Part Three: From Core to Celestial (current ranges)
I sketched out some key shapes and possible outfit combinations. I added in some variations to make sure there were options to suit all body types and the Eustratia Core collection was almost born. It just needed a few touches of latex-lace to make it distinctly Eustratia.
At this time, I also discontinued almost all styles from previous collections available through my website. I released a short video explaining a bit about my decision and the brand’s new direction.
The change in direction wasn’t limited to the product. I also launched a brand new Eustratia website with a much simpler interface and pared back all creative endeavours to do with the brand.
Photoshoots were restricted to my home and I mostly modelled the items myself. I also stopped doing shows and very rarely attended events.
This is also around the time I decided it might be worth making more of an effort on Instagram. I didn’t know much about it but I could see how it could make a huge difference to the business.
Core Collection & Core Xmas Edit, 2016
Core photo: Eustratia
The simple pictures of myself in my living room, wearing the new Core collection, were the first images I had ever posted on social media that customers were genuinely interested in.
It was also the first Eustratia collection in which all the items had potential to sell.
The Core collection has remained unchanged aside from the addition of a few new items, and people continue to enjoy it. I still love suggesting which combinations of items might best suit someone’s lifestyle and wardrobe!
After the launch of the Core collection, I took some time to build it up, take better pictures of the items, experiment with some video and decide how I wanted to present the brand.
It was incredibly valuable to have some time away from the constant projects and travelling to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. I would recommend it to anyone who runs their own business or has been involved in back-to-back projects for a while.
Despite its name, the Core collection is more of a range, and since its creation I have found it more natural to have several different ranges, to which I occasionally add items.
Edge Collection, 2018
Edge photo: Eustratia
As the Core collection included wardrobe staples, I decided I needed a different home for my edgier designs and so Edge collection was born.
Mythical Creatures Collection, 2018
Mythical Creatures photo: Fairytales Photography
Rather than new designs, Mythical Creatures was my name for a new category created in 2018 to make some older designs that were carried forward work with the new range system.
This collection now embraces my mermaid- and unicorn-themed pieces, which are still popular in certain circles.
Heritage Collection, 2019
Heritage photo: Eustratia
More recently, for similar reasons I also added a Heritage collection category, where garments with style lines inspired by the original Eustratia collections can live.
I don’t expect to sell much from the Heritage collection but I want it to be available, so I can be reminded of how it all started and so that anyone who visits my website has the opportunity to see it too.
I think it’s important for a brand to have history and personality.
Xmas ’19 Celestial Capsule
Collection, 2019
Celestial photo: Eustratia
After the success of my glow-up of some key items with glitter-mesh panels for Christmas 2018, I wanted to take things up a notch for the following Christmas.
The Celestial glitter-mesh features moon, star and Pegasus motifs embroidered in metallic thread (tying it in with previous collection themes), as well as varying degrees of glitter!
I loved this theme for a holiday range because it is undoubtedly festive but also non-restrictive, having a perfect look for celebrations at other times of the year too.
Things I’ve learned from my first decade at the helm of Eustratia
If it seems I haven’t been doing a lot of designing in recent years, that’s true. But I like to think that the designing I do now is more considered and well thought out. In fact, the process is more like product development.
I already have an extensive Eustratia design library, and what is more important from a business perspective is being able to turn that design into a marketable and saleable product.
That means giving it context, adding the right finishes and findings (metal components) to improve both look and usability, and of course pattern grading.
The latter is something I didn’t consider much in the years when I concentrated more on conceptual design, but there are certain shapes that are much easier to translate into a variety of sizes. Thinking of these things before releasing a product makes the production much more manageable.
Being able to sell the finished product is what allows me to design in the first place, and communicating with my potential audience is a big part of that.
Selling remotely is difficult because a person on the other side of an ocean or half way across a huge land mass has to trust you with their hard earned cash. They have to select your product over hundreds of others and pay you in advance.
A whole other level of complexity is added if you offer custom designs, colours, sizes, trims and motifs — all of which I do.
