When: 4pm Tuesday 7th February 2012
Where: Facebook
Who: jL + 63,395 sharklets

Designer Leggings

1. Burnt Bronze
2. Toxic Electro Blue
3. Toxic Electro Green
4. Toxic Electro Red
5. Giraffe Giraffe Giraffe
6. Metallic Velvet Rose
7. Shattered Glass Mystique
8. Space Pants
9. Spartans Liquid Gold
10. Spartans Liquid Silver

 Designer Skirts

1. Dirty Purple
2. Disco Ball
3. Dragon Snot Black
4. Wet Denim

 Designer Dresses

1. Evil Cheerleader Black Dress

 Designer Tops

1. Fitted Mod Tee 
2. Lace Singlet
3. Organic Cotton Tee
4. Sheer Singlet
5. The Judge
6. Wet Look Sleeve Tee

 Other

1. Dropped Arm Swimsuit
2. Wet Look Bandeau
3. Wet Look Overalls

Printed Leggings

1. Aurora Skye
2. Blood Wing
3. Circuit Board Grey
4. Cross of St Peter Black
5. Cross of St Peter White
6. Galaxy Pearl
7. Monsters Red
8. Muscles
9. Puzzle
10. Retro Gamer

 Printed Skirts

1. Galaxy Green
2. Sick of Men

Printed Dresses

1. Galaxy Rainbow
2. Wallpaper White

 Printed Swimsuits

1. Jellyfish
2. Queen of Hearts

See you all next Tuesday. 

Muchos Lovos

Cam

I'm blogging! With any luck, my blog will get so successful that I will get invited to fashion shows and get to sit in the front row with REAL fashion people. O. M. G. Cannot wait.

Here goes nothing...

1. So I have been in two minds about this - does it suck... or is it brilliant?

Jks... it sucks.

2. A little while ago I flagged that the galaxy style leggings would be all run out. We did get rid of a few styles, but I have changed my mind about them. Let me explain why.

I really want to do some amazing creative stuff with clothing. However, it's really challenging when you are still producing, marketing, selling stuff you did years ago. You get caught up in it. Discontinuing them was a way for me to move forward.

But I think I may have found a better way. I'll keep you posted. :)

3. Seems I have stirred some controversy lately. Who moi? ;)

I have been accused of the following crimes:

- Alienating Christian sharkies

- Promoting the occult/atheism/satanism

- Promoting hipsterism (new word, I made it up)

When I told the peeps at BM that had been getting complaints that I was anti-christian and promoting Satanism... we all had a good lol. Seriously, I have been accused of a lot of things with respect to my religious beliefs over the years... but promoting satanism is definitely a new one! And as for promoting atheism... rotfl.

To set the record straight, this is how this simple design came about...

I was thinking about how to make a basic shirt more interesting, so I was planning on just sewing  a basic cross into it to provide some contrast. But I wanted to play around with the positioning of the cross. We tried it on one piece we made and someone commented that it looked like a 'Russian cross'.

I pointed out that that Russian orthodox cross has a diagonal piece below the usual horizontal bar. And that it was perhaps similar to another cross design used by eastern orthodox churches, maybe Greek or Armenian. (Religious symbolism is something I really get into).

That got me thinking about different kinds of crosses, and the first one that sprung to mind was the St. Peter's Cross. An ancient Christian symbol that came from an early church tradition that Peter was executed by crucifixion - upside down at his own insistence.

So we experimented with some tiled pattern prints featuring the inverted cross - some small, some big. I really liked one which had big crosses with big spaces - which is the one you can see above. :)

As to the charge of being hipster... I have no idea what hipsters are wearing at the moment. No offence to them personally... I just don't find them all that interesting. 

:)

5. Melbourne - here we come! Black Milk is setting up a new fashion manufacturing studio in Collingwood in February. Which means I'm going to have to travel to Melbourne every week. I guess that means I might be able to come to some of the Melbourne Sharky meet ups. If I'm allowed....

6. Speaking of sharkies meeting up, we are SO pumped about all the little BM groups that are spring up all over the world at the moment. It's just so awesome that it's surreal. I have conversations regularly that go like this:

Person: So what do you do for work?

Me: I make clothes.

