Iron Heart Products - What do you think we should make?

[Choko]

Posting my annual remake the IHJ-61-NAV or something similar

[Boit]

Agreed. Would be nice to see a handful of once made items return. Given the extensive catalog and forum demand of sought-after classics, how amazing would it be to have an entire collection devoted to remakes? If it goes to a vote, top of my list would be the IHSH-260-PPL.

[Giles]

We do remakes and reruns of old classics from time to time, but we can't even keep decent stock levels of our constant items. Capacity is seriously limited so what we do make is a juggling game

[Yoprst]

It would be nice to see back IHSH-295-IB with the same snap buttons

along with this don't know the name UHF with those sexy snap buttons

Generally speaking, once on the IH website there was a page named "Extinct Items" where could be found literally tons of very cool products which for some reason were discontinued. The page is gone for a good while now but I'm pretty sure it could be an excellent guide for those of customers looking for
oldy goldy IH stuff. In my humble opinion it would be better alternative to attempts of trying to reinvent the IH wheel

[long_john86]

@Giles what are the factors that limit the stock levels of Continuous Production items Giles? Is it primarily the nature of the garments being high quality, the materials being high quality, quality = time, etc? Or other significant factors as well?

[Giles]

Our stuff is hard to make. For instance, any Tom Dick or Harry can make a pair of lightweight jeans, but as you move up the weight scale the sewing (well even the saving) gets exponentially more difficult. The same applies to any type of garment really. So the number of workshops that can actually make our stuff to the quality we demand is really limited. We therefore can't make what we want in the volumes we would like, so we have hard decisions to make all the time. Nothing in this world is black and white but at the margin, these are the 2 extremes. Let's make sure we have a good supply of continuous production products continually, then we have no space for seasonal products or let's have shit loads of seasonal products, then we have no space to make continuous products.

[goosehd]

@long_john86 All of the above.

People on the floor operating and maintaining the machinery, to the cutters and sewing crews putting the items together. The high quality of the products is definitely a factor when you think about the training needed to produce what we love. Materials such as the aspero cotton used in the UHF’s is also limited and you can only make what the farmers can grow. Sure that stands for many of the materials needed.

Also have to take into account the exponential growth and demand experienced over the last decade. When I first started down this rabbit hole there were only small handfuls of us fighting over very small amounts of product available. The items often sold out in minutes and very rarely over a day or two. Now you guys have multiple choices in sizes and enough product to satiate that demand. Taking into account the numbers of people wearing and wanting IH has grown means the number of products out there has increased dramatically.

The IH community has grown, demand has grown, resources are limited. Machinery, personnel, materials, expertise, time…

[long_john86]

Sounds extremely complex with a lot of factors at play. Thanks for the insight both. Is there adequate safeguarding of the skills (artisanal, technical, craft) to future-proof production down the line? I suppose I’m comparing to a traditional craft skill, many of which are on their knees because there is no uptake on apprentices to facilitate intergenerational transmission / the next generation taking on the mantle.

[Giles]

The generational shift away from "traditional" crafts is one of our largest challenges.

[Yoprst]

It also would be nice to see this shirt that has very attractive pattern as well as colour combination back

[long_john86]

@Giles I suppose there is also the creative side to it as well? The balance between tradition (Continuous Production) and innovation (the creation of new products). Clearly there is a ridiculous amount of creativity and design genius that goes into the products. With that level of design talent I’m sure it must sometimes be challenging to choose a continuous production item over the production of a new creative idea or interpretation? Creative people needing creative outlet etc…
What is the general feeling towards the notion of revival runs of IH ‘classics’? Too much of a slave to history, or welcomed in principle?

[Giles]

I think that we all love the idea, but as I said we have to balance what we do.

[goosehd]

Also have to consider what you call a classic. Your, mine, and everyone’s else’s opinion on that will not be the same.

How to approach it where everyone will be happy would be very difficult. It’s hard to make everyone happy now

[Yoprst]

@goosehd It could be probably solved by better demand supply relationship. Thus we can see that some classic as well as new fashioned stuff (continuous production) has stuck on the store shelves while the seasonal/limited run is on continuous demand

[goosehd]

@Yoprst I’m really sorry, but I’m having a hard time understanding your comment. It might be a translation issue or my ability to comprehend it.

Can you explain it a little differently?

[Yoprst]

@goosehd My message was that often seasonal or limited run is in higher demand than continuous one and probably to make seasonal/limited run continuous would make happy if not everybody but the majority of us

[Tago Mago]

@Yoprst the higher demand could simply be a result of the item being seasonal, so people know that once it’s gone it won’t come back

[goosehd]

@Tago-Mago astute observation

[goosehd]

In my opinion, most individuals first IH purchase are one of the continuous items such as jeans or a jacket. Once I made that purchase, then I started buying UHF’s, shirts, etc.

The continuous items gets customers in the door. The seasonal ones keep us here.

[Tago Mago]

Also, the continuous pieces are continuous for a reason. You could call them classic or core pieces, whereas the seasonal runs may be an opportunity to get a bit crazy and try something different.