In addition to designing new products each year, our product development team also has 
the task of developing new plaid designs to be used on existing products. This fall, we are launching three new exclusive Stormy Kromer plaids: Superior, Wintergreen and Mapleberry.
So, how does an exclusive Stormy Kromer plaid get developed anyway? Our team sits down over a year before a product is released to look at color trends for that year and we put together palettes. Then, we draw the specific plaid designs on the computer. We send that off to our factory, review a series of handlooms, and, voilà, we have finished wool!
Then comes the fun part – naming the new plaids! Have you ever looked at crayons or paint swatches and thought, “Boy, it sure would be fun to come up with these names!” Well, we can assure you, it is fun.
We asked our employees for help last year, and with their input we came up with the fine monikers you see here – Superior (in honor of that great lake just north of us), Wintergreen and Mapleberry. You will find these new wools being used in caps – like the Original, Ida and Petal Pusher, and also in some new 2011 products like the Kromer Carryall and Ida’s Mittens.
This year, we’d like to ask for your help. Below are photos of two new plaids we are developing for 2012. While we can’t reveal what products they are for, we’d love your suggestions on names.
What name would you give these new Stormy Kromer plaids? Just reply to this post with all your creative ideas!
Reader interactions
75 Replies to “Developing Stormy Kromer Plaids”
Comfort plaids.
Yes they do look comfy, don’t they! Thanks for ideas.
What about looking into Celtic clan plaids? The catalog would be amazing to generate ideas…and even call the new hat by the Clan name? The Clan collection of SK’s!
Thanks Rick, we’ll have to look into that!
Chocolay for the first one, pink lumber jack for the second.
Thanks Sara!
I’m thinking S’more and Strawberry Field
Glad to see we’re still getting ideas on these. Very nice – thanks Frances!
Chocolay (for Chocolay Twp) and Linden Lime
Love the references. Thanks for posting.
Iron ore brown or ore brown and prokie green keeping with the u.p theam, Just a thought !! 🙂
Thanks Beth for the ideas!
I like the Iron Ore name!
Canvasback, and Mushroomberry
Thanks for the ideas and thanks for reading!
Superior Blue Plaid
Grand Dad’s Plaid
Camp Road Plaid
L is Brule; R is Ripley Plaid
The darker one is “Paradise Plaid” and the lighter is “Thimbleberry”.
Oooh, Thimbleberry is good.
I like Thimbleberry too!!
How about Mt. McKinley plaid.
Thanks Jayson!
Left: Sugar Shack Brown
Right: Timber Moss
Sugar Shack is nice…
I like those names:)
Left- acorn plaid
Right- cherry blossom plaid
I do like the iron ore idea though!!
Thanks Janet! Great ideas.
You should do something in green and name it “Hodag Herringbone”
Alex – from Rhinelander I assume? 🙂
Will give this more thought today – whether I mean to or not, I am sure – but off the cuff…
The one on the right reminds me of spring in the woods, when the wildflowers are blooming so…Ladyslipper or Northwoods Blooms
Noreen – thanks for your thoughts and feel free to send more! It definitely has a spring feel to it…
Wild berry and Woodsmoke.
Thanks Dick!
How about this.Kromer comfort plaids.
How about Spring Earth plaid and Hearth plaid.
Oh, hearth sounds so cozy!
“Northern Night” for the one on the left.
“Spring Walleye” on the right. Or maybe “Spring Melt” or “Spring Thaw”
Thanks for the great ideas Bob!
How bout these two . .
Left: “Ironwood Plaid”
Right: “Gladstone Plaid”
Great suggestions Matt. Thanks!
Left: Robin’s Egg Plaid
Right: Pink Azalea Plaid
Great ideas Ragan. Thanks!
“Yooper Plaids” but something to differentiate the female looking plaid from the male looking plaid. Like: Ida’s Yooper Plaid and George’s Yooper Plaid/Stormy’s Yooper Plaid. 🙂
Thanks Amber
Left, Lady Aurora : a radiant emission from the upper atmosphere, luminous bands, I’m just sayin!
Right, Stormy’s Succotash: that’s got corn and Lima beans woven in, warm and yummy? Ha ha
Jeff – you might win the prize for the most creative ideas so far. Thanks!!!
For the dark plaid on the left: Northern Nights plaid, and for the lighter plaid on the right: Fayette plaid.
Love your hats! Thanks for saving an integral piece of Yooper history.
Thanks Bonnie!
The one on the right should be called “Pike-Skin-Plaid” because it has the same colors as a northern pike. The darker one that is pink and blue stripes is tougher. That is definatley a color for a female. I would suggest chocalte delight.
Did you know there is an official Michigan Tartan Plaid. Kati Meek is the designer. Here is her blog site http://katimeek.blogspot.com/2010/11/state-of-michigan-has-its-own-tartan.html.
Kristi – We did not know this. Thank you so much for the info, we’ll take a look!
Tahquamenon Tartan and Tapiola Tartan.
John – Thanks for your input. Those are a mouthful!
Ok, check this out I’m relaxing on the screened in watching as the sun sets trying to think of some more names for your plaids when I’m seeing this sliver of baby blue with a beautiful pink band of clouds above with dark clouds all around, with that came this, first plaid Twilight Tweed and with that came this, Mustard Tweed for the second or maybe Autumn Tweed if Tweed is a woven wool
What about “Aurora” for the blue, purple and black plaid? To play hommage to the northern lights we are often blessed with.
We’ve had lots of northern lights related suggestions. Thanks for another one Ashley, Aurora is nice.
forest edge green and saddle brown
Nice!
Bear Creek Plaid and Pheasant Plaid
Thanks Kristin!
How about…
River rocks and Frosty Dune
Pine cone and Birch berries
Eagles nest and Birch Bay
Lots of good ideas! Thanks Barbara.
You said all your ideas, a couple more, try to keep up, black, pink and blue a deep plaid requires deep thought, these shades of pink and blue are commonly used in infants bedrooms and the black.doesn’t have to be dark, 1st plaid: innocent dream, I bowhunt the northwoods so the 2nd plaid I see this, golds,some reds, wet black tree trunks a light snow : autumn snow, ha,ha I’ll wait!
Timber brown for the one on the left and MooseBerry on the right!!
Thanks David!
Paul Bunyan Brown and Tahquamenon Falls
Left- Lakeland Plaid
Right- Birchwood Berry
Thanks Angie!
I’d call the pink/brown plaid cap, “Sugar and Spice” and I’d call the grey/raspberry plaid, “spumoni”.
Left – Bright Night
Right – Hearthstone
Hearthstone…sounds so cozy…
The Green; “Fitzgerald” as in Edmond Fitzgerald.
Red; Hoot Man as in “Aye, Its a hoot Laddie”
L: wood duck (wood duck brown, wood duck plaid)
or blue winged teal
R: still thinking 🙂
Wood duck is good. Keep thinking on the other and feel free to post again if you think of something!
I would name the dark one on the left “Aunt Bee” and the one on right “Mayberry”. We just lost Andy Griffifth and I think this would be a fitting tribute to a man who inspired a country to laugh and learn would be a perfect fit for these great new patterns!!!