Person: Cool. Are they in any department stores? I might have seen them.

Me: No, we don't have any clothes in department stores.

Person: Okay... any boutiques? My girlfriend might have seen them.

Me: No, no boutiques. But we have a website.

Person: Great! My girlfriend buys a lot of clothes online. What's the label?

Me: Black Milk Clothing... we mostly do leggings.

Person: Oh. I haven't heard of that one.

Me: That's okay. We're kind of underground.

Person: Oh, okay. I have a friend who has a boutique, I could put you in contact if you want? 

Me: Actually we like just being online.

Person: And do you sell a lot online?

Me: Oh yes, we have thousands of customers all over the world. It's like a little community. In fact, the girls who wear Black Milk form little groups and meet up in different cities all over the world.

Person: They meet up?

Me: Yeah, wearing our clothes.

Person: And what do they do?

Me: Eat, drink, party, talk... y'know, girl stuff.

(Awkward silence)

Person: Sounds like a cult.

Me: I hear that a lot.

7. I have found a name for the February Collection

Hot Little Bosses

Because that's what all our customers are.

:)

8. Stars and Stripes prints... so hot right now.

If you was the dude in the middle, how frustrated would you be?

"Guy number 1, you get to wear pants and a vest, guy number 2, you get pants... guy number 3... sorry bro, you get the undies. But here's a heavy jacket to go with them so you don't look... y'know, ridiculous."

(I wonder if the dude in the middle is thinking "Yeah, to all you guys judging me - I may look pretty dopey right now... BUT I'M A MODEL, SUCKERS, YOU HEAR THAT? I GOT MUSCLES AND CHEEK BONES AND I'M GETTING PAID TO DO THIS. And I get to be hugged by Natasha Poly... kind of).

And according to the pic above, Brisbane Broncos socks are going to be big for girls at festivals this season.

9. This photo makes me feel relaxed... I love it.

Take me to this place!!!

x

jL

• Bee Leggings
• Bone Machine Leggings
• Cathedral Leggings
• Jellyfish Leggings
• Leg Bones Leggings
• Maps Leggings
• Tape Leggings
• Union Jack Leggings

• Jellyfish Dress
• Skull Black Dress

• Bee Swimsuit
• Elk Swimsuit

Muchos Lovos

Cam :)

How about... no.

2. What an amazing year 2011 was for me, and all the gang at BM HQ. We grew 800% from 2010, which presents it's own unique set of challenges! I think we did pretty well considering. I was especially happy with the amazing job the guys did on getting all the pre Christmas orders out - there was a MOUNTAIN of stuff we had to post, and the guys did it. So proud of them. :)

I know I've said this before, but it is really tough growing a fashion label... especially when we are looking at that kind of growth. It can get overwhelming. So overwehelming that we had to repeatedly close the shop throughout the year. I wasn't very happy about having to do that, but it was the only alternative to simply putting up our prices. Which I didn't want to do. :)

So Black Milk in 2011... I give you a score of nine out of ten.

3. But only nine. I felt that there was one area of Black Milk that let the team down a bit.

And that was me.

Yes, I felt like I was a little bit lame last year. I stopped beign a designer and became... I don't know what. You see, we got to the point where stuff was selling so fast that I wasn't allowed to create any more clothes. I would go to the team and say "Hey, how about we make this really cool thing!?" And they would just look at me, show me the list that they were working on (pages, and pages, and pages) and I had to continually back down. I became a designer who wasn't allowed to design, and a salesman who wasn't allowed to sell. Which was frustrating. I just started floating around the office while everybody else worked. It was weird, and disheartening.

A few of the fans noticed as well. Noticed that I wsan't really pushing myself with the design and breaking new ground. That frustrated me immensely, because these are the girls who are as passionate about the brand as I am, and I really want to give these girls something awesome to see... and buy and wear.

So I'm going to repent. Next year I promise to do some MIND BLOWINGLY AWESOME designs that you girls are going to be able to rock out in like the hot little bosses that you are.

A promise is a promise.

4. So I'm buying an amazing new cutting machine in a few months time. Apparently, it can do cuts that no human would ever be able to do. You know what that means? We are going to do some AMAZING cut style leggings and bodysuits (and dresses) next year. Seriously peeps, the slashed revolution has just begun... cut out leggings have been around for a while (see below)...

