Fiesta Time

Every few months I get international visitors from our friends down south. Way south. Like across the US border south. It's the Wal-Mart Mexico buyers and fit techs! I do not speak their Mexican Language, but I understand their Mexican passion for fashion. It's a fiesta of a time whenever they come. Here we are sorting out a fit for a shirt they ordered last season. The lady with the blonde ponytail is my boss Diane. At the end of the table is Sumithra. Sumithra is from India and handles our production. Sumithra is always asking me to do stuff and asking me questions. At first I resisted but then thought, what the heck I'll try to make her job easier... and things have been great ever since. The rest of the people in the picture are from Wal-Mart Mexico.

Here Diane and Consuelo are doing a live fitting on the new mysterious fit tech from Mexico. I don't know much about the Mexican culture but I think the new mysterious fit tech is a real heart-breaker in Mexico City were she lives. There is something about her that congers up thoughts of soft fabrics and bright colors. I guess that's what makes her so mysterious.

It's a love/hate relationship whenever Wal-Mart Mexico comes to town. It great because they are Mexican... but it's also a bummer because it means I'll have a lot of work to do. On my other accounts I just assist Diane. Wal-Mart Mexico is a Jeff solo mission. The quantities are low... but the number of styles is high. For example, a normal Wal-Mart order that Diane and I work on averages around three styles with six color ways each and about a million pieces ordered per season. Wal-Mart Mexico is almost 100,000 pieces but 21 styles! Do the math... Mexico+21 styles+Jeff-Diane=A lot of work for Jeff.

A large task when dealing with Wal-Mart Mexico is coming up with print color ways. Above is a print that I submitted for WWM approval. The color direction WMM responded with was "it's too sad and depressing". Please note that "sad and depressing" are not color corrections but how some people respond to "how's life"? Useful color corrections are "we want more bright colors". Perhaps something got lost in the translation. So I turned around and send them....

THIS!!!


Which they loved and ordered. No Joke... they ordered this. People in Mexico will be wearing this. I told you... it's a fiesta all the time down there with these people. It's part of their culture. So if you are ever walking around Mexico and are blinded by the prints and think, "who made that" the answer could very well be your brother.