For the customer, communicating exactly what is wanted in writing can be tricky at the best of times, and taking your own measurements can be risky.
There’s always the chance that the customer will take their measurements, place an order, wait four weeks to receive it and then realise that it isn’t quite right and it needs to be sent back and adjusted.
Luckily this doesn’t happen too often, but the customer has to like the product enough to risk that, and trust the designer enough to think they will probably get it right.
Having the opportunity to form relationships with some of my long-term clients over the years has helped me realise the importance of images. Online shoppers want to see the type of pictures that will help them imagine what it will be like to wear the garment.
They want to see it close up and from every angle as well as on the body and styled up, so creating a complete portfolio of images for each item can be a full-time job in itself.
I still have a backlog of Eustratia images to create, and with video becoming supported by more platforms, that is now expected too.
The promotional landscape independent designers have to navigate to be relatively successful has changed drastically over the ten years I’ve been in business.
It was once more about being in the right place (or party) and knowing the right people. But it’s now more about creating eye-catching short-form content and uploading it to the right social media platform.
In an ever-changing world, where one has to constantly self-educate and adapt while consumers are becoming ever more demanding, it’s becoming harder for artisan brands like Eustratia to exist.
Even for those who can and do adapt, the fight is often not over. Designers who work in niche markets such as fetish fashion are constantly being struck by issues such as limited visibility, inability to integrate shop listings on social media, and content restrictions that make life online even more difficult.
Through all this, I’m happy to still be here and still trading — if no longer in Manchester.
Starting a new year in a new country
In 2020, I made the biggest change yet and moved my studio and business to rural France. I can’t say too much more about this move yet, but one immediate advantage is that I can finally plan larger scale shoots in the grounds of my new property.
Completing an international move during lockdown was challenging, but I look forward to coming out of it and welcoming creatives here for future projects.
I have been asked whether I think Eustratia might still have been a UK-based brand today if, at an earlier point, I had relocated the business to London, with its big fetish community and myriad latex brands.
Well, I did plan to live and work in London. When I moved to the UK from Greece aged 18, I went to London first and fell in love with it. I spent a lot of time there throughout college and uni and lived there for my placement year.
I planned to return after graduation but decided not to at the last minute for personal reasons. I do think I would have done much better being there for my first five years in business.
It would have been great to have the events on my doorstep and likeminded people for support. But I have a multifaceted life that isn’t just about latex so I had to compromise.
I now feel that I’ve made a relative success despite not being in the most central location, and that it doesn’t matter where in the world I am based.
It would actually be more important to my development as a creative to have the space to plan larger projects, something that has been a dream of mine for years. As I mentioned above, I think the promotional landscape has changed and is more about content creation than events.
I don’t know exactly what the future holds for Eustratia, but ten years is a fantastic milestone to have reached, and anything beyond is a bonus.
I do know that being in Europe will make it much easier to travel to European events such as the German Fetish Ball, which I look forward to returning to.
I also spend a lot of time sitting in my studio making things, and I think having nature around to take a break in will be beneficial for my health.
I see potential in my new location for photoshoots, model days and other events that I could never have considered from my warehouse share in London or my terrace in Manchester.
Apparently I’m not the only one with this idea. There is a couple in the neighbouring village who have four huskies and make adult accessories in their barn.
I hope to get the opportunity to meet them soon. Maybe we can do a ‘Fetish in the Forest’ event together!
eustratia.com
instagram.com/eustratia_latex
facebook.com/eustratiadesign
thefetishistas/eustratia-in-lockdown
Eustratia: a Decade of Design – Photographer credits
Al Overdrive
Chris Rout
Dafydd Owen
Danniella Jaine
David Richardson
ENB Photography
Eustratia
Fabio Ferreira
Fairytales Photography
Ian McManus
Jason Harry
John Cubillan
GALLERIES BELOW: Eustratia’s current collections: Core, left, and the rest from 2016 on, right.
CLICK OR TAP on either preview to open gallery, then click/tap any image to start its slideshow
Tags: Clothing, Designers, Latex, Models, Photographers, Retail