But I have a few tricks up my proverbial sleeves. ;)

5. Just so you know what the plan is... we will have a little release of some familiar pieces in January to keep all the little sharkies happy after Christmas... and then we will have an absolutely epic release at the beginning of February.

I'm hoping for a MASSIVE February release... like maybe 50 pieces. Don't tell the BM team.

6. Just read this on TMZ (*cough*):

Lady Gaga’s super high-cut dress at the International Emmys Monday night in NYC was this close to exposing her little monster -- but TMZ has learned, it wasn’t made that way. A rep for the designer -- Stéphane Rolland Haute Couture in France -- tells us, the asymmetrical frock came straight off the catwalk ... meaning it was intended to be worn by a model much taller than Gaga. According to the rep, “The slit came way further up her waist than what our designers had in mind."

Sorry - back up a little there Mr. News man .... so we're meant to believe that the slit goes higher on you the shorter you are...? Do you want to try that again...?

The garment hangs off the shoulders, right? That means that the shorter a woman's body is, the more of it will be covered by that seam going from the armpit to the split. You with me? On a  taller woman, her higher shoulders will pull the garment up, and expose more skin.

Glad we got that cleared up.

7. So I'm reading this article here about leggings ("Leggings To Replace Trousers!") ... and I read this absolute corker of a paragraph...

Another reason why women like leggings is that they are much cheaper than trousers. Taking this into account Alexander McQueen and Sass & Bide recommend us to forget about all rules of an office dress code and wear leggings instead of trousers, with short tops and wide jackets.

Right... so girls who are concerned about the price of pants - why not do yourself a favour and go and buy some Alexander McQueen leggings. Saving galore!

And underneath it is this absolute corker of a picture:

Ed Hardy or Alexander McQueen ... decisions, decisions! 

;) 

I'm out.

x

jL

The shop will be closed for 4hrs prior to launch from noon. We’ll have our infamous snake game for you all to amuse yourselves during the countdown to launch. I’ll be very impressed if anyone can beat that bloody snake!

All the items we are launching on Thursday are limited numbers, so once it’s sold it it’s gone.

The launch will include:

1. Blood Bath Leggings
2. Slime Bath Leggings
3. Plum Bath Leggings
4. Snow Bath Leggings
5. Illuminati Leggings
6. Union Jack Leggings
7. Cathedral Leggings
8. Shattered Glass Cherry Leggings
9. Shattered Glass Charoal Leggings
10. Shattered Glass Grape Leggings
11. Burned Velvet Leggings
12. Juicy Fruits Rainbow Leggings
13. Honeycomb Leggings
14. Chopin Leggings
15. Candy Cane Leggings
16. Elf Leggings
17. Liquid Silver Leggings
18. Galaxy Red Dress
19. Polar Bear Dress
20. Evil Cheerleader Dress
21. Deadlier Swim
22. Mod Tee 

As for the highly anticipated museum sale, we’re finishing our stock take and everything will be put at 4pm on Thursday.  It will be left there till it sells out. There are a few important things to note when buying anything from the museum sale. 

T&Cs of Museum Sale

• No returns or exchanges
• We won't be posting any lists before launching it. It will be a nice little surprise for you all.
• No custom orders (e.g. cutting down)
• Do not email CS about sizes or styles available, if they aren't on the website, we don't have any left.
• Some items will be different cuts as we've changed patterns over the past year. If you are unsure or have concerns simply don't buy it.
• Can't hold items.
• These items are not discounted.
• Stock will be very limited.
• This is not 'Sample' stock.
• When the sale is over it is over… no more available. So please no emails to the CS girls.

As you could see from last time things sold out fast. So to ensure you have the best chances of getting your beloved clothing item, my advice would be head straight to the finished line i.e. payment approval. 

Unfortunately anything you put in the cart does not securer it as yours (there is no 'hold' function). You must complete the transaction. When you receive our order conformation you can finally sit back and take a sigh of relief. 

