Underlying the three factors that fueled my desire to launch Earnestly Hunting is my admiration for individuals who care and are steadfast about what they put out in the world.  Whether it’s an idea, a service, a product, something to eat or drink or listen to, or a curation of objects -- there is this wonderful quality about this community who enjoys all that modern living has to offer AND is so fiercely protective about the things that take time, that endure and improves.

Cue Olga Joan, Founder & Designer at Makers Market.  

I was fortunate to meet Olga back in 2016 during the early days of launching my company, SCOUT.  I reached out to a colleague to talk shop as I was conducting a search for a client in want of an uber creative with exceptional taste and Olga’s name was uttered before I could even finish describing the role.  Needless to say, I reached out and it was instant chemistry -- we spent a great deal of time on the phone as if we were long-lost friends and then a few more hours in person. Coming from the apparel industry, we laughed at the 1-degree of separation of all the talented people we knew between us -- many from The Gap and OshKosh world -- but what stuck with me the most, was the excited acceleration in Olga’s voice when she shared with me her interest in starting a handcrafted home textiles line -- starting with, cosies.  Co, what, you say? Cosies, my friends, cosies.  They’re an essential accessory for every hardcore tea drinker.  I know, I know. You’re thinking of fussy, lacy things over teapots.  Or a rooster-looking or other fowl-shaped, battened blanket like object to keep the pot warm whilst one enjoys a cup of tea.  You couldn’t be more wrong. The cosies by Olga are a bit like contemporary art that multifunctions as teapot warmers.

Shortly after our first meeting, Olga launched Makers Market with a colleague.  Eventually, they parted ways but Olga stuck with it (thank goodness) and expanded the Makers Market line to include an aesthetically pleasing (and practical) assortment of goods -- cushions, placemats, napkins, tea towels and aprons to name a few.  Here’s the key part: they are all meticulously designed, screen printed, cut, assembled and sewn -- by hand. Fabrics and materials are carefully sourced for quality, durability and wherever possible, environmentally sound. Quality control is high -- Olga walked me through the lengthy timeline testing tea towel fabrics before putting it on the market -- let’s just say she’s not interested in mass commercialization.  On the contrary, Olga is intent on protecting small batch production and select channels to maintain the brand’s integrity.

We caught up with each other recently and talked, openly, about the impact of technology on traditional retail, becoming wiser (and slightly older but always better), being founders and my favorite subject with Olga:  Makers Market.  

///

What year was Makers Market established?

Early 2016.  We took the first year working on the LLC process, designing prints and fabric sourcing.  December 2016 we launched product at the Renegade Market in Brooklyn. We spent a lot of time strategizing, envisioning and planning, in general.  We didn’t just, overnight, have products made. It took time to plan and make. I was crazy working on the website after that launch and was thinking about expanding the line. There was much to do.

Thank you for making that ‘first year’ comment because there’s this belief, perpetuated through media, that things do happen overnight.  When, in fact, there’s a lot of marination before one can even take the first step to actualize the idea. 

Yes, the logistics -- we put in two or three different names before we finally got Makers Market because the ones we wanted were already taken -- it wasn’t until August 2016 before we got the articles of organization and all the paperwork to be officially recognized.  That’s a long time!

Originally you had a partner. 

We (Olga and Ange) decided in February 2018 to split up.  That process took months as well -- the logistics to separate is extensive and then reformulate, officially, how I represented myself as an individual LLC.  

Have you remained solo?  Do you source anything out?  You have a very high standard -- how was that decision and process for you?  

I have sourced out some sewing -- the items that are more rote.  BF&DA, Brooklyn Design and Fashion Accelerator, part of Pratt Institute, was a great resource.  They catered to small makers like me and had a production facility where they can do small runs and I worked with skilled sewers there.  They suddenly closed and I lost my fantastic contact there. Currently, I’m working on forming a small community of sewers for and on the hunt for folks -- I clearly need to give more away to focus on other things.  It’s about finding people I can rely on. The next step is wholesale so I’m eager to build up a network who I can trust and who love making as much as I do.

How did the idea come about for Makers Market?

I left Gap in 2015 after nine years and no break from corporate life since 1997.  I took some time off to decompress, travel, spent time in the garden and with family.  I didn’t look at any fashion magazines, shows, blogs -- completely decompressed and went low in a good way -- at the end of that year I started talking to my prospective business partner, Ange, at the time.  I really wanted to do something creative in the time I was going to be looking for a new job. I wanted to take my experiences and apply it to something new. We thought: what can we do together? Ange had been a screenprinter and textile designer.  

Home has always been something interesting for me -- it’s a natural transition from fashion and I didn’t want to do apparel.  What I wanted to do was take those skills in building a collection and do that with home goods. We started thinking about how it could be.  We decided to not do everything at once -- there’s limited time and financial resources -- we decided, let’s think of one thing and build on it.  

