Why Our First Collection Doesn't Come In Twelve Colours

When we started developing the SunGods Founder Collection, one of the questions that inevitably came up was how many colours we intended to offer, because somewhere along the way we have become accustomed to believing that a successful homewares collection needs an extensive colour palette, seasonal variations and enough options to appeal to almost every imaginable preference, and while I understand why retailers approach product development this way, I kept coming back to a much simpler question: if we are trying to rethink the way products are designed, manufactured and consumed, why would we begin by creating twelve versions of something when we haven't yet established whether we need twelve versions at all?

Our answer was to start with one natural, off-white fabric colour and four distinct God identities, allowing the embroidery, texture and construction to create the differences within the collection rather than producing an extensive range of coloured fabrics simply because that is what customers have come to expect.

It wasn't about removing choice or suggesting colour doesn't matter, it absolutely does, particularly in the spaces we live in and the products we surround ourselves with; it was about questioning whether more choice automatically creates a better experience, and whether we could design something distinctive, beautiful and considered without manufacturing variety for the sake of variety.

Walk into almost any large homewares retailer and you will find an extraordinary number of options, with bedding available in multiple colours, finishes, fibres and seasonal collections, while towels are often arranged in entire walls of colour designed to coordinate with every conceivable bathroom.

There is something appealing about that abundance, and I certainly understand the enjoyment of finding exactly the right colour for a particular room, but there is also a less visible side to offering endless choice because every additional variation has to be developed, sampled, manufactured, forecast, stored, photographed, marketed and eventually sold.

What appears to be a simple decision to introduce another colour can create a completely separate set of manufacturing and inventory requirements, particularly when that colour needs to be produced across different products, sizes and constructions.

Research into consumer choice has also challenged the assumption more options always produce better decisions, suggesting while variety can be appealing, an excessive number of alternatives can sometimes increase decision difficulty and reduce satisfaction, although the effects depend on the circumstances and how the choices are presented.

For me, the interesting question isn't whether people should have choice, but whether every additional choice creates enough value to justify the resources required to produce it.

The natural, off-white colour of our Founder Collection was a deliberate decision because we wanted the materials, weave and texture to become the starting point of the visual experience rather than asking colour to do all the work.

Our bath sheets have a distinctive waffle construction, while the bedding brings together percale and sateen, two fabrics with different surface characteristics, and I wanted those differences to remain visible and tactile rather than become secondary to a constantly changing colour palette.

There is also something timeless about a natural fabric colour that appeals to me, particularly when we are designing products intended to move comfortably between different homes, interiors and stages of life, because the bath sheet you love in one bathroom shouldn't necessarily feel out of place when you move house, just as your bed linen shouldn't need replacing simply because you decide to change the colour of the bedroom.

That doesn't mean natural-coloured textiles are automatically more sustainable, and our off-white appearance should not be confused with a claim that every component is completely undyed or unprocessed; colour, finishing and textile production all require their own consideration.

For SunGods, the decision was about creating a consistent material and design foundation that we could build upon without immediately introducing unnecessary complexity.

Of course, I didn't want the collection to feel anonymous simply because we had chosen one fabric colour, and this is where Pontus, Helios, Gaia and Demeter became such an important part of the design.

Each God represents a different force within the SunGods philosophy, and rather than expressing those differences through entirely separate fabric colours, we chose to bring them to life through embroidery and the distinctive motifs that have become part of our Founder Collection.

Pontus, representing flow, movement and the sea, is expressed through our navy wave motif, while Helios, representing energy and transformation, carries the gold rising-sun design. Gaia connects us to beginnings, earth and regeneration through its deep red emblem, and Demeter represents nourishment, growth and care through its green botanical motif.

The bath sheets and bedding share the same underlying material philosophy, but each God creates a different visual and emotional connection, allowing somebody to choose the identity that resonates with them without requiring us to manufacture an entirely different product construction for every preference.

I like that distinction because the Gods aren't simply decorative symbols; they are part of the language through which we explore our relationship with nature, our homes and the way we live, and the embroidery gives those ideas a physical expression without overwhelming the simplicity of the fabric itself.

One of the things I have come to appreciate through developing SunGods is that restraint can be considerably harder than addition, because there is always another colour, feature, embellishment or detail that could be introduced, and it takes discipline to ask whether it genuinely makes the product better or simply gives us something else to talk about.

Our Founder Collection has a deliberately restrained design architecture, with the God motifs, signature line detailing and MMXXVI embroidery providing a recognisable identity while allowing the natural texture and construction of the fabric to remain central to the experience.

The Roman numerals are particularly meaningful because they identify the year in which the product entered the SunGods story, with MMXXVI marking our first production year and MMXXVII intended to identify the next, creating a chronology that connects the collections over time rather than relying on seasonal colour changes to make an existing product feel new again.

That is the kind of design continuity I want SunGods to develop, where a product remains recognisable because of its materials, construction and considered details rather than because we constantly reinvent its appearance to encourage another purchase.

There is also a very practical business reason for starting with fewer variations, because every additional SKU introduces complexity into forecasting, production, inventory management and eventually the decisions required when something doesn't sell as expected.

For a first production run of 400 bath sheets and 400 bed sets, that complexity matters, particularly when we are developing new material combinations and product constructions rather than simply purchasing an established product from a catalogue.

We would rather focus our resources on understanding how the products perform, refining the construction and learning from the people who use them than spread those resources across an unnecessarily large range of colour variations before we have established what our customers genuinely value.

This doesn't mean SunGods will never introduce additional colours or evolve the collection, because thoughtful design should allow room for learning and change; it simply means that future decisions should have a reason beyond the assumption that a new season requires something new to sell.

There is an important distinction between creating variety that genuinely improves the experience and creating variety simply to stimulate consumption.

We want to be more deliberate about which one we are doing.

This is where the decision becomes part of a much larger conversation about conscious living, because we have become remarkably accustomed to the idea that changing our surroundings requires changing the products within them, even when those products remain perfectly useful.

A new bathroom colour might encourage a new set of towels, a different bedroom aesthetic might lead to replacing bed linen and a seasonal collection can make something purchased only months earlier feel unexpectedly outdated, not because it has stopped working but because the visual language surrounding it has changed.

I don't think there is anything wrong with enjoying beautiful interiors or wanting our homes to reflect who we are, but I do think we should question the systems that continually encourage us to replace things before their useful lives are complete.

That is part of what we are exploring through The Circle, where conscious living isn't about removing enjoyment, beauty or individuality from our lives, but becoming more aware of what we bring into our homes, how frequently we use it, how we care for it and whether we genuinely need something new.

If we can create products that remain useful and visually relevant across different spaces and stages of life, we may be able to support that way of thinking rather than constantly encouraging the next purchase.

Our decision to launch with one natural fabric colour and four God identities wasn't about proving that fewer options are always better, there will be circumstances where greater variety makes sense and where colour genuinely adds value to a product.

It was about making a deliberate decision at the beginning of SunGods, recognising every additional variation creates consequences across materials, manufacturing, inventory and eventually what happens to the products we produce.

We wanted the first collection to be recognisable through its design rather than dependent on seasonal trends, to give people a meaningful choice through the four Gods and to create a foundation we could learn from before deciding what should come next.

Perhaps that is one of the more interesting questions thoughtful design asks us to consider, not how many different versions of something we can create, but how much value we can bring to the version we choose to make.

For our first collection, one natural fabric colour and four Gods felt like the right place to begin.

Designed with a beginning, a life and a way home.