No time for indecisiveness now sharkies. :)

Cam x

================================================================

BLACK MILK GLOSSARY

Sharks (sharkies, skarklets, sharkettes) - a predatory creature that feeds upon nylon and lycra. Usually female, they tend to feed in packs and attack with very little provocation. The name 'sharks' originates from the first story that was put on the website when I decided to take it offline because we were so overloaded with orders. The story was about me feeling like I have been repeatedly savaged by a pack of sharks (while wearing a Lady Gaga style meat dress. It was a little weird).

Penalty pic - a punishment for any minor violation of the BM Facebook code of conduct - usually posting non BM links or pictures. Although usually for individual perps, sometimes penalty pics can be incurred by all participants in a discussion on the fan page. A penalty pic shall be posted at the BM fan page and shall include a picture of the perp wearing a Black Milk piece - at which point the perp will be forgiven. Failure to comply with penalty pic obligations can result in various other bad things happening to you.  

Nom - the deep, gravelly, self satisfied sound that little Sharks make as they consume their prey (also "Nom, nom" or "Nomnomnomnom"). Can also be used as an active verb ("I nommed", "She shall nom", "They are nomming"), or a passive verb - to be used exclusively by myself ("Help - I wuz nommed!")

Hawt - Adjective referring to one who is aesthetically pleasing 

Babe - One who is hawt

The Beast - the huge list of orders that need to be filled after a collection release. Posting all the orders out is known as 'Conquering the Beast'.

The Emperor - me. Other companies have Managing Directors, I wanted something a little more... exalted.

Commandments - a set of rules designed to ensure that the BM community is a cool place to hang out. Commandment breaking will often result in banning.

BMHQ - The place where all the magic happens, 38 Arthur St, Fortitude Valley in Brisbane. Cooler than Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory, and with less carbs.

Meet Ups - Fun events where BM sharks (see above) spend time together, (and take pictures).

Troll - One who leaves nasty comments on the BM Facebook fan page in order to provoke a response. Trolls are banned on sight.

Pervy Man - One who goes through the Black Milk fan page in order to see sharkettes (see above) who are hawt (see above). Pervy men are banned on sight.

Pants Off Friday - a weekly event where sharklets can post pictures of themselves on the BM fan page whilst not wearing pants. Swimsuits are preferred, although dresses and other clothing styles can also qualify as 'pants off'.

Hashtagging - the activity of tagging your pictures in the comments section on Facebook so that they appear on the Black Milk website (i.e. #newslicks, #anatomistnegativelegs, #elkswim).

Like A Bawsss -  to behave 'like a bawss' is to engage in an activity with an unusually high degree of confidence and skill. For example, Charlie Sheen makes money like a bawss (but doesn't make friends like a bawss). Obama borrows money like a bawss (but doesn't pay it back like a bawss). Some clothing labels sell lots of clothes, however, most people agree that Black Milk sells clothes 'like a bawss'. I personally perform most of my duties like a bawss. I get out of bed like a bawss, eat vegetables like a bawss, and post pictures on Facebook like a bawss. Even my failures are done 'like a bawss, e.g. I trip over my own shoe laces like a bawss, I say inappropriate things in social situations like a bawss etc.

Photo Bomb - to engage in aggressive military action using photos instead of actual bombs. Photo bombs - are used to overwhelm a particular target with awesomeness so that they will give in to your demands. The elements of a successful photo bomb are number of participants + awesomeness of photos. Some photo bombs will take a lot of photos to be successful, in these circumstances I will let you know the percentage of completion. If a photo bomb reaches 100% it was successful.

Crackmilk - an alternative name for Black Milk which emphasises that particularly addictive nature of the clothing.

Addiction - the activity of purchasing of way too many Black Milk pieces, characterised by initiating multiple orders before previous orders have arrived, amassing collections, and squealing at postmen.

Secret Profile - a 'page' that is set up for the purpose of interacting on Facebook without alerting others to the depths of your Black Milk addiction (see Crackmilk, and Addiction above)

2. Well, the last Black Milk collection was ridiculously massive - it was called You can't sell out if you were never cool in the first place. I guess it's a comment on the whole thing of expectations. People can expect you to be a certain way ... and sometimes, you're just not.

