Baby, it’s cold outside! Although to be fair, our friends at Norwegian Concept are pretty used to it – not only are their winters brutal, but the summers are mild, with temperatures rarely exceeding 18C. That’s why since 2006 they have been specialising in outdoor clothing for both adults and kids under their labels TwentyFour, Gullkorn Design and Daniel Franck – as in the famous, professional snowboarder’s brand.
Based in beautiful Kristiansand, south of Norway, their designers draw inspiration from the Norwegian lifestyle, nature and weather conditions to create their clothes. We met with Marthe Mykjåland, Gullkorn’s children's clothing designer, to learn more about what they do.
Marthe is in charge of planning the collections and then developing the samples once the sketchwork has been completed. When it comes to kids, their focus is to create apparel in which kids feel comfortable – clothes that encourage movement, play, and creativity in their everyday lives.
Gullkorn Design also places extra focus on the life of their garments, as they want their products to withstand use over a long time. Their process assumes they will be used by several children, passed on from sibling to sibling.
“We want our products to last as long as possible. That is one of the most environmentally friendly things you can do.”
An extra challenge that comes with children's clothes is the need for constant washing, as kids tend to get dirty a lot! At Gullkorn they wash a sample collection ten times before they show it to the customers, so they understand first-hand how the garment will react during washing.
“It sounds simple, but as a brand you really have to know how it will look. Once a kid has regularly used it for six months in kindergarten, it will look completely different. So there’s a lot to take into account when designing and choosing the garments.”
To make all this magic happen, Norwegian Concept has previously used a PLM solution to ease their workflow, but it wasn’t until they met Delogue that things changed – for good.
“Having our suppliers use Delogue leads to fewer emails and fewer questions all over the place, with the added bonus of no more PDFs with everyone’s comments! It's all collected on this platform.”
But it also requires structure and routine from your side, she points out, with everyone working together as a team.
“You have to be very strict and have decent routines when it comes to the item list, for example, and all of the information that is put into Delogue,” she continues.
Norwegian Concept have been using Delogue since late 2018, and although it took them a year to feel comfortable with the system, they are now running smoothly.
“Even our suppliers would agree that it makes everything more predictable and stable,” she says.
“I would say it is definitely a perfect fit for a company who want to keep control of their products, suppliers and supply chain. You can check and recheck what is done across the styles – all in one go.”
E-commerce platforms demand specific data requirements from your products and, as time goes by, these requirements are getting more specific. Back in late 2019, Norwegian Concept started thinking about how they could make their brands stand out by making better descriptions of their products.
“We started using the customs field in Delogue to try to make a really detailed description of each product – what it would fit with and outfit inspirations, for example – because we knew e-commerce sales were going up. Looking back it was a good strategy,” recalls Marthe.
She has incorporated this method into her routine every time she starts a new style using Delogue – when the idea is very clear in her mind.
“I always make some edits in the text after, but mainly you save yourself a huge job later. And when you take it product by product, or a series at a time, it doesn't feel like a huge job," she advises.