I am an unashamed brand tart in many ways. Not because I want to be all over the place when it comes to different wrap brands but because I am intensely curious about new designs, blends and developments in the babywearing world. I was really touched to be asked by a new company, Coco-N Babywearing Fashion, to test one of their prototypes. Knowing very little about the brand aside from its owner I had no preconceived expectations except for some anticipation about what this could all be about…and that I know she makes good wraps.
The Barbarian size 5 prototype arrived this morning and I’ll be honest, I felt like a child at Christmas opening it as I “oooooh’d” and “aaaaaahhh’d” throughout the process. I haven’t wrapped with it yet but have spent a little time studying and photographing it so I thought I’d share the opening with you.
First of all let’s peep into the package and I can see a really bright and curving geometric pattern. Is this the wrap? Oh no, hang on it’s the bag. Nice bag! It’s a simple draw cord bag that whilst I wouldn’t use for hauling stuff about like I do the large Sling Studio bags but I might use to carry my shoes or bits and bats in within my handbag. I rarely actually store my wraps in the bags they come in as I house my collection on a set of shelves.
Oh this is interesting, I can see greens! Yeah! I’ve been pining for some green in my life recently and this looks to be a really vivid blend of teal and forest greens. From first touch the patterns feels promisingly textured.
Nice to see a well designed info card about the wrap. I always love to see images of wraps in motion as they give a sense of life within a still of what is essentially fabric to be pulled, stretched, knotted and to sway (because I love tails). Testing a size 5 will be interesting. I don’t know the GSM of the wrap so I may be in DH TAS/Ruck TT territory or I may pull off a full DH.
As facile as it might seem to some I am impressed with the way the wrap is presented. It matters, this is the first encounter with the brand and how it is presented begins the narrative of who the brand are and the potential relationship they may have with you as the customer. When something aimed at the high end consumer arrives it needs to be presented well. The wrap is folded and tied with black ribbon, onto which is attached a Coco-n stamped sterling silver charm. My expectations are raised.
Close up of the charm and weave. The charm is a bow and I imagine would attach to a necklace or bracelet. In this close up you can see some potential hairiness from the blend so let’s have a look at that next.
The wrap in hand feels dense and weighty. I’m guessing the weight is going to be over 300g m/sq but I shall weigh it when I get home. It doesn’t have a fluidity yet as it definitely needs a wash and some breaking in but looking at the blend that is not surprising as there is a high proportion of long staple Egyptian cotton. This is theoretically going to be balanced out by the merino and tencel it terms of cush and stretch and the Pima cotton for softness too. The weave is tight and as someone who is wary of easily pulled wraps I’m pleased by this. I’m not making any more second guesses until I’ve wrapped with it aside to say it’s pointing to toddler potential.
The middle markers are a good size but not intrusive. I very much like that this wrap has flipped rails. I LOVE flipped rails but it demands a weave and pattern that is equally interesting on both sides to make it have a use. This wrap definitely has texture and interest on both sides and to be honest I couldn’t say which is the right side. A little more on the texture; I can feel a raised pattern with the lighter lines suggesting they are the merino. It’s a very tactile wrap and how it fluffs up with wear will add to the potential wrapping qualities.
So now to the design. Straight up I’ll tell you I am not usually a geometric fan and so have never bought into some brands where geometrics are a staple. This though is different as it has a bold structure to the lines that are spaced well allowing them to breath but for the pattern to not be spare – there is a good balance between the pattern and white space with the repeat being well distanced. The lines are forms of four line knots which intertwine but in this very graphic way. It feels like there’s a lot going on but it’s not overwhelming.
I adore the colours as teal and green are in my soft autumn colour palette. It looks like the wrap has a black warp which gives a deeper vividness to the colours and I find the lighter green (Egyptian cotton possibly) that dominates the background on one side has an almost metallic quality to it. I also really like the pop of the lime green against the teal on the other side.
So there we go. The first encounter with the Coco-n brand, I shall very much look forward to testing this over the coming days and report back.
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