MOOD BOARD-

Today we’re at Mood Designer Fabrics in midtown Manhattan doing some fabric souring for an upcoming collection.

Usually we send photos or reference images to overseas factories or agents and have them send us swatches to choose from, but for some projects we prefer to keep it local.

We’ve been coming to Mood for about six years now but recently everything changed for them when their store became the official source for the designers on Bravo’s hugely successful clothing designer reality show Project Runway. Now the three story warehouse is a mecca for class trips, fashion geeks, and hipsters looking to patch the holes in their tattered flannels.

All that aside, they do have one of the best fabric selections around. Wool angora camel blends anyone?

Part of what makes Mood unique is that they buy overstock fabric rolls from big fashion houses and sell it to the public. If you look carefully enough, sometimes you’ll find some real gems. Case in point-

You just need to be willing to sift through aisle upon aisle of the not so appealing stuff too:

Here’s a pile of quality leather and suede from all around the world. Sooner or later I’ll re-post this picture and show you what we used and how it ended up being used in a final product.