“You can’t just walk around touching people’s clothes.”
George Costanza learned this the hard way. But honestly, I get it—fabric is fascinating.
When I set out to create the first Constant Mountain jackets, the designer told me I needed to decide on fabric. Simple enough, right? Wrong.
I knew what I wanted:
- The jacket should stretch but not sag.
- The fabric needed some weight.
- Most importantly, it had to feel right.
But knowing what you want and knowing how to get it are two very different things.
The Warehouse Adventure
My search for fabric led me to what was loosely called a “store.” In reality, it was a warehouse—two high school gymnasiums’ worth of fabric rolls, stacked row after row. Overwhelming doesn’t even begin to cover it.
I spent hours walking around, touching fabric, searching for something that fit the vision in my head. Finally, I found what I was looking for. Success! Or so I thought.
The fabric worked perfectly for the initial jacket order, but then reality hit:
What about the next order?
What about other colors?
The warehouse had no more fabric, no information about its origin, and no way to help me find more. I’d unknowingly bought from the nameless end of the fabric supply chain—the “no-repeats” pile.
A Crash Course in Fabric Sourcing
The details of what happened next could fill a book (and I know because I’ve read plenty of them). Here’s the short version:
- Fabric isn’t just fabric. There are yarns, colors, weights, knits, and wovens—all with their own complexities.
- I sent samples to a lab and spoke with mills from South Carolina to New England.
- After 18 months of dead ends, I had to face reality: the fabric I wanted wasn’t available domestically.
I finally gave in, searched on Alibaba, and within two weeks, I had a sample of the exact fabric I needed.
The Value of the Struggle
Could I have saved time by sourcing internationally from the start? Yes.
Did I gain more from the experience by taking the harder path? Absolutely.
Here’s what the struggle gave me:
Knowledge: I now understand the complexities of fabric sourcing, which helps me make better decisions for Constant Mountain.
Conviction: The effort I put into the search gave me confidence in my final choice.
The journey itself was valuable. Struggles like these—while frustrating in the moment—often provide the learning and conviction needed to make meaningful progress.
What About You?
Have you ever faced a decision where the struggle to choose taught you more than the outcome itself?
The process isn’t always easy, but it’s where the growth happens. So, whatever challenge you’re facing, keep going. You’ve got this!
