Why are you the best to solve it?:

    The world is ready for Zero Waste garments, and DECODE MFG exists for the sole purpose of ironing out these “manufacturing unknowns,” through setting a new worldwide standard for Zero Waste Manufacturing. Nobody else in the world is doing this or is even close.

    In addition to being an industry-leading pattern designer, Danielle has developed a tremendous network of industry connections over the years, including designers (wishing to change the system but chained to the paycheck), industry experts and fashion professors educating the next generation of designers.

    To add on top of this, Danielle is still consulting with Adidas, Nike, ‘Large American workwear brand’, etc, to bring Zero Waste Design & Manufacturing to the fashion industry. At this point it’s only a matter of time.

    Together, Metafactory x DECODE can be there first.

  • Deliverable(s):

    1. Fabric/Garment Sampling, Print Catalog, ZW Style Variations & Finalized Tee/Hoodie Samples for distribution:

      1. Full Zero Waste integration into Metafactory’s onboarding system is crucial in the coming weeks/months.

      • Rapid fabric/garment sampling to make final decisions on fabric feel/construction. Establish preferred base fabric, with variations (recycled, light/heavyweight, etc). DECODE has already secured a USA fabric mill that customizes and reverse engineers fabrics from any sample as needed.

      • Cataloging detailed photos to create a full DECODE x Metafactory ZW digital lookbook, including sample printing.

      • One new ZW style variation addressing previous Metafactory requests: double layer hood, no seam in back.

      • After finalizing MetaBlanks, DECODE will manufacture and distribute final blanks to core members.

    2. Timeline: Immediately actionable. Can take even as little as 2-3 weeks if smooth sailing. A style variation (requiring a new pattern from scratch), could take longer, but can be implemented on an ongoing basis.
      Week 1: sample fabric > order garment samples to reference fabric feel and construction >
      Week 2: order sample yardage >
      Week3: construct blanks > feedback/finalize > manufacture for distribution > Print >
      Week 4: detailed catalog for ZW Metafactory onboarding

    3. Funding:

      • Stable: $2,800 USD
        • Fabric sample yardage ($500-700)
        • Garment sampling ($700-800)
        • Manufactured ZW MetaBlanks for distribution to 10 members: ($500-620/hoodies, $180-220 tees)
        • Sample printing on blanks ($25-300)
        • Shipping cost for distribution ($variable)
        • Misc: Kong Chips (if desired)
      • $ROBOT: $3K USD value in $ROBOT set aside as an advance to secure priority on designing a ZW style variant based on Metafactory feedback. If needed, this can be subtracted from the first robot distribution for Designer reward (based on revenue).

    4. Value Justification:

      • Everything mentioned allows for a highly effective, concentrated timeline for fast iteration of Zero Waste MetaBlanks. All sampling will be useful for any future iterations.

  • Validation: Metafactory x DECODE Metablanks are manufactured and sold, baseline x amount/month.

  • Progress: Units sold

  • Major Milestone: 200+ Units sold/month.

  • How to measure the project’s success?: Final results will be easy to determine: a batch of Zero Waste Blanks sent out to core Metafactory team members, along with a catalog of detail shots and final pre-approved fabric options.

  • Team: DECODE completing 90-99% of work required. Input needed from Jay/Wes to establish final MetaBlanks.

  • Help: Need detailed feedback from the MF team to ensure all energy is placed correctly through the duration of the project, and that the final result is accurate and ready to implement.

5 Likes
#2

Hey Clay! Thanks for this write up. I think it clearly demonstrates what DECODE x MF can build long term, and I definitely want to figure out a way that we can be mutually supportive from the get-go as some of these things (like reaching a certain # in production volume) may take longer for us to figure out.

BLANKS

I’m in favor of making the blanks as print friendly as possible - if that means reworking the back seam then yes let’s allocate a budget to that design work.

SAMPLE COST

Sample cost within those parameters seems fine without any need for further consensus, just receipts.

CONTENT

The DECODE team makes amazing content and MF is sorely lacking in that department, so I think there’s also room here to make content and receive ops rewards for that.

OVERALL

We are making a budget proposal for Berlin + NYC and will work some of these points in. The draft will be shared for everyone’s input this week.

1 Like
#3

Thank you!

Yes, I totally agree on the front of the # in production volume in the short term.

It’s difficult, because I see a lot of things that would simply make an even larger proposal, harder to take bite size chunks out of.

I see there being specific ZW designs aimed at simplicity in manufacturing (less labor intensive), as well as even more premium, or simply different fits (oversized is easy to design and easy to manufacture). I wanted to nail the knit blanks and their variations, so Zero Waste plugs in even more to future drops.

