Happy Monday everyone!! For this weeks Meet the Maker Monday, we are going to chat with Kira! Kira works in Product Development, & just may have the most fun job on our entire team! We’ve already met Lukas, who makes sure our products are safe and arrive to our warehouse in an efficient manner, to Scotty, who designs our packaging and has a hand in graphics and Julie who manages our Canadian production room.
We get a lot of questions (ok some questions – come on, reach out to us more people!)- about how we come up with our costume ideas. Well Kira and the peeps working in product development have a huge influence on these steps too. We meet, hash out some concepts, sketch and colour, then cut up shiny scraps of fabric and staple them to the sketch. Then the hard work begins as she translates these ideas into the costumes we all know and love.
Lindsay: Hello everyone! We are here today at Great Pretenders, talking with Kira! She’s going to tell us a little bit about what she does here. Take it away Kira. :)
Kira: Hi! I’m Kira, a product developer here at Creative Education (Great Pretenders) and I have been working here for almost 2 years!
Lindsay: And what is your role here?
Kira: I’m a product developer! We start out with a concept and inspiration photos and then I will take that and turn it into a sketch, and then as a team we come together to pick some fabric. Once we have decided what direction we want to go, I’ll go an create patterns for it and cut it out and sew it together and then once we have our finished sample, we can decide if we like it or not!
Lindsay: It’s fun! It’s a fun job!
Kira: It’s soooo fun!!
Lindsay: Yes! We work really closely together, Kira and I.
What is your favourite project that you have worked on? I really hope you say the dog wedding dress that you made!
Kira: It definitely is! Back in February, I got the opportunity through the company to make wedding dresses for fully grown bull dogs, who are owned by a woman with a local business here in Sarnia and it was great! Having to try and fit a couture gown onto a full grown bull dog was really an experience! A lot of slobber on my face hahaha! But it turned out really great! The wedding was beautiful!
Photo from @dogeatdogsarnia
Lindsay: I am interested to know, what do you do when you have a creative block? And how do you overcome that?
Kira: When I have a creative block, the best thing I have found is to put the project away, and not look at it for a while. Then I go and do something menial. For example, this week I was feeling a little frustrated so I put a project away and I made a couple little duplicate samples with some of the new products that we’re sending out.
Lindsay: That is true! Much needed too! Why do you think it is so important to support Canadian made businesses?
Kira: For me, when you support a Canadian business, you are supporting your neighbours. You’re putting your money back into our community!
Lindsay: What would you say is the most difficult project or costume you have worked on? And why?
Kira: There’s a cape that I have been working on.
Lindsay: A new cape?!
Kira: Yes, a new cape! It was really really complicated, a 3D build. It was a lot of effort and a lot of failed attempts, but it turned out amazing and I am so excited for when you guys get to see it!
Photos of Kira's previous projects
Linsday: That’s awesome! We can’t wait!
What is one product that you wish that Great Pretenders would add to our collection?
Kira: I don’t know! I think maybe some more pet costumes?!
Lindsay: That would be amazing! Pet wedding dresses for everyone!
I am also wondering if you have a favourite Great Pretenders product? And I even brought a catalog for you to look through!
Kira: It’s a hard choice! We have some pretty epic products in here! I would have to say, it is these superhero dolls. I absolutely adore them! There are so cute and I wish I had them!
Lindsay: That’s awesome!! Well thanks for chatting with us Kira. We’re are hoping to do more videos with Kira, where she can show us more of her process of how she makes patterns and things like that! So stay tuned for that in a few weeks!
Thank you for watching and have a great day!
Scroll down to see photos of the dog wedding Kira was involved in! *professional photos taken by @meghanbondphotography