I had this tea cosy I bought in Paris.  It took me years to find one that I really like which I could not believe.  Simon (Olga’s husband) and I are Scottish -- we’re tea drinkers. We would wrap our teapots in two or three tea towels which didn’t really do the functionality of what a tea cosy does.  I happen to be in Paris on a shopping trip for Gap and there was this incredible Scandinavian themed pop up shop at Le Bon Marché and I found this fantastic tea cosy and have used it for many, many years.  There was something about it that wasn’t so perfect but it was great. A little lightbulb went off and I thought it took me a long time to find this -- it shouldn’t take that long. So, we came up with the idea, why don’t we do tea cosies?  Then in my brainstorming, I thought what about coffee drinkers? The Chemex. The French press. I went into my studio and I started to work on the cosy patterns, construction, trial and error and experimenting, there were so many things that didn’t work.  Finally, I came up with a way to make it -- one for small teapots, one for big teapots, the Chemex, and a French press -- I was especially interested with the Chemex and French presses because they’re these beautiful glass vessels but impractical because as soon after you make a pot of coffee -- it would grow cold.  I fashioned the shape. It took a good six months of trial and error and refining our aesthetic, who are we and what are we. I’m very much about vision and aesthetic. We’re not very prissy or feminine. I’m very strong willed and have a big point of view on a lot of things. We wanted nothing that was going to flare too feminine or too male.  I wanted the design to inspire and attract everyone. We’ve been talking about equality for such a long time and I want everybody to enjoy the product that we make. Visually, it needed to have a hand, a point of view from a color perspective. As a denim designer, for the longest time, I thought about the foundation of most casual collections which include khakis, canvas or denim.  So, we decided on neutral colors -- blues, reds, greys and indigo shades. They make for a nice, easy palette and complements everything. It was really important for me to make it easy for people to bring our products into their home. To this day the color palette remains. I most likely will, as the line grows, layer other colors, of course. When we started gathering inspiration it definitely leaned toward a hand done aesthetic yet still bold and graphic.  It always starts with a piece of paper and a pencil or pen.

Tell me about your process.  For example, I have your denim cosy and I know you try to go with dead stock fabric when you can.  What about the screen printing? How does that start?

When it comes to designing prints it is little doodles and a brainstorm and figuring out what you want when you’re building a collection.  We had this zigzag design that was inspired by our logo of two M’s. It’s angular. I have this thing for geometry. I love shapes -- circles, squares, triangles -- so the designs were based on these things.  I’d sketch things up and Ange would take it away and kind of get it on the computer. We came up with four specific designs and we’d go Upstate to experiment with screen printing. It was a lot of experimenting with colors and printing -- we pared down until we landed with designs that really spoke to our brand.  As for the denim component, I searched for dead stock and ends of bolts in Midtown [New York], finding interesting fabrics and in smaller quantities, allowing the denim pieces in the collection to be a bit more special, to be limited editions. I have since then found sources that I can get larger yardage quantities, though, I still maintain the dead stock and ends of bolts mindset.

I have your pillows on my couch and as soon as guests come through the door, the first thing they say is I love your pillows!  I reply, have a seat, I’ll tell you about Olga Joan and Makers Market! This is what’s special about Makers Market -- there’s a real story behind it.  There are brands who have gigantic budgets to make up stories to give their label a more authentic edge -- you don’t have to do that -- you’re the real deal.  How did you decide how you were going to expand into these other lines? Was there a clear plan?

As we were creating and making and assessing our inventory for our first product launch it was always back in our minds -- it can’t just be cosies! -- it needs to be something else.  The kitchen was the focus. But we definitely wanted to do cushions. We decided the following year would be pop ups and markets so that we can get a feel of things, what was the appetite and get feedback from people touching, feeling, and using our products and work on what a small collection would look like.  We always wanted to do linen especially tea towels and napkins. I hit so many fabric shows and fabric vendors -- looked for cottons, linens and looked at so many qualities and tested them all. We printed things and put them to use -- we used them, washed them, beat them up and landed on the one we were most satisfied with.  I also looked for canvases that were affordable and printable with a solid weight and quality -- American made was key. I found a place in the South and have been working with them for the last three years. So, we mapped out what we were going to do, got the base going with fabrics and then started playing around with ideas of what would be the next items to launch.  We came up with a strong collection that we are known for and still, to this day, proud of. As I was making, I was left with a lot of pieces of fabric and I thought, we’ve got to do something with this -- we can’t just chuck it -- we need to create a collection of functional products made out of all the smaller scraps and so the coasters and the double coasters came about.  Brooklyn Designs, in May 2017, was the launch of our new products.  

Where can we find Maker Markets products and wholesale?

The website and occasional pop-up are always posted on the website or Instagram.  I’m a devotee of FadMarket (www.fadmarket.co) -- I’m a part of their community -- I sell at their pop-ups often.  In the next few months, I’ll be working on having products in a few stores.  I will be showing an edited collection at Shoppe Object, a wholesale trade show here in New York City, in February 2020 -- this is a significant step.  It’s a matter of making sure the business is set up to properly deliver on inventory and have resources in place. I’ve spent this past year building toward this so that I can comfortably and confidently say to an account, I’m ready.  

Any thoughts around establishing a brick and mortar?  Or to do an extended pop up shop to further establish the brand?

