Vendepunktet

"What exciting things are you creating for the next season? When will this dress be available again? My favorite jacket is worn out, will you be making it again?"

These are familiar questions that come up regularly. In the past six months, I haven't answered them entirely honestly. Because now, Mette Møller,the brand as you know it, has reached a turning point.

Ironically, not because I've run out of ideas or lost the desire to design. Even after 26 years of doing this, I still have the passion and drive within me. The halt is due to the fact that reality has made the circumstances too challenging for me to continue in the same way as before.

2019 was one of the company's best years. Both the physical store and the online shop were thriving. Many employees were busy, the podcast was running, and we had exciting plans to further develop the business. Then the pandemic hit, shocking us like everyone else. Everything came to a halt. What do we do now? We followed orders, isolated ourselves, and thought it would blow over in a few weeks.

But it didn't.

(In the picture above, you can see parts of the summer 2020 collection )

In this industry, the survival or demise depends on how skilled one is at predicting the future. The clothes you see in stores at the beginning of a season were planned 1-2 years earlier. What will customers want and how many should be produced? Having too few goods can be as detrimental as having too many. One must understand ones brand and ones customers, yet it remains a gamble.

When the pandemic hit, a new collection had just been introduced. The sales from this collection were supposed to fund the one already underway and prepare for the next one. Additionally, there are the operational costs of the store, rent, taxes, fees, and wages. When the flow of money unexpectedly halts, imbalance ensues. Especially when the duration of the standstill is uncertain.

That's when having a buffer is beneficial – as we did. However, this spring, we were moving the store. A larger space with a better location and more favorable rent needed complete renovation. And much of the buffer was allocated for this purpose.

To save money, the employees were furloughed. I took over the day-to-day operations in addition to working on the collections. At this point, I was juggling three collections simultaneously. I handled online orders and manned the store when it reopened in May. On top of that, I prepared for the move, planned, and initiated the renovation of the new location. To stimulate the economy, I started the sale season unusually early. It generated enough economic momentum that I could pay the staff their vacation pay and the rent.

For me, the pandemic period was a constant push. Significant and well-known tasks had to be tackled in uncharted waters with minimal manpower. But it worked out. When we opened the new store, the employees had returned, and the new collection was in place. Hearts were filled with joy and people's optimism was palpable, because life was returning!

But it didn't.

(The picture above is from the fall 2020 collection. The location is the new store during renovation.)

Running a store and your own clothing brand during this period was, of course, a challenge. No one really needed my type of clothes while working from home. Shopping also lost its charm with unpredictable opening hours, face masks, one-meter distance rules, and constant hand sanitizing.

But we did what we could with social media, click-and-collect services, and managed better than many.

As I mentioned earlier, the industry is driven by the ability to predict the future. During the two years of the pandemic, we constantly believed it would soon pass. That is, by the next season, or at least the one after that. So, collections were designed and produced with the assumption that in 6 months, the wheel would turn as before.

But it didn't.

The result was that significant portions of the collections were sold on sale. While this allowed us to cover the immediate expenses, there was less and less left for ongoing operations. I saved by not hiring new employees when "old" ones left. Instead, I redistributed the tasks and took on many of them myself. I saved by limiting the collections; they became less extensive and were produced in smaller quantities.

The initial optimism and excitement of reopening never returned. Instead, society seemed to enter a kind of flat survival mode. We reopened, only for everything to close again. We continued on this flat trajectory, eating into our reserves and waiting for normalcy.

But it didn't come.

(The picture above is from the fall of 2021 and one of many new tricks we thought would spice up our social media feed.)

The pandemic was followed by the war in Ukraine. It didn't directly affect us, but it created unrest. Simultaneously, the aftermath of the pandemic brought inflation and interest rate hikes, followed by increased electricity prices.

Even though one felt fortunate and privileged compared to many others, it became evident that I couldn't continue running the store and brand in the traditional manner much longer. Production and material costs had started to rise, making it more challenging to make the numbers add up.

During the summer of 2022 and the winter of 2022, I didn't have the usual major seasonal sales. The plan was to build up a range of classic models that would maintain a consistent price. In addition to the classics, I was going to create smaller series with a bit more flair.

It seemed sensible.

(In the picture above, there is a selection from the spring 2023 collection. Fresh and lovely colors and classic, comfortable pieces.)

But reason didn't save the day. In the spring of 2023, everything came to a halt, both online and in the store. People had more than enough to deal with – rising interest rates, increased food prices, and electricity bills. Meanwhile, my production and material costs increased by an additional 35%. In practical terms, this means that the same dress that cost 1990 NOK in 2019 and increased to 2350 NOK in 2022 would cost over 3300 NOK in 2023. With declining purchasing power in the market, the numbers speak very clearly.

This can't go on any longer.

Since February, I've spent a lot of time figuring out what to do next. It's a bit paralyzing when your job doesn't "want you" anymore after 26 years. But on the other hand, could anyone really expect it to last for 26 years anyway? Much of the reason I've stayed afloat all these years has been my ability to adapt, so now I have to do it again.

So when we answered questions like, "What exciting things are you creating for the next season? When will this dress be available again? ...etc.," we didn't answer truthfully because we knew it was over; there was simply no point in saying anything yet.

So what's happening now?

There will be a small collection of knitwear and the thick jersey fabric I call Flerken this fall. Additionally, I have classic knitwear in neutral colors from last year. The denim pieces are still here, and for the summer, I'll be able to deliver a handful of new models along with last season's classic pieces. I no longer have any employees, so the store operation will be limited as a result.

Alongside the store/collection, I have new projects in progress that will take the design in different directions. I was sad for a while since I felt like everything had crashed, but it also opened up other opportunities I didn't have before. Sadness has turned into caucious excitement.

So, everything will work out in the end :)