The last collection was called I don't think we're in Kansas any more, Toto  Again, it was a somewhat autobiographical title. I do feel a little bit like Dorothy sometimes... you know, killing witches while wearing a pretty blue dress (yeah thats how I roll). But also in the sense that you get removed from your comfort zone sometimes and find yourself in new and unfamiliar territory. It's both scary and exciting, but there's also a sense of longing for the past. Sometimes I wake up a night thinking "How in the world did I get here!?"

I guess that's the question you have to ask sometimes - what exactly are you meant to do when your dreams actually come true?

It's all well and good to shoot for the stars, but ... what if you actually hit one?

Bonk. Ouch.

3. As you may be aware, I have been writing a set of commandments at the moment that I think will make BM, and the BM community a more fun place to hang out at. It has been a little hit and miss. Some people tend to misunderstand the word commandment. Some people read:

Here are my commandments for you

And their brains tell them that it means:

So here's a suggestion I have. I personally thought it might possibly be a good idea, but hey - I'm totes open to what you think!

Um. no.

4. I have been thinking a bit about customs fees lately. Internet companies feel about customs fees the way.... airports feel about terrorists, or merchant ships feel about pirates, or mangos feel about bats. So it got me thinking... why do governments enforce customs? The obvious answer is.... because they can. Legalised extortion. Give me money or you don't get your stuff, pure and simple. You bought more stuff? Fine, give me more money. If you can afford a $100 swimsuit, you can afford to pay the goverment $100 as well.

Bullying at it's most basic.

However, at a deeper, ideological level, it seems to me that there is a deliberate attempt to sabotage globalisation.

Governments hate globalisation. When commerce is localised, governments can control it, when it's globalised, power gets transferred from the governments - to buyers and sellers (i.e. people like me and you).

So what can governments do? They can punish you for being a global shopper.

And that, my friends, truly sucks.

5. Black Milk's 2 year birthday on Thursday!!! It was two years ago we registered the company, and officially became a (not too) evil corporation. I was still sewing on my kitchen table at that time. And I used to make around 5-6 garments a day! So... things are a little different now. :)

But we have some awesome party plans... ;)

6. It's been really awesome seeing the positive response to the skirts. I hoped they would be well received... and they were. They are actually a swim fabric. So ... if for some bizarre reason you need to go swimming in a skirt - you can. And the prints are fantastic, really rich and vibrant. Nothing new though. Maybe I might have to look at some new ideas for January....

And they don't ride up - yay!

And the most popular of all the skirts was.... this one:

Rainbow Galaxy Skirt

6. Haters... who needs them? I find it so weird that I have a small gang of haters. I guess some people hate me in the same way peeps hate Justin Beiber - he's a talented kid with truckloads of cash and fangirls.

Anyway... the funniest ones I find are those who lurk inthe shadows on Facebook, and 'like' the comments where people say something negative about BM. I mean... who's got time to trawl through 100 posts a day to find the negative comments?

Haters needs to gets sum jobzzz...

7. In conclusion, I have to say that, although simple, this dress is SO COOL. It is the legenday Evil Cheerleader Dress... and sold out in 4 minutes.

I'm working on getting some more. :/

x

jL

The items marked as 'limited' won't be around for long, sorry. :(

And so the count down begins!!! 

Cam

Designer Leggings

1. Pyramids Silver Legs – Limited
2. Pyramids Gold Legs – Limited
3. Shattered Glass Cherry Legs – Limited
4. Shattered Glass (Original Silver) Legs – Limited
5. Shattered Glass Grape Legs – Limited
6. Honeycomb Legs  – Limited
7. Liquid Silver Legs
8. Wet Look Sheer Front Legs
9. Bootleg Sheer Legs
10. Pseudo Blue Electro Legs – Limited
11. My Holiday in Bali Legs – Limited
12. Blue Cubism Legs – Limited
13. Ink Smudge Legs – Limited
14. Gold Leopard Legs
15. Pink Panther Legs – Limited
16. Juicy Fruits Hot Pink Legs
17. Juicy Fruits Baby Blue Legs – Limited
18. Juicy Fruits Mint Fresh Legs – Limited
19. Juicy Fruits Goldfish Legs – Limited
20. Juicy Fruits Rainbow Legs – Limited
21. Wet Look Vinyl Stripe Legs
22. Wet Look Sheer Stripe Legs
23. Pantyho 
24. Sheer v’s Wet Look leg

