Apothecary Collection

Hi everyone!

Today, we wanted to share a little behind-the-scenes look at one of our most anticipated (and challenging!) projects to date: the Apothecary Collection.

After more than a year of development, countless adjustments, multiple samples, and a whole lot of patience, the Apothecary Collection officially launched on October 15th, 2026!

If you've been following us for a while, you probably already know that this collection has been quite the journey. We wanted to take this opportunity to walk you through how it all came together, the challenges we faced along the way, and why creating original whimsical fashion isn't always as straightforward as it might seem.

Where It All Began: 2025

The Apothecary Dress began as one of our original whimsical fashion concepts designed by Luna, drawing on the mysterious, romantic aesthetic of old-world apothecaries, natural history, and botanical inspiration.

We wanted to create something that felt as though it belonged in another world. Something you might imagine an herbalist, wandering botanist, or fantasy apothecary wearing while collecting ingredients in an enchanted forest. Apothecary Diaries was also really taking off, so I think the apothecary theme was on many peoples minds!

When we first shared the design with our community in 2025, the response was incredible!

In fact, the Apothecary Dress received so much attention that we decided to offer it as a Pre-Sample Pre-Order (PSPO) during the first half of 2025.

For those unfamiliar with our process, PSPOs allow customers to support a design before we've finished creating its physical prototype. This gives us the opportunity to pursue particularly ambitious ideas, while keeping our community involved throughout the development process. We've since discontinued this pre-order model because there were many cons to it, but it's safe to say that without that pre-order model, it would have been very difficult if not impossible with where we were at the time to produce this design.

At the time, we estimated that the Apothecary Dress would take at least eight months to complete, with an expected delivery in Spring 2026.

As it turned out, this project would become even more complicated than we anticipated, ending up taking just over a year and finally launching on October 15th, 2026.

The Fabric Problem: Finding the Right Materials

One of the biggest challenges we faced was something that might sound surprisingly simple: finding the right fabric.

From the beginning, we wanted the Apothecary Collection to incorporate natural and plant-derived materials wherever practical and possible. If you've been here for a while, you know that I have a lot of issues with the world of cotton. To be clear, I love natural fibers and organic materials, but the supply chain doesn't really support responsible and ethical materials. So, my standards for fiber content are quite high. 

The material also has to feel comfortable against the skin, drape properly, hold its shape, and work with the actual construction of the garment. We spent a considerable amount of time searching for fabrics that could meet all these requirements. Some materials had the right appearance but didn't feel particularly nice. Others felt wonderful but couldn't create the silhouette we were trying to achieve.

And with a design as detailed as the Apothecary Dress, even relatively small differences in fabric texture, weight, and structure could completely change how the finished piece looked.

Eventually, we settled on a combination of cotton, linen, and rayon across the collection. These materials offered the balance of texture, comfort, and drape we were looking for, while allowing us to stay closer to our original design vision. It took a lot longer than we expected, but we really wanted to avoid compromising on something as important as the fabric itself.

Spring 2026: When the Samples Started Coming Together

By early 2026, we were finally beginning to see more tangible progress. In January, we shared an embroidery test for the Apothecary Dress, while the sample was moving through its printing and development stages.

By March 29th, 2026, we were able to show our community progress photos of the dress itself!

Although the sample was still incomplete, it was exciting to finally see the design taking physical form after so many months of development.

However, seeing a design in person also reveals problems that aren't necessarily obvious in an illustration. We definitely encountered a few of those.

The Striped Fabric That Didn't Work

For the record, I liked the striped fabric. Our community, however, was not particularly fond of it!

While the fabric was an interesting idea, it didn't quite capture the appearance or atmosphere of the original illustration. After reviewing the feedback, we agreed that it wasn't the right direction.

Instead, we decided to replace the striped material with a solid sage-green linen or linen-blend fabric, hoping that its softer appearance and natural texture would better reflect the original design. This meant revisiting parts of the sampling process, including the embroidery. When fabric is changed, it can drastically or even minorly affect the fit of the garment depending on the stretch, give, and weave of the fabric.

It was a setback, but also a good example of why we value sharing our work with our community throughout development. Sometimes, an idea looks perfectly reasonable on paper, but the moment you see it brought to life, you realize something needs to change.

Summer 2026: Details, Details, Details!

As development continued into the summer, we began focusing on the smaller details that would bring the Apothecary Dress together. The capelet, in particular, needed several adjustments. We revised the placement of its embroidery, moved its closure, added snap buttons to help keep it in place, and eventually reduced the size of the moth embroidery to create a more balanced appearance. We also worked on the decorative butterfly brooch, which was eventually approved as part of the accompanying necktie.

These might sound like relatively minor changes, but they're exactly the kinds of details that can make or break a complicated design.

A piece of embroidery positioned just slightly too far to one side can make an entire garment look unbalanced. A closure placed too high or low can change the way a capelet sits on the shoulders. Our goal wasn't simply to create something that resembled the illustration. We wanted to make sure the finished garment looked beautiful when actually worn.

