Wrap Up of Unique LA {part. 02.}

May 23, 2013 in Events, New Things

Here's part 2 of Unique LA Wrap up!

We started setting up our stuff Friday, and since we mocked up our booth in the workshop we were able to set it up in 2 hours!

Our booth concept was simple, we wanted something that reflected our products: beauty in material. The material we chose complimented our products in a warm welcome way.

Our new pack received a lot of praise and will be in our store very soon!

At Unique LA we were able to release some new products and get a feel for what the customer responds to. We decided to display our new leather shelf with our new collaboration of laser-engraved products.

Unique LA was a ton of fun! The interactions we had with customers as well as other vendors was well worth the preparation. We received extremely useful feedback and are planning to do more shows in the future.

We would like to personally thank everyone who came out and supported 1.61 as well as Unique LA.

*Special thanks to Whitney Lum for the pictures.

Wrap Up of Unique LA {part. 01.}

May 16, 2013 in Behind the Scenes

As we have mentioned this before, we had our first Unique LA show last weekend. Thank you so much for those came out and stopped by at our booth. It was great to see familiar faces as well as meeting new friends.

It was such a action-packed weekend, so we decided to have 2 posts dedicated to Unique LA spring show. So, here's part 1 of 2. We want to share how we made our booth and our inspiration behind it.

Yup. Sawdust. We started from making our frames for the backdrop wall. We chose very lightweight wood sticks, for the easy transfer and easy loading to the event.

Our next step was to stretch the canvas over the frame. Large canvas is a bit difficult to stretch, but the principle is still the same; slowly but surely. Just need to be patient and make sure there is no any wrinkles. We chose canvas cloth as back drop for its neutral look and feel. It is much lighter weight than wood panels, but still very versatile. We made our panels to be easy to store, for use in the future. For this show, we kept it simple so our product will stand out against the wall.

Voilà! Walls are up. We always do mock-table/mock-booth for each events. Practice makes it perfect, right?

Copper pipes! We chose copper pipes not only because it is beautiful material, but also it ties together with our products. Just like the copper rivets on our market tote, we wanted the material to be a good accent for the booth.

We then put the hooks and shelves up, and this was pretty much the final shape of our booth. And yes, 1.61 products are made in cat-friendly environment.

The final detail, signage. All hand painted by us, just like our products!

For the part 2 of Unique LA Wrap Up, we will show you the pictures from the event. Stay tuned!

Behind the Scenes.

April 30, 2013 in Behind the Scenes

Did you check out our Spring/Summer 2013 Look Book yet?

This was our first Look Book shoot. We had lots of trial and error, but also had fun dressing up our products with props and greenery.

For the first Look Book, our theme was to have simple and classic look. Paired up with everyday carry goods; keys, pens, notebooks and such (you know the things you will find in bottom of your bag!) We also wanted to suggest using the case as a pouch for little special things like, tobacco pipes, jewelry, and accessories. The best way to use our goods is to carry it everyday, so we wanted to show the versatility of the case. They are perfect for your beloved electronic devices, but also great to declutter your bag. When you bring the case everywhere, you'll see the story that will be created into the leather, it becomes something sentimental in your daily life.

Unique LA x 1.61 Soft Goods

April 26, 2013 in Events

Last Saturday, we had a vender meeting for Unique LA Spring Show. Unique LA is a 2 day event celebrating all thing American made. We are so honored to be part of the event as a local maker from Downtown Los Angeles!

We have done pop-up shop events before, but this will be our biggest. Naturally we are excited and overwhelmed at the same time!

It's been busy over here at the workshop planning for our booth design, productions, signage, etc... We've also made prototypes for new products that will be released at the event. We worked with Re-Opening to create limited edition leather items that will be featured at the show. Stay tuned, we will share more about that here;)

As we were leaving the meeting we picked up our marketing material to pass out. To our surprise we are featured on the postcard/flyer of the Unique LA Spring Show along with 8 other great brands. We are so flattered, but now we know our bar has been raised!

The show is on May 11th and 12th, at California Market Center Penthouse in Downtown Los Angeles, Fashion District. $10 for admission, includes free tote bag, free drink, picture booth, and DIY workshop. (and beautiful Downtown LA view!)

Mark your calender and hope to see you there!

Scout Mob Shoppe x 1.61 Soft Goods

April 20, 2013 in Events

Scout mob is a online service that celebrates local communities. They discover local business and makers, and support the neighborhoods' culture through their app and website.

For the past month, we've been working with the folks from Scout Mob for the shoppe feature. We took some photographs around the workshop to share some of our process, and also wrote up the concepts and thoughts behind our brand. And today, Scout Mob Shoppe x 1.61 Soft Goods is live!

They've done a fantastic job showing who we are as Los Angeles' local maker. We are very happy and excited about this little web storefront :) Thank you Scout Mob!

Can't wait to send these awesome stickers and thank you cards with our products!

Check out the Shoppe, get yourself some local goodness and deals!

Website is up!

April 18, 2013 in New Things

We have been selling on Etsy for the past year and decided that limitations (specifically the amount of photos) on Etsy were not on par with what we want to present to you, our customers. While we will still be selling on Etsy we decided an online storefront would better represent our brand and message we would want to convey.

So I present our first storefront, our plan is to have a regularly updated inventory and gateway that customers can not only shop but get the latest updates on the happenings around the shop. Welcome, and thank you for stopping by!