There’s a lovely space in Brooklyn that has a set up for an extended pop up -- the owner has approached me many times -- and as much as I’d like to explore it further, I have a lot to focus on right now.  I like the idea of a curated environment with other designers. I would like to do an extended pop up because I like to be with a community of other like minded makers whose products work nicely with Makers Market products.  It’s not for a lack of opportunities so much as it is about prioritizing.

Is the plan or hope to make this more than a one person show?  

I am not good at PR or marketing and getting myself out there.  I would love to be able to have another person involved and increase the exposure.  It might not be full time but it’s someone who will have a vested interest in Makers Market to help and be part of it from a business standpoint.  That’s the kind of thing I’m not good at and I try my best but I really am super happy in the studio being creative and making. Of course, I would love to have another screen printer and I can conceive to have more people involved with Makers Market.  Collaboration is key and something I strive for.

What’s been the greatest challenge?

I think all of it is a good challenge albeit trying to design, make and putting yourself out there.  You’re so exposed. You can feel like you’re standing there naked. That’s the biggest challenge. It’s not designing and making.  It’s the exposure and wondering if this is viable. It’s getting the acceptance from the public. That gives me angst. Major angst.  You gotta have the guts to do it. It takes a lot of guts to do anything entrepreneurial. It’s hard out there. But there’s a resurgence in entrepreneurship from a creative standpoint.  Folks are fed up with the rubbish out there. I just want the brand and products to be desired, genuine and taken seriously. I want people to understand that it takes real hands on effort to make something that lasts.  I hope that in 10 years time folks will still have their tea cosies.

What’s been the biggest breakthrough moment to date?

It goes back to the challenges.  Will I be accepted? The breakthrough is being accepted.  It’s a great feeling to be getting emails after someone makes a purchase and writes:  I’ve never seen anything like this. So, the flip side of my paranoia and angst is receiving pretty extraordinary feedback and good accolades on the product and that’s a big breakthrough.  It’s validation. Each time I do a pop up there’s always one or two important things or opportunities that come out of it that keeps me going.  

You know, I was never a screen printer. I was/am the fashion designer, pattern maker, maker of apparel and other things.  When we started this endeavor almost four years ago I had said that I wanted to learn how to screen print because I felt it would both give me more skills but that I could also understand the process or should I say all our processes -- A to Z.

Taking classes and spending time at open studio doing really simple designs but learning all the processes and trouble shooting was a big deal. This way I was able to contribute to screening our designs.

But the biggest breakthrough was when Ange and I split up - the realization was that I was going to have to screen all the fabric.  How the hell was I going to do this? I was not that experienced. So, I slowly but surely took small steps to get myself comfortable with the huge screens and began screening, taking notes all the time about how many passes, how much ink, what kind of pressure needed with each artwork print and on different fabrics. 

Now, I am not saying that I don’t ever mess up because that wouldn’t be true but spending the time and asking others questions to help troubleshoot, today I have more confidence than I ever thought I’d have and that is a true breakthrough, in my eyes.  

I am very proud of myself on this feat because remember, four years ago, I had never looked at a screen.

Tell me about the future of Makers Market.

I have always wanted Makers Market to collaborate and be a big part of a creative makers’ community.  I’ve always wanted the Makers Market website to feature other makers that may not have their website platform to showcase.  That would take a lot of effort to find makers and maintain the website but . . . it’s always in the back of my mind.

I like the idea of partnering with interior designers or architects to use Makers Market fabrics or showcase products on projects.  This is a real big one for me, hence, why I enjoy doing Brooklyn Designs. More exposure to those folks and community is what I would really like.

There’s been a lot of changes in the retail landscape: Amazon, the slow death of department stores, rental options for furniture and tableware -- like a StitchFix for the home -- what are your thoughts on all these things going on out there?  Does it impact Makers Market? How does it cross your mind?

It does not cross my mind.  Our product is so personal. The person who wants our product is always going to want it and appreciate its handcrafted aspect.  The idea for me is that my product is loved and passed through generations or given to friends. I get Stitch Fix for apparel but not sure I’m sold on it for home.  I’m never going to produce millions of units of something. I’m not sure that it will even be hundreds of a product because I still want it to be small batch yet profitable.  I want to keep the intimacy. It’s what makes Makers Market special.

To learn more about Makers Market & Olga Joan —

Website: www.makersmarketnyc.com

Email: info@makersmarketnyc.com

Phone: +1 (415) 710 1229

Instagram: @makersmarketnyc

Olga Joan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olgajoan

Additionally, if you have a deep love for craftsmanship, home goods and community and enjoy marketing and PR or have mad sewing skills, please reach out to Olga to inquire about potential possibilities.

Shop Makers Market at the following events:

FADMarket HOLIDAY POP-UP

Dec 7 + 8, 11 - 6 pm

The Invisible Dog Art Center

51 Bergen Street, Brooklyn, NY

FADMarket HOLIDAY POP-UP

Dec 14 + 15, 11 - 7 pm

City Point

445 Albee Square West, Brooklyn, NY