The Motivation that Led Paynter Jacket Co to Construct in Public

Before they ever made a single jacket Paynter Jacket Co. Founders Becky Okell and Huw Thomas spoke about historical couture on Instagram.

For her followers it was a community to talk about everything to do with jackets.

For Becky and Huw it was product development research.

But for the startup world it is simply “Building in Public”.

Originally driven by passion, building in public became Paynter’s recipe for success: when the duo launched the first Paynter jacket, it was sold out within minutes.

With insights from Buffer’s Small Business, Big Lessons Podcast Episode 3 and the accompanying unpublished interview, Becky and Huw explained how they decided to build publicly, what ethos they share, and how public building built Paynter.

Beck and Huw, founders of Paynter Jacket Co.

Modify an iconic jacket and spot an opportunity

Huw worked for a small denim brand in Wales, taking scraps of fabric from the floor of the cutting room and sewing his own jackets together. He also had a hobby of buying vintage jackets and taking them apart to see how they were made.

Then came the iconic blue jacket. He just couldn’t take it apart, but he really wanted to build it up again.

Shortly after they met, the two shared his passion with Becky and decided to recreate this jacket together. They managed to get in touch with a retired Burberry model maker who developed the first model for them. From there they visit Premier Vision, “the holy grail of fashion fairs,” as Becky put it.

“Basically, your job is to take at least 20,000 steps in three days, or every day, and just meet as many people as you can and explain what you’re doing and try to get people on board,” said Becky.

After meeting so many different people and companies that helped make the pieces of a single jacket, Becky and Huw started thinking about sharing this journey online. They were inspired by a personal pain: they loved the work of other designers, but wished that these people would share their travels.

“We looked at the references of the brands we really, really love and admire and thought I wish they had shared their process in their early days … why is their logo the way it is?” Said Becky. “Why do you have two logos? Why is your art direction the way it is? “

So the two stumbled upon a concept they would later learn: building in public.

“We thought … if we were ever going to be a brand that someone would refer to, it would be really cool to have an almost open book to begin with,” Becky said.

After that spark at Premier Vision, the duo officially decided to start a jacket company. It was supposed to take five months – but in the end it took nine – from visiting the trade fair to the start of the first jacket. And they kept sharing the whole trip Instagram.

Payers on Instagram

“We shared the whole thing – things we were happy with, things we weren’t happy with – on Instagram,” said Huw. “We even got people to vote on which colors they’d like to see.”

Huw and Becky also shared their journey of building a business, including the less noticeable parts like financing the operation by selling possessions on eBay.

“We were very, very keen to keep Paynter very independent, just run by the two of us, and we didn’t have enough to do a production run with the factory,” said Huw. “So we shared on Instagram, shared at the post office and sent the things we sold on eBay just to raise as much money as possible for production.”

Then something clicked.

On a trip to Portugal to visit the factory that was supposed to make their jacket, they shared the whole process of making the jacket in action: buttoning, dyeing, piecing pieces together, and more. Your audience couldn’t get enough.

“I think, for the first time, names of people we hadn’t heard from – they weren’t friends or family,” Becky said. “And then you realize, wow, we’re not just talking to ourselves, there’s something more to it than that.”

People even wanted to pre-order jackets, but Becky and Huw found the fabric wasn’t quite right. In line with their vision of a quality-driven, independent brand, they made the tough decision to postpone the batch for another four months so they could get the fabric they wanted. But all along, they have been talking to people on Instagram and sharing their journey.

Finally, Becky and Huw were ready to launch the first Paynter jacket. They had around 600 followers at the time and it sold out quickly.

Building in public affects every element of business

Paynter has four product launches per year and takes customer feedback very seriously. For them, building in public isn’t about sharing their one-way journey, it’s about interacting with customers throughout the build process.

Becky and Huw from Paynter Jacket Co.

“We always involve customers before we have made any final decisions about a product,” says Becky. “For example, we know there are certain colors that we definitely want to make, but we’d like to open up to the ground and see what colors customers want. So that could just be in a simple Instagram voting system, it could be a TypeForm. It’s all pretty lo-fi, but we just want to make sure we listen to people and get their opinions on things. “

“Every jacket we make now has a tiny map pocket, and we got that pocket from a guy named Max,” Becky continued. “He was on the Eurostar [train] He text us about his favorite jacket but wishes it had a map pocket and we say, well, great, consider it done. ”

You also get feedback on what people don’t like, which can be difficult at times but ultimately leads to amazing moments with customers.

“One of the best parts of taking advice from our audience is showing that you have listened,” said Huw. “To the [example], Batch number four. We had maybe 10 colors. We hadn’t quite picked the last couple yet and there was this emerald green that we didn’t want to do but people just loved it so we put it in and people just responded really well. They say, oh wow, this is a brand that listens. “

Building a company with morals

Doing just four runs a year is a very conscious decision for Paynter. They’re always sold out and in much more demand, but they don’t want to create waste in the business, both in terms of production and the extra effort required to keep a larger operation running.

Instead of expanding production, Huw and Becky invest their energy in telling stories with their jackets. Each Paynter jacket now comes with a thank you card that includes a link to a full digital story of how the jacket was made, including videos of the artisans making different pieces like buttons or pockets.

Aside from a culture of not wasting or contributing to the environmental damage that fast fashion can cause, Becky and Huw also love the unique feeling customers get when they get a Paynter jacket, knowing that that not everyone can get one and that it is incredibly high quality will take a while.

And because of the small batches, there are many people in the world who are the only Paynter jacket owners in their country.

“Wow, that must be pretty cool,” said Huw. “You are the only person in this country with this jacket.”