2023 presents an exciting year for our business and our brands. While sitting down to plan for the year ahead, I had time to reflect on the the past year, and I was reminded that the absolute dog-fight of a year that was 2022 was pivotal in our arriving in this exciting position. Below is a brief reflection and forward-looking written piece that I hope will share an in-depth insight into the current affairs of our business. Enjoy!
2022 feels like the year we put a solid roof over our heads at Good Good Good, Duck Duck Goose & our newly independently established CMT (cut, make and trim) factory now named Together MFG (MFG is an abbreviation for manufacturing).
The production team at Together MFG in our newly established factory in Woodstock, Cape Town. Photo by Jono Mellish.
Together MFG:
Firstly I would like to formally introduce, Together MFG. For the last 12 years we have been manufacturing in my wife & her mum Jacqui’s 29-year-old heirloom CMT manufacturing facility in Maitland, Cape Town. By early 2022 we had outgrown the space that we’d been renting from Jacqui, and we had no choice but to find ourselves a new location in Woodstock. It felt sad and intimidating to leave the home that Jacqui had built for us, and we still find ourselves phoning her on an almost daily basis asking for advice, experience shares and general guidance. This move was a growing-up moment for our business, and it feels like a big step in the right direction for our newly independently established CMT.
In 2022, we at Together MFG manufactured T-Shirts for one of Paris’ most famous couture houses and we fulfilled numerous orders for some of South Africa’s best fashion brands, stores and designers. For 12 years, we’ve been focusing on making the best possible T-Shirt, and by manufacturing for an LVMH brand without any returns or complaints felt like a coming-of-age moment for our business, our manufacturing team and myself as a business owner.
Daniel, Erin & Ziyaad outside Duck Duck Goose, 120 Bree Street, Cape Town. Photo by Jono Mellish.
Duck Duck Goose:
In the second half of 2022 the easing of covid restrictions allowed us to use our retail space at 120 Bree Street, Duck Duck Goose, for all of its intended purposes. We hosted regular monthly music programmes on First Thursday’s, our friends at The Other Radio moved into the store for a week of live broadcasts through our latch window, we collaborated with Cedar Coffee Roasters on a custom blend and invited our community for an 8am morning coffee tasting. Hell we even hosted an event to celebrate our scented candle collaboration with Johannesburg’s Searching for Textures. I’d like to extend big love and blessings to our neighbours at Max Bagels & Leo’s Wine Bar for assisting in hosting both of the latter events.
Duck Duck Goose opened its doors in the middle of the pandemic in December 2020 with the expectation that we would face severely challenging economic and social conditions for an unknown duration of time. Having now celebrated our 2nd birthday on 15th December 2022, and having just come half-way through our first real tourist summer season, it feels good to see people respond to our work with their hard-earned cash. We’ve seen good summer sales from both our local and international customer base. At the end of the day, we’re here to service our unique gap in the market, and without the financial support of our customers we’re merely a meeting spot with beautiful product inside.
Speaking of meeting spots, it’s been encouraging to see Duck Duck Goose and our corner at 120 Bree Street become a meeting place for people to make connections and discuss ideas in a safe space in the heart of Cape Town’s city centre. I’ve always felt that one of the best things about a clothing store that intersects with the cultural heartbeat of a city is that you can meet there without having to pay for a coffee or buy a meal, and after 2 years of hard-work it feels that an authentic and engaged community has developed around our store. Thank you to everyone who continues to show-up and express interest in the work that we do at 120 Bree Street. We have quietly opened a second and smaller retail location at the Watershed, at Cape Town’s iconic V&A Waterfront Mall. Stay tuned to our channels for more info about our second store-front and how we plan to integrate it with the culture at 120 Bree Street.
Daniel in Good Good Good’s The Long Hello Campaign, illustrations by Shaun Hill, photo by Luke Kuisis.
Good Good Good:
Lastly, after 18 months of showing absolutely no collections for Good Good Good, we attempted to release The Long Hello in August 2022. In an ironic twist of events the collection is still not completely available for purchase. Free from the demands of fashion’s seasonal timeline and the pressures of social media creation, we decided to release things at a pace of our own, something we have always strived to do. We are slowly releasing bits and pieces of this collection each week/month and this staggered release approach relieves our production team of unnecessary pressure while we continue to service our local and international manufacturing customers at Together MFG.
Good Good Good turns 7 years old this year, my career and personal journey in the industry turns 13 years old, and our heirloom factory turns 29 years old this year. The Long Hello as a capsule & collection has given us reason to focus and educate customers on our core offering, which includes 4 T-Shirt silhouettes: the re-release of our original 2016 regular fit T-Shirt, as well as a brand new silhouette called the Heavy T-Shirt; a heavyweight fleece offering of hoodies, sweaters and track pants, and a wide variety of new work wear silhouettes cut from luxurious South African textiles. We’re confident that as a fashion brand we offer something for almost every body, and this is evident in our size curve which ranges from XXS through to 5XL. If you can dream it we can make it!
If you’ve been following our journey over the last 13 years, and if you’ve made it this far in the blog post, I want to share a vulnerable part of myself with you. It’s taken me 13 years of hard-work, self-doubt and perseverance to no longer feel like an imposter in the industry within which I work. The creative and entrepreneurial mind and spirit can be a doubtful place at the best of times, and I am confident to say that I feel that the South African fashion industry is a place where I belong.
In 2023 I look forward to sharing a lot more behind the scenes footage of our manufacturing processes at our fledgling heritage factory as we unearth some exciting projects that have been in the works for as long as 3 years! From 2023 in Cape Town to infinity and beyond!
