Starter Kit. Idea 404 of 500. Cluster 20
Homeware brands: ceramics, linen, brass, made here, sold under one Sri Lankan name
The mechanism, from the book
Sri Lankans make the world's underwear to the world's standard, and the country has no fashion brand of its own that the world has heard of.
The first step
Choose one maker each for ceramics, linen and brass, and put a set of their products together under one working name with a common label and good photographs. Offer the set to three gift shops or concept stores abroad through contacts abroad. A reorder, not the first order, is your real proof.
- Who pays first
- A concept store or gift shop abroad that wants a coherent range with one origin story rather than scattered one-off imports.
- What leaves today
- Island makers sell unbranded to traders who add the name and the margin; one Sri Lankan brand keeps both at home.
Ask first
- National Crafts Council. Ask which makers of ceramics, linen and brass can supply steady volumes.
- Sri Lanka Export Development Board. Ask whether support exists for a homeware brand selling abroad.
Check before you spend
A written supply agreement with each maker, whether the brand name is free and can be registered, and labelling and safety rules for homeware abroad.
Find out these three numbers
- What will gift shops abroad pay wholesale for the set?
- How many sets can the makers supply each month?
- How many shops place a second order within the season?
A comparison from the book
Sri Lanka House, the showcase. Chapter Seventeen
"The rule is quality, story, origin, export potential and repeat-purchase value,"
Choose makers on quality, story and repeat orders, so one name comes to mean something.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.