- Thu Jul 18, 2013 1:42 am
#23945
I think it is a great idea in theory... but in practice I am not sure it would work as a "design whatever you want". It might be easier if it was several different sites / companies, each focusing on an area. From there, it would be sort of like a choose your own adventure novel.... lot's of different possibilities, but not quite endless.
Take handbags for example. You could start by choosing the pattern / cut / general style that you like. The next step would be choosing the fabric - in this stage you would have to choose from whatever options the company has readily available. From there you choose the bells and whistles - the decorative features. Odds are a company set up to do these things won't also have capabilities to cast new metal findings, or print new frabrics.
I work in the wholesale fashion jewelry industry, and sadly, even our overseas factories can't always make whatever we imagine. They can do what they have the tools to do, and after that they have to go to the market themselves and hope they can find a bead that looks like what we want, or fabric that looks like the swatch we sent, etc.
I do not mean to discourage though. I love the idea. Have you ever heard of Krumpler? It is a company that makes backpacks, and camera bags. They allow customers to choose the style of bag they like and design their own embellishments to personalize the bag. The designs are stitched on to the bag and must be made from existing materials and colors.
I think this is a great concept to expand on to allow for greater creativity. Just keep in mind that such highly individualized items require extra labor, will be higher cost, and there will likely be a lot of wasted materials.