Printed Leggings

1. Illuminati Legs – Limited
2. Black Milk Legs
3. Bees Legs
4. Candy Cane Legs
5. Elf Legs
6. Wallpaper Legs

Printed Swimsuits

1. Metropolis Swim – Limited
2. Smiley Swim – Limited
3. Mario Watchman Swim - Limited
4. Polar Bear Swim
5. 3D Moonwalker Swim
6. 3D Rib Swim
7. Black Milk Swim
8. Bee Swim
9. Tiger Swim
10. Elk Swim

Printed Dresses

1. Union Jack Dress
2. Clouds Dress
3. 3D Ribs Dress
4. Black Milk Dress
5. Sick of Men Dress

Designer Dresses

1. The Dress
2. Baby Doll Burned Velvet
3. Evil Cheerleader – Limited

Skirts

1. Galaxy Purple Skirt
2. Galaxy Black Skirt
3. Galaxy Blue Skirt
4. Galaxy Rainbow Skirt
5. Amerika Skirt
6. Cathedral Skirt
7. Tape Skirt
8. Beetlejuice Skirt

Other

1. Galaxy Catsuit
2. Galaxy Purple Suspenders
3. Beetlejuice Suspenders
4. Spartan Lace Bodysuit
5. Hooded Opaque Bodysuit

And sadly this is what will be discontinued or running out from 2pm tomorrow. Going... going... gone... 

Designer Leggings

1. Reptilian Black Glam Legs
2. Blueberries Legs
3. Dirty Purples Legs
4. Sequin Gold Legs
5. Grapes Legs
6. Gun Metal Legs
7. Cheetahs Silves Legs
8. Heart Legs
9. Zebra Green Legs
10. Zebra Purple Legs
11. Metallic Velvet Gold Legs
12. Metallic Velvet Silver Legs
13. Metallic Velvet Silver Legs

 Printed Leggings

1. Mucha Black Legs
2. MOM Legs
3. Mini Skull Legs

Printed Swimsuits

1. Bone Machine Swim
2. Caterpillar Swim
3. Samurai  Swim
4. Vamp Swim
5. Skeleton Hugs Swim
6. Skull Black Swim

 Printed Dresses

1. Mucha Black Dress
2. Cathedral Dress
3. MOM2 Dress
4. MOM Dress

Designer Dresses

1. Meteor Top
2. Tron Dress
3. Opaque Maxi

I've been thinking...  when I first started this blog I wanted it all to be about legwear. Tights, leggings, pantyhose... you know, just normal stuff that guys talk about. I thought I'd also be a bit sneaky and slip a few of my own little ideas in here from time to time. Which I did.

Times change though.

Now, all I really talk about is Black Milk ... and some of my random opinions (as well as the occassional mention of some metaphysics and philosophy). Part of me feels bad about that. I don't want to seem completely introverted and self obsessed. I may be that way.. but I don't want to seem that way. 

But another part of me thinks that this is an interesting story to tell. It's my story, involving a fairly bizarre and unrealistic dream that actually came true.

So my apologies for the introspection - but at least for this post, it's all stuff I'm thinking about.

Shall we begin?

1. The Killler's Vanilla Collection was launched last Monday (six days ago at the writing of this). Collection launches have become a bit a of a special event at Black Milk. It's crazy - Facebook just fills up with posts and photos from the circling sharkettes and I'm going crazy trying to get all the photos ready for the launch. And then at the strike of 2:00pm - it's all on. I'm releasing massive amounts of clothing, just smashing Facebook walls around the world with constant pics and everyone starts getting all the stuff they want.

It's a real buzz.

There are girls who stay up all night for them, or get up really early, or skip school (okay, don't really approve of that one... although I can't really talk with any authority here seeing as I'm a drop out myself ).

I love them.

The Killer's Vanilla was our biggest release yet, beating out our last collection (The Toto Collection) by a long way (and Toto was our previous biggest as well!).

And girls kept buying and buying and buying. And the next day. And the next day.

And it got to the point where I started freaking out. The sharks were nommin too hard and at this rate peeps weren't going to get their clothes for a very long time. So I had to make a decision:

1. Sell like there's no tomorrow, hold on for dear life, deal with the consequences

2. Raise prices, creating higher profits, and a more manageable demand.

3. Cut the collection temporarily and put the pieces back  up when production gets over the initial hump (the 'beast')

So I went with three.

