com·pose-

 to make or form by combining things, parts or elements. 

Our company, neve / hawk, began as grassroots as they come. At night, while our kids slept, my husband and I drank wine, listened to music and created. We screen printed my husband's illustrations on fabric and then put those illustrations on garments I sewed. It was fun, fulfilling and inspiring in the 'I just had my second baby what the hell am I doing and where did ME go'  way. I felt like this outlet was my therapy and soon this therapy turned into a tiny t-shirt company, Neve Inspired, with a dream buried deep inside of taking it further.

Further came sooner than we ever thought. You see, one day, out of the blue, things changed. We happened to be in NYC, the last leg of a wedding we attended in New England. A children's trade show was happening at the same time, something we knew very little about. But, a friend suggested we go to see the world we could one day be a part of. Nah, we thought, that is crazy.  We decided to go anyway to walk the floor. Holy Moses. Of course, I had to put our daughter in something I had just patterned and made the week before. I had to. No one will notice, I thought, because they are surrounded by this stuff all the time. Or, maybe someone will notice because they are surrounded by this stuff all the time?  Either way, I knew I was only out the time it took to make the outfit. And, it was one killer outfit.

That damn outfit. 

I curse that outfit. And, I celebrate it. 

It turns out that someone did notice. A few people, actually. But, one spectacular person literally chased us down....Fast forward 5 months and there we were, debuting our first full collection at Playtime New York. The person that chased us down encouraged us to go further and guided us through a world we knew NOTHING about. The person that chased us is now one of the dearest people in our lives.

I curse her. And, I celebrate her. 

Why am I telling you all this? Because this business is crazy and we often joke that if we knew what all was involved we would have never gone down this path. Oh dear god I am thinking about all the things we didn't know. All the mistakes me have made. There are so many facets, so many moving parts that it is sometimes overwhelming. 

And, it is beautiful. And it is now my career, as bumpy of a road it has been thus far.

Most of the world just sees the designers, almost like the lead singer of a band. And designers are awesome. (Virtual high five to all designers out there, I am one.) But, in addition to the forefront, there are insane amounts of people that do amazing, creative, interesting jobs. Jobs that make this world work. Jobs we had never really put much thought into before or never even knew existed. Jobs that keep us afloat: pattern makers, retail shop owners, seamstresses, dye specialists, bloggers, pr firms, reps, etc. etc. etc. And, of course, designers.

Maybe we are just that much more naive than most, uneducated in this line of work. That is definitely a good guess. But, maybe not. And, the more we educate others about these jobs and the glorious people behind them, the more we can understand this world... The more this world can grow. Maybe someone reading this will find a career they want to pursue. Maybe this little blog can contribute to getting people excited about all areas of the fashion world. Maybe it could even be a tiny catalyst in growing some of these professions and trades. Maybe, by looking into the lives and work of some pretty fabulous people, more production will stay state side. Maybe I am too big of a dreamer. But, at the very least, dammit, ALL of these moving parts need to be celebrated. 

So, here you have it...COMPOSE: a celebration of the many movers and shakers that COMPOSE this mini masterpiece we know as the children's fashion world... and how we all harmonize to make it happen.

Cheers, 

Kris and Bob 
neve / hawk