Big Moves for Year of the Tiger

Lunar New Year is a time of celebration and new beginnings. Earlier this month we ushered in Year of the Water Tiger with a big move for our team in Phnom Penh as we began the transition into our new space at Factory Phnom Penh.

For those who visited our existing workshop over the past few years, you may remember the lovely garden and outdoor spaces we took advantage of for natural dyeing, printmaking and enjoying lunch together as a team. Although these are still attractive elements of that location, with a growing number of repairs and electrical work our landlord was unwilling to address, we decided it was time to explore other options. We’re so glad we did!

In early February we started moving our team, materials, and equipment into our new workshop located within Factory Phnom Penh. This collection of mixed use spaces was created in 2017, transforming an old factory building into an intentional community to incubate young Cambodian technologists, artists, musicians, “and anyone with the dedication to take an idea into reality.”

In addition to having the space we need with the safety standards we require- we’re thrilled to position ourselves at the heart of a growing creative community. We’re surrounded by artists, small businesses, a coffee roaster and coworking spaces. There’s a photo studio (which we just used to shoot our summer collection), a nap room (which the team is excited about for lunch breaks), outdoor workout spaces, wifi, garden spaces, and more. Fortunately Factory is also within reasonable travel distance for existing members of our team.

As we write this blog, stage 1 of the move is almost complete. Walls and floor of the new studio have been painted, electrical wiring to accommodate our equipment installed, and all our industrial sewing machines and sergers are situated and working. The cutters and seamstresses will continue working on spring orders for retail partners as we prepare the space for the rest of the team to move in with stage 2. New worktops for designers and printmakers are in process, we’re deciding between decorative window grates vs. glass, and troubleshooting a compact system for all the fabric and scraps we need to store!

With a big move comes big expenses and we appreciate everyone’s purchases during last month’s Lunar New Year sale to provide a little extra cashflow. For those living in and around Phnom Penh we hope to host some kind of open air ‘housewarming’ party (masks please!) in the next month or two, to share the new space and introduce you to the Factory if you haven’t had a chance to check it out. By popular demand we also plan on having a small retail area at the front of the workshop for any other time local folx might want to stop by.

Keep an eye out for updated pics and we can’t wait to share the new space with you!