With Love,
Daniel & The Good Good Good & Duck Duck Goose team. XOXO
2023 & Beyond!
2023 presents an exciting year for our business and our brands. While sitting down to plan for the year ahead, I had time to reflect on the the past year, and I was reminded that the absolute dog-fight of a year that was 2022 was pivotal in our arriving in this exciting position. Below is a brief reflection and forward-looking written piece that I hope will share an in-depth insight into the current affairs of our business. Enjoy!
2022 feels like the year we put a solid roof over our heads at Good Good Good, Duck Duck Goose & our newly independently established CMT (cut, make and trim) factory now named Together MFG (MFG is an abbreviation for manufacturing).
Together MFG:
Firstly I would like to formally introduce, Together MFG. For the last 12 years we have been manufacturing in my wife & her mum Jacqui’s 29-year-old heirloom CMT manufacturing facility in Maitland, Cape Town. By early 2022 we had outgrown the space that we’d been renting from Jacqui, and we had no choice but to find ourselves a new location in Woodstock. It felt sad and intimidating to leave the home that Jacqui had built for us, and we still find ourselves phoning her on an almost daily basis asking for advice, experience shares and general guidance. This move was a growing-up moment for our business, and it feels like a big step in the right direction for our newly independently established CMT.
In 2022, we at Together MFG manufactured T-Shirts for one of Paris’ most famous couture houses and we fulfilled numerous orders for some of South Africa’s best fashion brands, stores and designers. For 12 years, we’ve been focusing on making the best possible T-Shirt, and by manufacturing for an LVMH brand without any returns or complaints felt like a coming-of-age moment for our business, our manufacturing team and myself as a business owner.
Duck Duck Goose:
In the second half of 2022 the easing of covid restrictions allowed us to use our retail space at 120 Bree Street, Duck Duck Goose, for all of its intended purposes. We hosted regular monthly music programmes on First Thursday’s, our friends at The Other Radio moved into the store for a week of live broadcasts through our latch window, we collaborated with Cedar Coffee Roasters on a custom blend and invited our community for an 8am morning coffee tasting. Hell we even hosted an event to celebrate our scented candle collaboration with Johannesburg’s Searching for Textures. I’d like to extend big love and blessings to our neighbours at Max Bagels & Leo’s Wine Bar for assisting in hosting both of the latter events.
Duck Duck Goose opened its doors in the middle of the pandemic in December 2020 with the expectation that we would face severely challenging economic and social conditions for an unknown duration of time. Having now celebrated our 2nd birthday on 15th December 2022, and having just come half-way through our first real tourist summer season, it feels good to see people respond to our work with their hard-earned cash. We’ve seen good summer sales from both our local and international customer base. At the end of the day, we’re here to service our unique gap in the market, and without the financial support of our customers we’re merely a meeting spot with beautiful product inside.
Speaking of meeting spots, it’s been encouraging to see Duck Duck Goose and our corner at 120 Bree Street become a meeting place for people to make connections and discuss ideas in a safe space in the heart of Cape Town’s city centre. I’ve always felt that one of the best things about a clothing store that intersects with the cultural heartbeat of a city is that you can meet there without having to pay for a coffee or buy a meal, and after 2 years of hard-work it feels that an authentic and engaged community has developed around our store. Thank you to everyone who continues to show-up and express interest in the work that we do at 120 Bree Street. We have quietly opened a second and smaller retail location at the Watershed, at Cape Town’s iconic V&A Waterfront Mall. Stay tuned to our channels for more info about our second store-front and how we plan to integrate it with the culture at 120 Bree Street.
Good Good Good:
Lastly, after 18 months of showing absolutely no collections for Good Good Good, we attempted to release The Long Hello in August 2022. In an ironic twist of events the collection is still not completely available for purchase. Free from the demands of fashion’s seasonal timeline and the pressures of social media creation, we decided to release things at a pace of our own, something we have always strived to do. We are slowly releasing bits and pieces of this collection each week/month and this staggered release approach relieves our production team of unnecessary pressure while we continue to service our local and international manufacturing customers at Together MFG.
Good Good Good turns 7 years old this year, my career and personal journey in the industry turns 13 years old, and our heirloom factory turns 29 years old this year. The Long Hello as a capsule & collection has given us reason to focus and educate customers on our core offering, which includes 4 T-Shirt silhouettes: the re-release of our original 2016 regular fit T-Shirt, as well as a brand new silhouette called the Heavy T-Shirt; a heavyweight fleece offering of hoodies, sweaters and track pants, and a wide variety of new work wear silhouettes cut from luxurious South African textiles. We’re confident that as a fashion brand we offer something for almost every body, and this is evident in our size curve which ranges from XXS through to 5XL. If you can dream it we can make it!
If you’ve been following our journey over the last 13 years, and if you’ve made it this far in the blog post, I want to share a vulnerable part of myself with you. It’s taken me 13 years of hard-work, self-doubt and perseverance to no longer feel like an imposter in the industry within which I work. The creative and entrepreneurial mind and spirit can be a doubtful place at the best of times, and I am confident to say that I feel that the South African fashion industry is a place where I belong.
In 2023 I look forward to sharing a lot more behind the scenes footage of our manufacturing processes at our fledgling heritage factory as we unearth some exciting projects that have been in the works for as long as 3 years! From 2023 in Cape Town to infinity and beyond!
With Love,
Daniel & The Good Good Good & Duck Duck Goose team. XOXO