That means that most of the pieces from the Killer's Vanilla collection will not be available after 5pm Monday Brisbane time. Sorry peeps, but the other two options sucked.

I have no idea when they will be back. I guess once the admin team tell me that they're on top of all the orders we have already.

And can I just say a massive THANKYOU to all those who have been buying, wearing, strutting, and supporting Black Milk. It's truly awesome. It means so much to me. :)

2. So some people say to me "Hey dude... " Or "Hey Lady" depending on if they think I'm a dude or a lady "which don't you just hire more people!?"

At which point I face palm and ask myself why the thought had never crossed my mind before.

I kid.

It's hard to understand what it's like handling a growing company. It's a real challenge. For example, I spoke to my fabric printers last week who told me that they had hired another person. I remarked that in the time he had hired one person - I had hired sixteen. Fast growth brings a huge load of challenges.

To give you an analogy... giving birth (this might get icky for those who haven't had much to do with this stuff). Dilating fast means that you can get that baby out quicker and get the labour over and done with - but it's also a lot more painful than a slow dilation.

Sorry.

The same with growing a company - growing slow is easy, growing fast is super hard. Most companies fail at the growth stage. Really, I've seen it many times:

- person makes money

- perspen makes more money

- person creates company

- person hires others

- person get's frustrated with others

- Government taxes person to death and makes them do paperwork intead of being productive

- Person closes company

I came very close myself on more than one occassion.

3. Governments are evil. 

4. I want to start another fashion label.

5. Captialism is awesome.

6. Sometimes I worry about what will happen to this little fashion label. It's really cool now... but will it stay cool? What if a competitor comes along and makes much cooler stuff? What if the haters get on the Black Milk Facebook page and ruin it? What if I get drunk in a Paris cafe and call someone a 'dirty Jew face'? (Actually... I think I'm pretty safe on that last one). What if people discover that I'm not a real fashion designer, just a dude with a few sewing machines, an unhealthy and a delusion of grandeur.

Maybe one day someone will out me.

Maybe I worry too much.

Internet hugs for all.

x

jL

1. 'Tis the night before the launch of my halloween collection...

I always get a little nervous before these things. What I worry about most is not delivering something awesome - y'know? I dread the thought that some girls will see my latest pieces and walk away thinking "Ho hum.."

For this collection there are a lot of classic pieces ('classic' pieces is of course a fancy way of saying 'old stuff'). I'm talking about the Anatomists, and the Mini Skulls. We also have some variations on existing designs, so we have the RIbs Dress and the Skulls Dress. All very cool.

The name of the collection is 'The Killer's Vanilla". The name is taken from a track by Amon Tobin who I have been listening to a lot at the moment. Play this one LOUD. Preferable with the lights off.

2. For your interest, here is the complete list of pieces that will be available:

 - Big Blood Splatter Legs

- Little Blood Splatter Legs

- Mini Skulls Legs

- Anatomist Legs

- Funny Skulls Legs

- Bone Machine Legs

- Anatomist Negative Legs

- Shattered Glass Black Legs

- Shattered Glass Pink Legs

- Shattered Glass Green Legs

- Shattered Glass Blue Legs

- Shattered Glass Gold Legs

- Shattered Glass Pearl Legs

- Funny Skulls Red Eye Legs

- Tape Leggings

- Big Blood Splatter Swim

- Black Ribs Swim

- Black Skull Swim

- Skeleton Hugs Swim

- Bone Machine Swim

- Drip Lips swim

 - Big Blood Splatter Dress

- Black Skull Dress

- Black Ribs Dress

- Inferno Dress

- Leg Bone Suspenders

- Burned Velvet Butterfly Top

3. There will also be the return of a few other pieces... namely, the Beetlejuice Leggings, the Burned Velvet Leggings, the Burned Velvet Maxi... and a few wet look pieces as well. :)

4. One of the pieces in this collection that is quite special to me is the Bone Machine Leggings, and the Bone Machine Swimsuit.

This piece is inspired by the late Mr McQueen. I know that a lot of people have drawn similar inspiration, but I think I've got a unique twist on it.

