Today marked the beginning of "Paco Baby", a Paco Collars spin-off providing leather baby belts and bracelets. Since there is fundamentally no difference between a 1" wide dog collar and a baby belt, it just made sense. The line will not be officially announced until Spring 2009, but the groundwork started today.
Tiffany (of blackbirdphoto.com) and I drove down to Redwood City in the wee hours of the morn to meet with Bambi and her daughter Piper. Bambi is the one that really put the fire under the (training) pants of this project, so it was appropriate Piper be the first model. Besides, little P-dog already had a beltand bracelet made over a year ago so that meant less sample product making for me.
Piper is only two but she's got a head of hair like a lion. Here she is with Spencer:
Not a great product shot but I love it for the fact that it showcases their relationship (or, rather, Spencer's relationship with the cheese).
And then there's this. The abandoned bike, the fallen leaves on the ground, and the forlorn look in a little child's eyes... it's just killing me. I mean, it could be the cover to the most depressing album in the world, an album theoretically entitled "Childhood Lost" or "The day I learned Santa was a joke."
Or it could be the winning shot on ANTM... you decide.
So I spent the rest of the day mocking up some sample product pages to go along with Tiffany's awesome shots. In the midst of this, Aaron called from Atlanta to check in. As I explained my activities for the day, I was suddenly struck with a profound realization: I'm enacting the emergency plan.
Last year I attended a cooperative conference and made sure to hit up the business plan session. When it was time to discuss worst case scenarios the presenter needed examples. "Ana," she said, "what's the Plan B for Paco Collars?"
Without skipping a beat I answered, "Oh, you mean if all the dogs in America died and everyone stopped buying dog collars? That's when we'd switch to making baby belts and do Paco Baby, because people will always have kids."
Now, in my mind, everything has followed a natural progression. We've always made leather products for people, including things for kids upon request, we have the capacity to produce more now, as I get older there are more kids in my immediate circles, we could use the sales since things are slow overall (shakes fist at economy), and people like Bambi are adamant it's a great idea. So I've blindly gone along with this "natural progression" not thinking twice about it when suddenly, after summarizing recent events into one or two sentences, I realized we've begun our Plan B.
So now, when people ask me my opinion on the economy, I can say, with a straight face, that we've gone into "worst case scenario" mode. Which would be "baby" mode.
p.s. This may not be the final version, but here's the working version of the Paco Baby logo. I need to get some impartial feedback, though, because right now I'm convinced it's the cutest thing ever.
4 comments:
when i read the title i like oh shit, not ana talking babies again. although i do see a theme, and i wish you would stop reminding me!
I know, I did that to scare you... bwahahahahahahahaha!
Impartially... that's the cutest little Paco Baby ever. Although the photograph of the child is right up there as well. I won't be having kids, but damn are they fun to dress up! I think your new venture is an excellent idea, but if it doesn't work out there's always psych ward restraints and really fancy rock climbing harnesses or even seat belts... Shit, how cool would a studded leather seat belt be with a few Sheriff stars strewn about? :o)
It's pretty darn cute, but maybe you should ask a non-dog person, or least someone who doesn't have a crush on Paco.
Hurry up with Paco Baby! My godson's turning 2 on Feb. 28! And I do not know how to shop for children, I was terrible at being a child. I asked for a dictionary for my eight b-day and a vacuum cleaner for my 11th.
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