Every garment marked 'Ori Comfy R&D' is part of our new internal Research and Development program. We are testing new fabrics, colors, design details, and fits in small local production runs here in LA.
If you own anything from Ori, you know that we're about two things: (1) sofffft, comfy, lightweight functional fabrics, and (2) thoughtful technical fit.
We've come a long way in just two years, and a LOT has changed (in the best way possible!), but the one thing that has never changed is our commitment to manufacturing incredible garments.
We've been working with the same best-in-class manufacturing partner since the beginning. Katie is 99.9% certain that Ori is the itty-bitty-est startup company they've ever agreed to run production for, but they have believed in Ori — both as a brand and as an underserved group of customers — from day 1, and they continue to deliver uncompromising quality and attention to detail in production.
Their global headquarters are in Japan, and they run Ori's production line in China. We work with members of their team in both their Los Angeles office (down the street from us, in Torrance), and overseas. Takumi, who is incredibly diligent in ensuring quality down to the very last detail, oversees our production in China. He is a real gem, and has always cared about making the best garments possible for our customers.
The reason we are so excited about the opportunity to work with this specific manufacturer is that they specialize in textiles (those comfy fabrics that are milled specifically for your CloudSoft tees!). The company was founded in 1841 (!), when they first started trading domestic raw cotton. Today, they're a global leader in textile production, with twelve international HQs, including one right here in Los Angeles.
Aside of access to premium fabrics, the benefit of working with such a credible, compliant, and globally networked manufacturer is the level of efficiency and expertise that goes into each Ori garment. It also means, though, that we have a higher requisite fabric commitment to run production — when you're milling your own fabric, there is always a minimum number of pieces you need to make at once in order to make it worthwhile for the factory. (So if you've ever wondered why we don't have that many colors at once ... now ya know! We can usually commit to enough fabric to dye at least two or three colorways per style.)
But! We always have been and will be committed to designing and manufacturing the *best* assortment for you: Your favorite, go-to, comfiest everyday pieces. And all of your survey responses, Facebook comments, emails and DMs are incredibly valuable (and appreciated!) to us as a design team. And while we've always tried our very best to iterate quickly, we know it can take a bit to turn around the perfect garment (s/o to Operation Tunic friends who were following Tunic-related conversations for the better part of a year).
So this year, we decided to start parallel-pathing our core assortment overseas production with smaller local test runs. The goal of our new Ori Comfy R&D program is to run more experiments, faster, so that we can make you the best assortment possible over time. We are so excited for you to try some of our new pieces!
Here's the deal:
- Ori core assortment manufacturing is not changing. We will still be making your CloudSoft tees from our incredible cotton at those price points. You can always expect consistency and excellence for our core assortment.
- The Ori Comfy R&D pieces are all made here in Los Angeles. They are going to be a bit more expensive to cover the cost of small-run manufacturing. If there are any specific fit or material notes (such as sizing up or down, or care instructions), those will be included on the garment's product page.
- The Ori Comfy R&D pieces are all available in limited quantities. The ones y'all love will make their way into the core Ori assortment, so don't fret if an R&D piece is out of stock temporarily. (*But do please add yourself to the "Notify Me" list — we always use that data to inform manufacturing timelines.)
- You'll receive a follow-up survey request by email about your Ori Comfy R&D garment. Our surveys are always *entirely* optional, but there for you in the case you have comments around fit, feel, or any other details about the garment.
- Easy returns and exchanges will not change. If you've ever interacted with customer service, you know we'll sort it out for you ASAP :)
We are so, so, SO happy and humbled to have had the opportunity to make your favorite Ori garments, and we have sky-high hopes that our new R&D adventures are only going to improve the assortment and customer experience for all of you.