Another message from the boss

We’ve thought long and hard about what we’re supposed to do while the world goes through this crazy time. Do we stay open, or do we shut down? Do we keep in touch with you, or do we leave you in peace?

So we did what we always do, and asked around. Not ‘market research’, we just asked our friends. Friends who hike and run and ski and ride… and they all said pretty much the same thing: “Send us nice emails. Take our mind off this… stuff”. (OK, most of them didn’t say ‘stuff’ but you get the idea.) As it stands, we can safely stay open. We’re all working remotely now. Our fabrics are made here in Australia and anything made out of Australia comes from Fiji - not China or anywhere considered high risk. Every part of our supply chain, including our warehouse, is complying with every possible health regulation. So we can stay open and we will. We know we probably won’t sell much, but that’s not what this is about. This is about keeping our team and suppliers in work for as long as we possibly can. And if someone wants to buy something, we’re here.

Now more than ever, if there’s a way for you to comply with your local rules but still be active, it’s probably important that we all do that. Not just for our physical wellbeing, but also for our mental health. Even if it’s walk the dog for a short time, hopefully you can all get outside at some point and breathe in some fresh air. See some trees or clouds or walk through some puddles. Hell, jump in those puddles! And in the meantime, we’re going to assume that whether you’re in lockdown or not, what you need right now is a break from all the doom and gloom. So we’re going to do our best to deliver that for you. We’ll still have stuff for sale as usual, maybe even still have a sale or promotion for those of you who are in a buying mood, but for everyone else, we’re just going to do our best to remind you of everything that’s beautiful and amazing in the world.

We’ll do our best to take your mind off things and inspire you. To give you ideas about the places you can go and the things you can do when all this passes. Because it will pass. Eventually. With any luck sooner rather than later. But until then, stay safe. Look after yourselves and each other. And if there’s anything you’d like to see more of, just let us know and we’ll do our best to deliver that in a future email.

David and the team at io.