Did you know that roughly 30% of the clothing produced is never sold?* Crazy, right!
When I stumbled across this statistic I was lost for words. There is so much information out there about the issues plaguing the fashion industry. It was this fact, though, that really hit home for me.
At Common Stitch we have become more known for our sewing patterns, though one of our other popular products are completed garments. We are really proud of how we run this side of the business, especially at a time when the fashion industry is facing some major sustainability challenges. All of our completed garments are ‘made-to-order’ by us (Ali and Charlie) as opposed to the ‘made-to-stock’ business model utilised by most brands.
There are flaws to the ‘made-to-order’ business model. Is it scalable? Does it slow down product delivery to the customer? What happens when sales periods fluctuate? However, there is a much bigger problem with the ‘made-to-stock’ model - overproduction.
It is widely reported that 30% of produced clothing goes unsold*. Instead, it finds it way to landfill or being burned. This is without the clothes ever having been worn! We believe it is a completely unnecessary and damaging process. Natural resources are wasted, not to mention the huge environmental impact.
While the ‘made-to-order’ model isn’t a solution in itself, we believe it is a step in the right direction - for both the fashion industry and the environment.
You can read about why we have adopted a made-to-order business model here.
* Statistics retrieved from www.sharesource.com
x Charlie