When McQueen killed himself, I was taken aback. I had several emotions - sad for the man himself, and yet fascinated that someone who had everything to live for had nothing to live for. It's times like those where I get all existential and, I must confess ... I like it.

It's like the facade is ripped apart and true metaphysics and spiritual perception can occur. But I digress.... 

The day after he died I made this:

And in leggings as well.

This time I have created a print that is McQueenesque... but with a strong sense of realism coming through. I have combined a section of bones from an installation at the Smithsonian. A dead professor and his dog... in skeletal form. You'll see it on the 'Skeleton Hugs Swim' and then abstracted and industrialised into the 'Bone Machine Swim' and 'Bone Machine Leggings'.

Let me know what you think. ;)

7. See you tomorrow, peeps. Internet hugs for all

x

jL

p.s. (Although we have done our best to prepare for this collection - we are still really struggling to get printed fabric in fast enough. We will be getting new prints in all next week, so your patience is appreciated)... ;)

"Price, price, price!" we hear. People buy online because they can get things cheaper! They avoid taxes! They don't have to pay staff! They do't have to pay rent! They can undercut all the people who are out there in the real world, working hard at a fair day's work for a fair day's pay.

I'm not buying it.

Price? That's a smokescreen. A red herring. A diversion. An excuse.

The received wisdom is that real world clothes shopping is a better experience, but  online clothes shopping gets you better prices.

Really?

Speaking for myself - it's all backwards. 

Newsflash to retailers of the world, in many cases, price is a tiny reason people prefer to buy online. The big reason is that it's actually not much fun shopping in your stores!

And the reasons that it is not fun are all things that could have been fixed, but weren't. people didn't have any other choice. "Sure, the parking is horrible, but if you want stuff for Christmas... you're going to have to deal with it!" Actually, no, we're not giong to have to deal with it. any more.

I learnt this last week.

I spend a lot of my time online. A lot. I'm surprised I still have an actual body any more. I'm more like Tron. But on Saturday I decided to get out and do some clothes shopping in 'real' clothes shops. It was a eye opener!

The first one I went into was a pop up sale. They had a whole bunch of designer labels. I walked in and the guy there took one look at me and looked away as if to say "Sorry... we cater to people who actually know who Karen Walker is..."

I tried on some jeans. I felt a little stupid having to ask, but I said "Are these men's or women's jeans"

"They're unisex"

"Okay.. so do they... y'know... squash your boys?"

He just looked at me, stunned.

"I don't even know how to answer that. Like I just said, they're unisex."

I tried them on. And as I walked out of the change room, he looked away intentionally, so as to not catch my eye. He served another customer and did not say a word to her as she dropped several hundred bucks on some designer garment his company was trying to run out.

I left. Fairly humiliated.

Now, here's the kicker. When this guy's company looks at their sales stats and wonders why they're not making lots of money, there is a good chance that they're going to say "The problem is competition from online shops who can undercut our prices!"

No it ain't. The problem is that the sins of traditional retail stores have ben papered over by their monopoly on the goods. But the party is over. And now these sins are on display for all to see, but consumers don't have to put up with them any more. And traditional retail stores have been very slow to repent.

So here they are, a couple of the REAL reasons why online stores are winning the retail war.

1. Rude Staff

We've all exprienced it. The girl in the shop just doesn't want to be there. And she doesn't care whether you buy or not  - it doesn't make a difference to her. And it shows. In fact, she would be happier if you just turned right around and left the store! You're interupting her pants folding. Go away.

2. Uneducated Staff

I like finding out stuff about the clothes I buy. I like to know about the designers, about the brand, about the construction, about the ideas... However, it usally ends in a lot of awkwardness as the retail assistant just stares at me blankly. It's like they're thinking "Mister, don't ask me questions... just buy it, okay?"

3. Parking

Christmas 2009... in a car park of a major shopping centre. It was late, I was tired. Worst experience of my life. Never again.

4. Lying

"You look amazing in those floral harem pants" No I don't. And you know it.

I could go on... and I probably will. Another time. :)

 (***And, of course, certain of these sins are comitted by online shops as well, and some real world retail shops do a great job at serving their cusomers! I'm genenralising. Which I'm allowed to do).