After years of working side by side with our dear Chinese manufacturers, it was about time we paid them a visit!
It has been 6 years since William, acetate accessory manufacturer, and Anita, sheer socks manufacturer, are growing with us: they took a chance on us when Coucou Suzette was only at its beginning, by agreeing to produce small quantities to help us start. We are also still very happy with the quality of their work and that’s how they are still going along with all our collections and creative ideas.
So Juliette, founder of Coucou Suzette, and Clotilde, executive director, jumped in the plane in September 2023, heading to Shanghai to meet these quality partners and see from themselves the manufacturing process of our beloved creations.
Over there, they were welcomed by William who offered to be their guide for the occasion, and he went all for it: a van with big comfy seats, local gifts, fruit baskets… An exciting way to celebrate this real-life meeting after years of a long-distance relationship!
They went all together to Anita’s factory to find out more about the making of our sheer socks: a factory chosen with care, selected for their skills after several unsuccessful tests in Europe. Here the accessories are robust, made with tight threads, and we’ve always been thrilled by the result and quality.
Anita is also a good host and offers delicious Moon cakes, a specialty of the area, served with well-deserved ice teas.
Just like the cotton socks, the sheer ones are knitted in a tube (3 minute weave for a sock, 6 for a pair), before being sewn at the ends, ironed, checked and packaged.
It is such a pleasure to see the process in real life and put a face on every person taking part of the creation process and making Coucou Suzette who she is.
But it’s already time to hit the road again! Juliette & Clotilde get into the car heading to Jinhua, an industrial area reputed in the whole world, sheltering William’s factory which they are about to visit the next day.
After seeing so many pictures and videos on how our acetate accessories are made, the girls finally see from themselves the place giving birth to our beloved creations.
As shown on the audit we did a few months before, the factory is modern, bright and clean, with numerous machines at work: they take care of the laser cut of the acetate plates and shaping of the hair claws, while the employees polish, assemble and gild one by one and by hand the products. In total, a dozen steps are necessary to complete a creation and see it as it is on our website.
This visit is also a good opportunity to work face to face (for once) on ongoing and future projects.
Besides the factory visits, William made sure to be the best host and took his two guests to a million activities - markets, traditional villages and endless food specialty degustation.
In conclusion, it was a great and intense trip to see some of our factories as well as the amazing team walking hand in hand with Coucou Suzette and making her identity from the very beginning.
