Putting together a Tahitian pareo design, Part II

Decisions, decisions, decisions. If you only knew how many places fabric is manufactured. For our new Tehani pareo design we have several options to choose from. We decided to work with a company we used to print the Heiva Hibiscus pareos. It was a fairly easy decision as we work with the company all the time. There are competitors with comparable prices but it always helps to work with the same company for consistency. Building those relationships of trust is a key factor. From there you can also build a credit history with the company and work on terms that will benefit in the long run.

We have decided to use the 100% cotton broadcloth. This is a change from our Heiva Hibiscus fabric. It's lighter and drapes more freely. It has a feel between the high end rayon and our heavy duty cotton sheeting. Once we decided on the fabric, we had the option to pick where it would be printed. The fabric company has textile plants in Indonesia, Malaysia, China and Japan and specializes in Hawaiian and Polynesian prints. We were given samples of the cotton broadcloth from each of the plants and interestingly enough there were subtle differences in the feel of each. China seemed to be ever so slightly lighter in weight which might account for the lower price. Indonesia had prints that were a more softer feel. Malaysia seems to use more ink but that could be just the fabric sample we received. Which leaves Japan with a more nicer sheen on the end product.

So which one did we choose? We chose Japan. Although not quite as soft as Indonesia, it definitely competes. Quality is great and an added bonus is that we don't have to print as much yardage per color. The usual minimum is 1000 yards per color. The Japanese however only require 600 yards per color. This translates into more colors that we are able to offer. Another factor we considered is the chance of piracy. The other countries are notorious for piracy. Although we've never had that problem and the company we work with has strict control, you never know if it could happen. It seems less likely to happen in Japan.

All these factors played into our decision and we think it is in our best interest and our customers best interest to proceed with our fabric production in Japan. We'd love to print in the USA but costs seem prohibitive. Although, we admit we haven't researched it thoroughly. So if there is a competitive American fabric textile company out there, we'd love to explore the option.

Putting together a Tahitian pareo design, Part I

It's been a long time coming but we are well under way on our newest pareo. Our Heiva Hibiscus Pareo is so popular and timeless that we just had to see if we could add to it or better yet, complement it. Almost 4 years ago we took the Heiva Hibiscus Pareo and brought it to the public. It was in a single shop and has (and still is) been used as a uniform for the Polynesian Cultural Center. Now, new colors have been introduced and old standards have been brought back and revitalized. The success and your urging has brought us to this current development.

I've been drawing and making notes, tearing out pages in magazines and taking photos of designs and inspirations for this new pareo. We, at Black Pearl Designs, are tentatively calling it the Tehani Tiare Pareo, but we might shorten that to just Tehani Pareo. We'd love input on this. Feel free to let us know your feelings on it. Tehani translates to - the sweet-smelling caress of flowers. And obviously we are featuring the tiare flower in this design.

The design is a "sister" to the Heiva Hibiscus Pareo. That's the way we described it to our design team. It has many of the same feelings and textures but is different in that instead of the hibiscus it features a truly Tahitian icon, the tiare. Once we finalize the design we'll work on colors. We have 5 colorways that we are working on but again, we are open to suggestions and requests.

One other element that will be different from the Heiva Hibiscus Pareo is the fabric. The Heiva Hibiscus Pareo is printed on 100% cotton sheeting. The cotton sheeting is a high-quality, heavy cotton and even heavier on some colors because of the amount of ink that is used to color. For instance, the tropic blue is much heavier than the hibiscus white as the white background is already there to start with. The Heiva Hibiscus Pareo is printed using 5 colors. The new Tehani Pareo is also using 5 colors as well. It will be printed on 100% cotton broadcloth with a 40/40 thread count (133 x 72). The broadcloth is softer, gives a little and drapes better. It's not as heavy duty as the cotton sheeting but for making pareos, it works wonders. It retains color nicely and has a subtle sheen that we think will complement the design nicely.