#dead sleekit

Here’s his incredible story so far.

Who are they and what do they do?:

Dead Sleekit is the brainchild of Glasgow-based Iain MacDonald. A former Herald Scotland Graduate of the Year, Iain designs “wearable art”. He draws delicate and intricate prints by hand, which are then put together digitally and printed on a mixture of jersey and mesh. The results are wearable clothes in simple easy to wear shapes but their incredible prints make them stand out from the crowd.

Keeping everything Scottish, Iain uses local printing and his clothes are manufactured in Glasgow’s east end by a trusty band of seamstresses based at BeYonder Textiles, part of BeYonder Ltd, a great social enterprise company who call themselves ‘A Profit for Purpose Organisation‘. And with prices ranging from £30 – £80, it’s making wearable art accessible.

With his first collection under his belt, Iain turned to Kickstarter  to help him fund his second collection.  Kickstarter state “Our Mission is to help bring creative projects to life”.

The dreams of millions of people have become a reality since Kickstarter’s inception. The company that consists of 135 people based in an old pencil factory in New York said:

“Since our launch, on April 28, 2009, 10 million people have backed a project, $2.2 Billion has been pledged, and 101,176 projects have been successfully funded”. Kickstarter

Iain’s success is a good example of a well thought out Kickstarter campaign. It ticked all the boxes. If you are considering Kickstarter, here’s a few things to consider.

Everything on Kickstarter must be a project. Have a clear goal.

Set a realistic target/challenge/time scale.

Ensure your project is attractive, desirable and sought after.

Show your project off, market it well, use great images, or video if you have any.

Make the price range pledges accessible. Dead Sleekit’s pledges ranged from £1 to £290, with everything in between.

Ensure people are suitably rewarded. Dead Sleekit offered a bow tie for £8, exclusive art works for £15, a screen printed t-shirt for £20, posters for £35, designer clutch bags for £75 and a bespoke designed dress for £290.

Keep the momentum going. Engage with people. Use your networks, constantly update social media, give progress reports, reminders, use countdowns, get your pals to spread the word.  Word of mouth still works wonders.

Give thanks. Dead Sleekit thanked people along the way. See the half-way point personalised ‘Thank You’ image below.

At campaign end – post an update, but it doesn’t end there. Keep communicating with your new customers. Dead Sleekit promises his backers a secret Snapchat account with sneak peaks of behind the scenes progress.

To view Dead Sleekit’s Kickstarter campaign, see link Dead Sleekit – Kickstarter Campaign

I asked Iain to give a quick insight into Dead Sleekit.

Tell us a little bit about your background and training?

I studied and specialised in Textiles and Surface Design for fashion at Grays School of Art in Aberdeen. Prior to that I studied Graphic Design and Fine Art. I tend to use my my love for fine art and graphics in my textile designs for my clothing label. During my time at Art School I did a placement at Alexander McQueen.

Tell us about your business – Dead Sleekit, and your first and limited collection which was called Veranico.

Dead Sleekit is a clothing label that loves print and emphasizes print through each collection. Every collection has meaning behind it and is derived for love in Art, stories and music.

You’re about to start work on your second collection – what we can expect? How will it look?

The collection is inspired by American Horror Story, although this concept is quite dark it will have a pastel colour palette.

You’ve used Kickstarter as a way to fund this collection – how does this work and where does the money go / what does it help to fund?

Kickstarter helps a new business (or an existing business) to start a project which gets people involved. The aim is to raise money towards a project and also give back to people who pledge by offering exclusive rewards. We are offering bespoke scarves and dresses as well as prints and more unique gifts.

For people who donate and participate in the Kickstarter – what’s the benefits?

The benefits are backing an independent brand and watching them grow from the beginning of their development. Also,  getting some exclusive rewards and one of products from the project.

You’ve exceeded your target of £4,000 to fund your collection – well done! What happens next?!

I will be working away frantically and excitedly on everyone’s rewards. It also means the new textile prints I’ve been working on will be digitally printed to fabric so I can start working on my new collection.

Thanks to Iain MacDonald of Dead Sleekit for this little insight into his work and Kickstarter. Good luck on the new collection – can’t wait to see it!

Meanwhile – here’s a little view of his previous collection – see below. 

  “Backing a project is more than just giving someone money. It’s supporting their dream to create something that they want to see exist in the world”. Kickstarter

Useful links:

Dead Sleekit

BeYonder Ltd

Kickstarter