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The last of the paperwork has been signed, and we are proud to announce that Volante Design is now officially Volante Design, Inc.
It’s a somewhat minor change, but it means a lot to us, and to the future of the business. Most importantly it will help us when we are ready to move forward with licensing partnerships in the coming months.
With the name change and the long-awaited relaunch of your shop right around the corner, it felt like a good time for a visual overhaul of both the main blog and the inspiration blog.
But we’ve saved the best news for last…
We are putting the finishing touches on the new store, dotting the ‘i’s, and we expect a full launch by the end of the day tomorrow, Friday, May 17th!
Keep an eye out for updates today and tomorrow.
We’re changing things up server-side, and then rebuilding the site from the ground up. So volantedesign.us will be down and under construction for a few days.
We think you’re really gonna like the new site. When it launches, the store will be live. More updates coming very soon.
I know I’ve been doing a lot of text posts lately, but this is important.
Part of the reason it has taken so long to get the manufactured pieces ready for retail has been that we have been looking for a manufacturer that will be a good fit for our product. We hold quality of craftsmanship above all else, so it is important that anyone who produces our jackets will do a good job.
This is why we are using domestic factories, that specialize in quality rather than quantity. These factories are still run by people and most of the work is done by hand, with the exception of the fabric cutting. They will only use fabric that we have specifically chosen, and they will inspect each piece for flaws before shipping out.
The major difference between custom and outsourced is that each custom piece is different from the last. No two custom Volante jackets are alike, even if two people were to individually put in the exact same order, they will receive slightly different jackets from each other, depending on the fabric we have at the time, or the fabric we feel like using, or the top-stitching method, buttons, zippers, etc.
bunnyharts asked: So its almost the end of April, actually one more day and it WILL be the end of April. And that's when the traveler bag was supposed to be delivered, according to Indiegogo...when am i getting the bag i payed for more then 2 months ago?
There was a problem with stock over at customink.com, apparently the bag I advertised on the indiegogo was discontinued shortly after I posted it, but before I knew how many to order.
On the plus side, after speaking with them at great length about this, they have been very understanding, and were able to locate a number of them for me. I’ve placed the order and am waiting for their arrival at the studio.
As soon as they get here, we will be bagging and shipping them out to individual contributors like yourself.
obsidiandarke asked: does this mean no demon killer?!?!??
Let me clear this up in the vaguest of manners…
We cannot use any logos or marketing material that would imply a direct connection to a particular franchise.
That said, there is a marked difference between Volante Design explicitly but falsely claiming a garment is connected to a franchise, and Volante Design customers associating our designs with their favorite comic or videogame characters.
Additionally, since up to this point our designs have been largely ‘inspired by’, rather than ‘based on’, each design is made up of original elements not directly associated with any character, and it has been largely the public opinion that has associated Volante designs with specific characters or series’.
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Does that help ease your fears?
One of the hurdles we are facing regarding the upcoming reveal is the website. Our web developer, who we love and have done a great job in the past, is currently completely swamped with other work and can’t take on the not insignificant edits to our webstore at this moment.
If you think you are up to the task, send me an email at info@volantedesign.us and we’ll chat.
It’s been a long time coming. We took more orders in the fall than we had the capacity to fill, and we’ve been buried under those orders ever since. But now, thanks to the help our everyone who contributed to our indiegogo campaign, we are now fully capable of designing accurate digital patterns, and the prototypes and test pieces we’ve made are looking better than ever.
This means we are finally very close to reopening orders. We’re shopping domestic manufacturers, and should hear back from them in a matter of days, at which point we will be revealing a new design and reopening the store simultaneously.
We will not be reopening custom orders for some time yet, as we still have a backlog. Rather, the orders we will be taking upon reopening orders will be slated for outsourced manufacturing. This will be a completely different beast from what we’ve ever done before.
Unlike last time, there will be no order cap. We’ll be taking as many orders as possible.
Depending on the manufacturer we choose, production will take a mere 4-8 weeks, and the jackets will be shipped immediately after that.
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To answer one of the biggest questions I’m sure we will get between now and the official reveal:
We will no longer be producing any design directly referencing any franchise not owned by Volante Design, until a future date when we can acquire licencing to make official franchise related apparel.
Rest assured, this does not change our mission to design Superhuman Streetwear by taking inspiration from comics, videogames, anime, film, etc. It just means that we will be handling the situation more delicately than we have in the past.
We are very excited about the upcoming reveal and we feel you will love it too.
Ciao,
Enzo
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crazyhart12 asked: Hey volante any news on the perks from the indiegogo campaign?
Coming soon. We are in the process of moving into a new studio and incoming shipments are hard to handle in this transition. That said, the move will be complete by mid next week at the latest; the remainder of the indiegogo fulfillment will be done shortly afterward.
kingaratur asked: Does the post with the Batman style Assassin's Armor mean we might see the Assassin's Creed Line return soon?
That’s the idea. We’ve been revamping the whole line, which has been a slow process, but all of the jackets that used to be in our store will be coming back one at a time, starting in the next few weeks. The jackets will not be exactly the same as before, but rest assured this is because the patterns have been cleaned up and re-optimized resulting in both a better fit, as well as functionality closer to the original intent.
Mostly the functionality refers to the Kenway, which will not be the first to return, but will come back once we’ve finished with the renovations.
We will not be opening custom orders for some time yet, as we are still producing leftover orders as well as the indiegogo products.
That said, we are really excited to reopen the store, and will do so as soon as possible.
-Enzo
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