#volante design

We would like to honor the lifetime of a very, very special jacket and announce its retirement.

The Eagle put us on the map as a gamer clothing company. It’s got drama and style. We’ve loved how versatile it can be to wear a revolutionary era trench coat. We cannot say how great it has been to make these, to share them with you, and to improve upon them over time. The Eagle has lived a Hero’s life and should go out with a bang. Without this coat, there’s no doubt that we would not be in business. 

Here at Volante Design we extend our warmest thanks to those of you out there who are living and working in the Eagle. In you this timeless design will live on. Thank you for believing in us and in the Eagle. 

And even good things must come to an end. We feel the time has come to retire this exceptional coat and make room for our next generation. 

The remaining Eagles are on sale this week for $375, and will be the last ever made. For the die-hards out there, we will still offer the Made to Order Eagle, with custom sizing and whatever else your heart desires.

http://bit.ly/2Bqb9E2

It’s quiet. It is really really quiet. There’s a gentle white noise from the mini split and that’s all. We’re in Kyoto sleeping on the floor, inhaling the sweet reedy smell of the tatami mats. We’re staying in a major metropolis. It’s 4 in the morning because I’m still jet-lagged. The doorways are all too short for me. When I stand up on the train I invariably bang my head on the hanging handles, not hard, just enough to surprise myself and to feel foolish. I am enormous here. I forgot to pack walking shoes and bought a men’s size, as the women’s sizes stop well before my (size 9) giant feet.

We’ve been doing a lot of walking. There are so many beautiful little streets, with worn fabric banners showing hand printed or drawn letters that look like nothing more than beautiful shapes to me. I am utterly illiterate here. The people I’ve met have been unbelievably gracious and put up with our knowing nothing in a way that makes it seem like they are at fault for not knowing what strange thing we’re asking for in their country, in their home. We’ve been traveling very low-budget and staying in single rooms in homes and ryokan (tiny hotels run by families mostly).

For some reason the images in my mind of Tokyo are not the sweeping torii gates of the shrines that we went to see. I have photographs and will always treasure the memory of seeing them. But what I was most amazed by were smaller things that we did not know to stop and document. There was a set of three ceramic pots, sitting on the street next to some potted plants. They seemed vacant at first, but they were full of water, and tiny fish hiding in the water plants. The tiny shapes of the fish were right there in the street under the sky. The bright flash of this revelation was both so fitting for the setting and so unexpected. I imagine that they belong to some grandmother who sits out in the evening and watches the fish go around. Who cares if this is true or not.

I remember also vividly the meh meeeeh-ing sound of the cicadas, such a complaining sound, so loud in a country where even the construction is done with as little impact as possible. There were some houses styled to be European that stuck out. They looked like something from an anime. They didn’t look like any European house I’ve seen. More like a very tidy cake in the shape of a house.

The first night we landed and went deliriously in search of some food after flying for about 17 hours, we stumbled into a family run udon shop. David begged me to make a decision about food, because everything seemed bright and loud and utterly indecipherable at that time of night in our strange state. We ordered the first and second thing on the menu, ordered a beer. Blessedly the word for beer is understood everywhere. We got some amazing home-made noodles in broth, some cat-foody tasting fish, a bowl of clams in rich brown sauce? We think they were clams but honestly I’m not sure, and rice with tuna mash and a raw egg yolk on top. It was unbelievable. I think that’s when I knew we were in Japan. We ate our udon hot even though they asked us 3 or 4 times if we were sure about that. It was about 90 degrees. It never occurred to us to have it cold. The cook went to sit in the back room and drink with his friends after it seemed there would be no more customers coming in. He poured us a tiny challis’ of sake and left us to his wife’s watchful eye. She tidied, we ate, and then payed and fled.

I love how clean it is here. I love it. I have always liked order and taking off my shoes inside. I am German after all. Everyone seems to carry their own hand towel for a day’s outing. There are no paper towels in most of the bathrooms. This same hand towel can cover your hair should it rain. Why you’d want to cover your hair when it rains I’m not sure, but it was clearly an important function of the towel. We enjoyed a late afternoon of watching people run through the rain with various items over their heads while we sat in the window of a restaurant/pub. The fashions and people were equally fun to watch. People wear floor length flowery mom-ish dresses and make them look cute. Can you believe it?

The rooms we’ve been in are spare, clean, everything in the bathroom is white, as though to prove to you that there’s no speck of dirt hiding that you might miss on a colorful tile. I love that people don’t smoke and throw their butts on the ground, but either wait near an ash-can or carry the butt away in a small pouch designed for this purpose. I don’t even mind that there’s smoking in some restaurants. I grew up with this in Germany and it seems sort of cozy to me. I know that it’s terrible for all involved of course- but what can I say. I’ve seen folks with gloves for ridding the train so they don’t have to touch what other people touched. There are even men in the train stations who clean the ever rotating germ-buffet that is the escalator handrail. There seems to be a whole fleet of people in the parks who’s job it is to clear away leaves. I love that they care enough to employ people to make sure that it’s nice. We could learn from this America.

