Growing a brand is a lot of fun and a LOT of work, but with that comes a ton of stories along the way. We’ve been getting loads requests from fans of Melon to share a bit more about what’s happening inside the brand, from our travels to new product launches, so welcome to what is to become our monthly digest of everything Melon! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as have writing it.
James – Co-founder
I’m writing this from my bed (it’s before 9am before you ask!) having spent 10 days firmly back on Indonesian soil on the beautiful island of Bali, a place I am lucky enough to call “Home” for 9 or so months of the year. Despite the possible impending eruption of the volcano here (it’s still at category 4!), Bali and Indonesia offers a unique chaotic but still calm environment which I’ve grown to love so much over the years. The year round access to world class waves, tropical heat, amazing people and awesome cheap restaurants from every cuisine imaginable made it pretty easy to decide where Melon HQ number 2 was going to be. So if you’re ever over this side of the world, be sure to come visit us here in Canggu!
It’s been a pretty hectic last couple of months for Melon as we prepare for the upcoming winter season. I myself have spent a month on the road driving up from my parents new home in the South of Portugal along the coast back to the UK, Neil who heads up our international sales and does most of the work on Melon Indonesia (Thanks Neil!) took some time off to take advantage of a very cheap maiden sail of our friend’s new surf charter boat and Ash who joined us from Monster Energy as our new head of marketing in May was stuck here in Bali (the poor soul ?). Whilst the trips were epic, being back in the flow of things in Bali has got us excited for what’s to come this winter.
Creating new products and colourways sometimes feels like a long process. After all the sampling and tweaks, even a small lean machine like Melon is having to wait up to a year from creating a strap design until we can finally offer it to you. The problem is, that we get so excited when we see the samples, that waiting all that time to show you, feels like torture! I’m really not sure how the industry “Giants” cope with 2-3 year development cycles…maybe they just aren’t as stoked as we are when we get new designs dialled ?.
However, the time has finally come to not only drop a load of new straps, but also release a redesign of our bestselling Chief and Jackson goggles. “Why a redesign?” I hear you ask. Well the truth is that our current Chief and Jackson models are great, however, our old manufacturing partner was a nightmare to deal with and massively limited how creative we could be with our designs. Life is too short for toxic relationships and we knew that finding the right partner would not only allow us a blank canvas with no limitations when it came to creating future products, but would also allow us to spend more time on important things like integrating with our community of fans and learning their pain points.
When we were introduced to one of the world’s leading goggles manufacturers, we knew we’d found the right match. It’s been a two season process of completely moving over to our new partner, but with the new Chief and Jackson moulds developed, and our Parker model going from strength to strength in both MTB and snow, we’re stoked to be in the best position we’ve ever been in when it comes to creating the best eyewear products in the world!
I’ve posted some of my favourites from our the new strap and frame collection below, which will be dropping next month. Hopefully you’re as stoked on them as we are!
Until next time!
James
