Ever wondered how we create a new Solmates colour? It might look like a simple decision - “We love this pink. Let's make it.” If only it were that easy!
Creating a new Solmates colour involves far more than choosing a shade we love. We need to test how that colour behaves in our recycled plastic, make sure it meets our quality standards, see how it works alongside our existing colours - and ultimately decide whether it's a colour our customers will love too.
So we take our time and add new colours carefully and thoughtfully. Behind every new Solmates colour is a surprisingly long process of inspiration, testing, tweaking, waiting - and occasionally saying: “Hmm… that's definitely not the colour we were expecting.”
Because while choosing a colour is one of the most fun parts of what we do, turning that colour into a beautiful, consistent Solmates product takes a little more work.
How it starts
Sometimes it's a shade we've spotted that we think could work beautifully for Solmates. Sometimes it's a colour trend we've fallen in love with. Other times, we're looking at our existing range and thinking: “What's missing?” And often (quite often!) it's because of requests from our community. Ahem… purple.
We don't want to create colours just for the sake of having more colours. We want each one to feel considered and, importantly, to feel like Solmates. A new colour needs to work beautifully on its own, but it also needs to sit alongside the rest of the Solmates family. After all, part of the fun is mixing and matching them.
Once we've fallen in love with a colour, the real work begins. The colour you see on a screen, in a photograph or even on a physical colour card doesn't necessarily look the same once it's turned into our product. And that's where we've learnt a lot over the years.
Our biggest learning? Recycled plastic has a mind of its own.
Our recycled plastic behaves differently from colour to colour - especially when combined with the talc we use to give your Solmates their strength and durability. And, just to make things a little more complicated, each colour can behave differently too.
A colour that looks perfect on paper can come out swirled (and not in a good way), scuffed-looking or with unwanted lines once it's made into an actual Solmates. So what starts out as the perfect colour can look surprisingly different once we see it in the real world.
Take deep purple, for example. We've been trying to perfect this one for a LONG time. After many, many samples, we're still struggling to create a version that meets our very high bar.
And that's why we sample. And sample again. And sometimes… sample again. And even when we finally get the colour looking exactly how we want it, there's still a little part of us that holds its breath and crosses its fingers when it goes into production.
Getting the sample right is one thing but getting the whole production run right is another.
So why don't we just make thousands?
This is where our small-batch approach comes in. When we're introducing a new colour, there are two big unknowns. First, will we be happy with the final production run? And second, will you love it as much as we do?
So rather than producing a huge quantity before we know the answer, we prefer to start small. It's not necessarily the easiest or most economical way to manufacture, but it helps us avoid creating unnecessary excess stock. It also gives us the opportunity to see how a new colour performs in the real world before deciding whether it deserves a longer life in the Solmates range.
We'd rather make a little, learn a lot and then decide what's next.
Meet our new Pastel Colour Range
Which brings us to this week's very exciting launch. We're releasing three new colours that we are VERY proud of: Bush Mint, Twilight Lilac and Desert Rose. They're beautiful on their own - and, if we do say so ourselves, even better when mixed and matched together.
You'll notice that these three colours are Limited Edition and are currently available exclusively through Solmates. That's not just because we like making things feel a little special. It's because of everything we've just told you!
We're starting with a small production run so we can see how these colours perform - both in production and with you, our customers. If they're a big hit, we hope to bring them back with a new production run next year. But for now, there are only a limited number available.
So if you've got your eye on Bush Mint, Twilight Lilac or Desert Rose, don't hang around too long. Once they're gone, they're gone… at least for now!
And if you do get your hands on one, we'd love to know what you think.
Because ultimately, the best part of creating a new Solmates colour is seeing it out in the world - being packed into beach bags, thrown into suitcases, taken on adventures and, hopefully, becoming a new favourite.
