Brand Story
Originally from Malawi in Central Africa, my sister and I helped our mother create wedding accessories for family and friends.
However, it was not until 2001 at age 9 when my family and I relocated to the United Kingdom (UK) in Middlesbrough.
We had to adapt to a different culture and blend in. This is where the inspiration of being of two cultures and two homes came to mind. #MalawiToMiddlesbrough
When you relocate to any area, you want to become part of the culture and not the outsider. In other words you want to belong. But you do not want to lose who you are, your roots.
Therefore, COTILDA is aimed at encouraging people to embrace who they are, not just blend in, but to create their own style, identity that embraces culture and that is appealing to both African and Western markets.
Cotilda's experience of starting her new clothing brand with Bryden
What were the challenges you were trying to solve when you looked for a manufacturer?
Being a new clothing brand that was transitioning from a bespoke line into ready-to-wear limited items, we were looking for an experienced manufacture that could produce small quantities, achieve technical finishing whilst producing high quality products at affordable prices.
What made you choose to work with Bryden?
Price, communication and quantities. Compared to other manufactures their quoted price was something we could work with at the time. They were also flexible with payment.
We felt that Bryden could keep us updated with our projects, they were up front and talked us through the process from start to finish.
They were also the closest match to small quantities that we could afford as our first range.
They took care of the process from sourcing, packaging which made the funds we had to spend more cost efficient.
Why do you think Bryden would be able to help you to achieve your vision?
From the first point of contact they responded to us in a timely manner, skyping with them and talking through the design and project, made us at ease and gave us an insight of what working with them would be like.
The sample that was also produced before manufacturing was of a good standard and which improved further within the second project, as they had a better understanding of the outcome we had envisioned. Their website also did well in explaining what they do and what we were looking for, which was the fully factored production.
If there were technical challenges, they would communicate with us immediately to get an ok in order to proceed, (which was made easier through their Teambition platform) they would explain and suggest alternatives instead of writing off our ideas.
How was your experience of starting your new brand with Bryden?
It has been roughly 2 years to date working with Bryden and our working relationship with them have been positive.
They are a team of friendly individuals who care about achieving the very best for their customers.
Most importantly they seemed like people who care greatly on building customer relationships than making quick funds.
They took our project seriously despite being a new clothing brand to the market, which in the end made them the prime choice of manufacture to work with.
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