Behind Every Bag | Episode 4: The Denim PU Challenge

Finding the right material is never just about matching a Pantone number.

For one of our clients’ pre-production samples, the requested denim PU couldn’t be sourced from our existing suppliers. The textures were slightly off, or the shade missed the mark — even if the difference seemed acceptable on an iPhone photo for our client, our team knew it wasn’t close enough.

To make things tougher, the only texture-and-color match we found came with a cost that didn’t align with our client’s market pricing.

The next day, our merchandiser, development manager, and I visited two fabric markets from 9 AM to 5:30 PM. 

Finally, we found a supplier who still carried this discontinued yet compliant denim PU — one that met European eco standards and maintained low color variance across batches.

The seller told us, this style of denim PU was popular in the past few years, even though most of the suppliers think it is past now, but luckily, he has three guests these years who have been ordering this fabric, so he has not cut off the supply!

Two weeks later, the PP sample was shipped out and approved by our guest.

Sometimes, quality begins with saying “almost right” isn’t good enough.

D.F.H. Handbag - Like your brand, like mine.