We came to Japan to see Tokyo Games show and see if it would ever be a viable market for us. It’s much cheaper to send me and David (who go for free) than the company and all the stuff required for a con set-up. So, we’ve reviewed Tokyo games show, and basically it’ll be a very long time before we come to exhibit at this show if ever. No judgement of the show, but it doesn’t really look like folks are interested in shopping. And what there is to buy is very easy to buy, t-shirts, towels, stuffed critters. It’s blastedly full and hot and sort of dark also. But there I am being back at work, analyzing, explaining.

I’m done working for the trip. We’ve got one week to do whatever we want in Japan. The funny thing is we have gone so far away to be able to have a real stopping point. To be able to stop working or even thinking about work it helps to have little to no internet and not to be callable. I think we must learn to be unavailable more often.

The most wonderful thing about running a business is that you get to set the terms. You get to chose. This is also the very hardest because you have to chose carefully and then follow up on your choices. It never really ends of course. This has never been more true than now. As we grow, (not as smoothly as it sounds) we also have new growing pains, new overhead costs, new challenges, new systems we have to learn and master. There’s nobody to help you “figure it out.” It’s hard to shut-off, to stop working. It’s hard to feel like your ship will stay afloat without you watching it’s every move. But it will, it does, it has for the last week.

- Willow Volante

Dear People who follow Volante Design,

I think it’s time you had a name. David and I have been joking for years that instead of a child we’ve got a business. There are some funny parallels. Hear me out. At the beginning you have no idea what you’re doing and it keeps you up at night. When something goes wrong it’s the worst thing that has ever happened because there is no precedent. You make mistakes, you later see that there were higher roads, or more diplomatic answers. Now our business is about 6- it does basically  let us sleep through the night. There are a few nightmares but not so many. It goes out on adventures without us. Is this metaphor getting weird yet?

The point is, Volante Design has been both intensely personal for David, me and our team and also very, very public, because obviously (to us at least) without you, the audience, our people, folks who think what we’re doing is worth while, there would be no Volante Design. At the risk of sounding hopelessly momish- you’re our village. We may not be the biggest village in the nerdy cultural bubble but you’re here and we notice it every single day.

Some seasons are slow- this is normal for any business- but it can be hard to believe that it’ll pick up again. When it’s June 5th or 6th and we haven’t sold more than a pin in a few days it always feels like we’ll probably close on June 7th. While I know that June is slow and I prepare by having at least a few months of operating costs in the bank, it still seems like the end is nigh. It hasn’t ever been the end. Knock on wood.

This is the season (August to October) when we take the show on the road. I usually get to see you people, I think of you as my people, our community, in all the various cities that we hit up. This year I’m at home packing for a show and taking care of things in the office. I’m both intensely grateful to have the amazing team that I have who go on the road and allow me to stay home (it’s so easy to get burnt out on the road and I don’t travel that well). And also, I’m a little sad. I miss seeing you. I miss hearing what you think of the newest design or what you want us to design. I miss seeing your costumes and the amazing colors of your hair and make-up. I miss the couple who visit every show they’re at with their therapy dog. I miss those funny stoic guys who say very little and then when they try on a jacket they start to giggle and jump around.

I know that I need to be able to travel less, to work on the big picture strategy, to design a LOTR collection(sqweee), to file taxes and royalty reports (uggg). I know that I don’t travel well- I don’t time change well, I don’t food change well, I am basically a fussy pants in every way you can imagine. But maybe we can have a conversation here? Maybe you can send me your photos of your dope outfit? I can tell you what pants to wear on your date, or not to wear. We could talk about sustainably made clothes and what a superhero means in today’s language.  We could discuss how interesting that the villain of Spider-man: Far From Home is basically a master of CGI.

No artist can thrive without their supporters. Da Vinici was supported by his few but very powerful patrons, the Medici. Amanda Palmer has a Patreon with many people who give her a few bucks. There are a lot of models out there.  You can support us by buying a jacket, or by helping to share our work, or by inviting us to a panel at your local con, or to have coffee in your local town if we happen to be going by. You support us by telling us what we’re doing well and what you love, as well as what we can get better at. SO what do we call you? How can we connect and say thank you?

So, I’d like to invite you to join our discord server.  Let’s have a conversation. What’s your name Volante People?

We have only come up with silly things like “the Volantini” which ensues a chorus of “Utinni!” or “the brotherhood”, which is too franchise specific and a bit dudeish.

TLDR: Volante Design and I are on Discord and I like you. I’m testing out what it might be like to talk to you as me… and not as Volante Design. Also, I think we need a club/gang/initiates name.

Stay Badass,

Willow

Our Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/cvD64V9

Ever wondered exactly why our products are all made in the USA? Check out our blog post to find out.

Happy 4th of July! Let’s celebrate America by supporting American manufacturing, paying Americans living wages, and building up our local communities.

https://www.volantedesign.us/blogs/volante-design-blog/why-american-made