There comes a point in making something when the question changes.
For the past few months, the question has mostly been how to make the Touring Cap better. Better materials. Better construction. A better strap. A better understanding of where it came from and where it might belong.
That work has led somewhere.
The cap now exists. It works. It has been driven in. It has been handled by people whose opinions I trust. It has survived the transition from an idea in my head to an object in the world.
And then another question appeared.
How much more does it need before it is ready to sell?
It is an easy question to avoid. There is always another detail to improve, another version of the logo to consider, another box to design, another supplier to speak to. Each one is reasonable. Together, they can become a way of postponing the only test that really matters.
Whether someone will buy one.
This month I met Giuseppe Savoca, who has spent a lifetime making hats. He looked at the work so far and, rather than suggesting that everything should change, saw something worth continuing. We talked about making, specification, protection, and what PIAFEIRA might become.
At the same time, Bill Vero — whose own working life is deeply connected to the history of sporting headwear — looked at the cap in his hands and called it a marketable product. A niche product, perhaps. Not necessarily a huge seller. But something that could be managed on its own terms.
That may be the most useful advice I have received so far.
PIAFEIRA does not need to become bigger before it becomes real.
It may need to become smaller.
The first caps might be made in very small numbers. The boxes might be made by hand. The mark might be stamped rather than printed. The presentation may look more like a workshop than a finished retail operation.
That is not necessarily a compromise.
It may be the correct beginning.
The temptation is always to build the version that looks finished.
The challenge now is to build only what is necessary to find out whether the object deserves to continue.
So, for the moment, I am waiting.
Not for perfection.
For enough information to make the next decision properly.
The Touring Cap was the first question.
Now it is time to see what happens when someone can actually buy the answer.