Once these are nailed, Danielle can focus on all kinds of ZW designs: chore coat, lined canvas jackets (like carhartt), literally name anything.

Hopefully: More Zero Waste = More NYC Fulfillment = More customized in-house Metafactory drops.

Content seems cool! I have a ton of really solid content ideas already for DECODE that could work for MF as well. Would like to chat about that when the time comes. Danielle is hiring a Social Media person as well.

Great feedback, and thank you again :slight_smile:

1 Like
#4

Yo! Im biased but Im very keen for the long-term MF x DECODE partnership.

I know we’ve had conversations already but just wanted to drop a few comments. Im rooting for the day for a specific metafactory x DECODE blank. I think right now our biggest hurdle is just switching over from the terry clothe to fleece and then nailing the fit.

At the the end of the day I dont think MF need its own blank quite yet due to our limited size/volume. Our strength is supplementing Dannielle’s current ZWD hoodie with a few tweaks. Which maybe thats what becomes the “official” blank. DECODE is literally on the next wave!

Excited to see the fabric samples and really put some time and effort into nailing down the fit of the blanks with the new fleece fabric.

THIS IS THE DREAM!!!

Really appreciate the proposal Clay!!

#5

Hey Hey Just wanted to revive this conversation as it stalled out.

I think we kind of all got stuck on the idea of developing a “new” blank for Metafactory. Confusion abounds sometimes! After talking with @PityWhisper and @weseeclearly, we wanted to reframe this proposal as an iteration/R&D budget to build and tweak current DECODE ZWD garments to better fit MF’s need.

These tweaks would include:

  • Double layer hood
  • Base fleece fabric instead of french terry
  • Adjusting pattern design to remove seam down the back
  • Adjust t-shirt pattern for slightly boxier fit

I think the proposed budget can stay the same as it allows both DECODE and Danielle the ability to focus on these changes so we can offer them to clients sooner than later.

As far as outcomes go I would suggest updating the following:

Major Milestones:

  • Successful construction of a usable hoodie with double layered hood and fleece fabric base.
  • Incorporation into MF blank catalog

Love to hear some feedback and keep the momentum rolling on this.

#6

Awesome, these Milestones are a lot more reasonable- I’m definitely learning what’s reasonable as we go. Definitely did not intend to communicate that this would be Metafactory specific blanks. These would be Zero Waste alterations that have been requested by key Metafactory members (Wes, Jay): a double layer hood will add to the heft, and no seam in the back will be much easier to print on.

This proposal is aimed at setting aside budget for Danielle to focus on these measures for DECODE x Metafactory’s growing relationship. Blanks that better suit Metafactory’s needs will lead to fewer production issues and wider adoption.

A boxier tee could theoretically be easier to manufacture, and would provide a variation of style. This can lead to less expensive blanks, again leading to wider adoption.

I would say that the budget would need to reflect a ZW boxier Tee. We had stated $3000 worth of $ROBOT for the hoodie, but would need closer to $4500 in $ROBOT to include the newer tee. I know adding to a budget after initial proposal is harder to sell, but given that we’re moving into Spring/Summer, I think this would be a great addition.

I also don’t want to over-promise here because each ZW design is on a case by case basis, but any hoodie can generally be translated to a crew neck, and any tee shirt into a long-sleeve, effectively doubling the output.

Should also mention that the relationship I’ve been developing with my fabric manufacturers is going extremely well, in part because they know that DECODE has multiple clients, who in turn have multiple clients. As a result, they’re already sending several yards of fabric samples to me free of charge (though they may charge for shipping), so we should be able to make these blanks pretty soon.

I would say the stable at this point should really only be focused on printing samples, & developing a permanent “wardrobe” of high quality blanks (think Carhartt WIP, Lady White) that we can constantly refer to when making any future design detailing decisions.

Will (Damaged Goods) mentioned possibly releasing the finalized blanks as a drop for internal metafactory if desired, so we can scrap the budget allocated for distribution.

One thing I am looking for in the future (doesn’t need to be included in this exact proposal), is a MF specific budget for ZW samples for any prospective MF clients looking to see/feel the hoodie IRL. Right now we’re handling it internally with Sushi/FLOC, but in the future we can immediately mail samples to potential clients if we have a steady stack of them ready to go.

In the end, here’s the conclusion: fewer stables needed (no MF distro, no sample yardage): new total of $1,100-1,500 (garment sampling + sample printing variable). A little more $ROBOT for an additional tee variation, up to $4.5K USD in $ROBOT from $3K.

Would really love to hear feedback on these clarifications. I hope this doesn’t add any confusion- really just want to nail this for you all!

#7

Up on snapshot for voting