The first 100 days of a slow fashion business

Halfway to our first collection

I registered Chores as its own LLC on March 24, 2025 — which means that we are celebrating her first 100 days on this earth?!

Honestly guys, it’s already been a wild ride.

Day 1

You decide to do the thing. You spend 3 hours googling stuff like “business tax obligations” and “business entity formation.” You call some CPAs who tell you to please call back after tax season. One of them takes pity on you and explains that you’re overthinking it. You sigh and file for an LLC.

Day 5

Your LLC is miraculously approved. You set up a business bank account and put in all the money that you’ve saved up for this moment. You sketch out a plan for how to spend that money, and what you might want to make.

Day 10

You gather together a group of very kind, passionate, and multi-talented pals and nervously show them your plan.

I know there’s not a lot of time, and there’s not a lot of money…
I’m not sure if and how it will work……
…but would you want to help me make the inaugural collection…?

They tell you that they’re here for the journey. :’)))))

Day 15

You waste no time getting started on both brand and product development for this year’s collection, with the goal of launching it in the fall.

You make some sketches, attend some trade shows, visit some production partners, and try a bunch of things. Your designs and expectations shift as you go.

You set some rough parameters for collection themes and product lines, but otherwise leave a lot of space for interpretation by people and process.

Day 20

You realize you should probably create a new Instagram page for Chores. Oh crap, it’s getting real. You freak out.

Day 25

The collection is developing more quickly and beautifully than you even imagined, and there are a lot of moving parts.

You feel anxious about letting things fall through the cracks!! You make yourself a little “studio status” cheat sheet to keep an eye on all the workflows, but stuff doesn’t always go according to plan. You do your best to roll with the punches.

You wonder how everyone is feeling.

Are we all getting along? Enjoying a good balance of applying existing skills vs. learning new ones? Managing this work alongside all our other work? Aware and on the same page?

You start sending weekly status updates to keep everyone in the loop. You contemplate your newfound duties as an organizer, in addition to your work as a designer + business operator.

A lot of new skills to learn!!!!

Day 30

You celebrate your birthday and think about how your work and life are intertwined — how much you care about both, and how much they inform one another. The people that help you bridge these worlds. All the experiences and skills you’ve gathered that have led to today.

Day 40

The collection is really taking shape, and the crew is in creative flow. You deeply cherish these moments that help you remember what it’s all about.

Day 50

Your head of brand & comms (xoxo Renee) very gently reminds you that it’s been a whole month since you launched the Chores Instagram, yet you’ve only made one post. Dang it. You vow to make more content.

Day 60

But truth be told — you’re struggling to keep up, realizing how hard it is to juggle both the creative/product side of things and the business/communications side.

Your design process takes a lot of time and energy, often involving a non-linear journey of thinking, sitting, thinking, sketching, more sitting, sleeping, showering, goofing off… and you’re finding it tough to add documentation, reflection, and storytelling on top of it all.

Day 70

You continue to neglect the Instagram while you run to Manhattan’s diamond district roughly 2x per week, dropping off wax carvings to be cast in silver, haggling over the price of polishing and laser welding, winding up between mysteriously heavy doors and bullet-proof glass.

Is this where I die..?

Day 80

You continue to watch in awe as your team does things you had no idea how to do: pay a Proforma invoice to a yarn mill in Italy, stack ceramics for optimal firing dimensions, design and code a website in ten minutes, outline a “Brand Book” in five, source props for an upcoming photoshoot, put together a “Production Workback” spreadsheet for an ambitious week of launch events….

Meanwhile, you’re sweating and wiping clay off your face.

Day 100

Before you know it, it’s been 100 days.

You realize that they’ve have been faster and fuller than you could have imagined. You’ve been using every groove of your brain and wearing lots of hats (many of which don’t fit particularly well) — but having so, so much fun.

You’re intensely grateful for your crew, their special energy and expertise, and the intimate time you’ve gotten to share. Despite the frenzy, you’re oddly at peace. You’re already nostalgic about these first 100 days.

You realize that in just 100 more days, this year’s collection will be complete and out in the world — launching in September.

You brace yourself for the time to come.