August–September 2026: Getting the Fit Right

By August, we were getting much closer to an approvable sample. However, there were still adjustments needed to the fit of both the dress and cape. During a visit to our manufacturing partner in China, I was finally able to try on one of the latest samples myself! This was particularly helpful because it allowed me to experience the garment's adjustments firsthand, rather than relying entirely on photographs and measurements. We were able to identify a few remaining adjustments, including an issue with the belt buckle. The buckle had sharp edges that were actually scratching the belt, so we decided to replace it with a higher-quality version. This is one of those small manufacturing problems that probably wouldn't be obvious to customers looking at a product photograph, but could become incredibly frustrating after wearing the garment a few times.

It's also why we don't like rushing through the sample approval process. We want our clothing to be beautiful, but we also want it to be practical, comfortable, and made to last.

Late September 2026: The Final Sample Is Approved!

After months of revisions, we finally reached a major milestone.

The Apothecary Dress sample was officially approved!

We announced the news in our late-September newsletter and sent the finished sample to our photographer.

After spending so long looking at sketches, fabric swatches, embroidery tests, and unfinished samples, seeing the final piece ready for a proper photoshoot was incredibly rewarding. But the Apothecary Dress wasn't going to be alone!

What had originally started as one ambitious dress design had grown into an entire collection, featuring a long masculine coat, casual sweater, cargo pants, long skirt, and an Ita bag with matching pins. We wanted to expand the Apothecary aesthetic into a wardrobe that could be worn in different ways, rather than limiting it to one statement piece. We still have plans for future additions to the collection as well, but didn't want to hold up the first launch.

October 15th, 2026: The Official Apothecary Collection Launch

And finally, after more than a year of work, the Apothecary Collection officially launched on October 15th, 2026!

For us, this was a particularly exciting milestone. The collection had already gone through an extensive development process, and many of our customers had been following the Apothecary Dress since its original PSPO launch in 2025. The official collection launch opened a new pre-order period, running from October 15th through October 30th, 2026.

After October 30th, we will submit our production order, with any remaining quantities becoming available through Limited Pre-Order while supplies last. Because of the complexity of these designs and the volume of orders we've received, we're currently estimating fulfillment around mid-Spring 2027.

We know this has been a very long journey, especially for those of you who supported the Apothecary Dress during its earliest stages.

We're incredibly grateful for your patience.

Financial Issues

Upon finishing the first almost final sample of the Apothecary Dress, I realized I did not price this dress properly when selling it. For complete transparency, I was selling the dress set for easily $100 cheaper that I should have been. The extremely high quality linen blend fabric is very expensive, and  the dress also requires several unique embroidery pieces as well as a belt, a pin and a bowtie, alongside the extremely complicated construction of the garment. When I started the PSPO, I had it priced at, if I remember correctly, $219 for the set (dress + cape). By the time I had realized this financial error, we had already sold over 700 sets. Long story short, a dress that should have brought in a much higher margin only brought in extremely minimal profit, and in many cases depending on discounts and shipping has lost us money. It taught me a lot about what it actually costs to produce a very high quality, expensive garment.

The price error has since been fixed, and we are not going to ask the previous 700 people for an extra $100. If the garment was truly impossible to produce given a price error, I would likely cancel it, ask the existing customers what they'd like to do, etc. Luckily it was just above what I would have considered truly impossible, so the show goes on! I also did not want our customers to have waited this long just to get billed more money because I was over ambitious on the price a year ago.

It is what it is! I learned a lot, and I was able to still continue with the design. I wanted to explain the financial bit behind the scenes because many people have been curious about why the price suddenly shot up so much, but also because I think it is an interesting part of what makes Mochipan unique. I can't imagine a large corporation continuing on with a project, no matter how many pieces sold, if it could potentially affect their profit margins. Of course, this is not the kind of mistake Mochipan can afford to make often, but I am proud that we were able to continue on with the collection despite my foolishness.

Why Does Original Fashion Design Take So Long?

One thing I hope this blog helps illustrate is just how much work can go into bringing an original clothing design to life. When you see a finished garment online, you're usually only seeing the very last stage of a much longer process. You don't necessarily see the fabric samples that didn't work, the embroidery that had to be repositioned, the fittings that revealed unexpected problems, or the prototypes that needed to be made all over again. With the Apothecary Collection, we experienced all of those things.

And while we certainly wish the process had been faster, we also believe that taking the time to get things right is an important part of creating clothing we're genuinely proud of. At Mochipan, our goal has always been to create original whimsical fashion that feels special. We don't want to simply recreate whatever is currently popular. We want to bring new ideas into the world, even when those ideas are difficult to manufacture.

Thank You for Being Part of the Journey

To everyone who has supported this collection, shared our original illustrations, offered feedback on our samples, or patiently waited for updates: thank you.

Your enthusiasm helped turn one original design into an entire collection, and your feedback genuinely influenced the finished pieces. We're so excited to finally share the Apothecary Collection with you, and we hope that when these pieces arrive, you'll be able to see all the love and attention that went into creating them.

Here's to more whimsical designs, more ambitious ideas, and hopefully a few less sample revisions next time!

With love,

Rae, Mochipan Founder & The Mochipan Team ♡