Page 23 - New Cloth Market December 2022 Digital Edition

Environmental benefits:
• Avoids the generation of textile waste or burning
resulting from the unsold garments. • Saving of
AGES
virgin raw materials to produce a new product.
• Each emblematic product is associated with a
value sheet that quantifies the environmental
benefits. Based on objective data, it helps to
demonstrate to customers, to the ecosystem
actors, to each of us the validity of this revalori-
zation approach with a view to a larger scale
deployment.
• We have compared the environmental impact of
our pyjashorts manufactured in circular mode • Partnership with actors of the Social and Soli-
versus linear mode: 95% less air pollution, 94% darity Economy (establishments of service of
less fossil fuel, 24000kms less, 97.5% less pol- help by the work of handicapped persons and an
luted water. association of help to the reintegration of women
Economic benefits: far from employment).
EXECUTIVE P
• It gives back value to products that no longer Implementation barriers:
had any.
• The cumbersome internal process of brands (dif-
• It generates employment in solidarity workshops
ficult to break!).
facilitating the reintegration of people in difficult
social situations. • Brands always think in terms of return on invest-
ment/profitability with the same KPIs.
• This participates in the relocation of the textile
industry, many workshops have been created in • Costs, especially for French manufacturing.
the last 2 years and the historical manufactur-
• Consumers used to low prices do not always
ers reinvest, re-equip and re- hire, re-train and
understand the prices of Upcycling.
develop the necessary skills.
• A long and costly preparation phase of the gar-
Technical benefits:
ment.
• Establishment of a know-how of textile transfor-
• Management of the generated waste to be taken
mation.
into consideration.
• With the help of our team of designers, we bal-
ance creative ideas with the constraints of real- • Insufficient production capacity and know-how
ization. to date.
Social benefits: Replication Potential:
• Collaboration between brands and local talents • Possibility to make other products with the same
to imagine a more responsible fashion. methodology.
• Relocation of manufacturing by reviving a his- • Possibilities to replicate the process in other
torical know-how. services or product.

Using ‘deadstock’, the leftovers from clothes manufacturing, to create something new is inspiring.

Brands that use deadstock in their designs are increasingly on the radars of consumers, who appreciate the
idea of saving waste fabric from landfill. This clearly indicates that sustainability is becoming a priority in a post-
pandemic world. The term 'deadstock' is more likely to refer to unused and unworn items rediscovered by a
vintage dealer with a good eye and set of contacts with old warehouses. However, the idea has also been
questioned in terms of its environmental advantages. Some argue that, while using deadstock is obviously
better than producing something from scratch, brands might actually be using what is called “available stock”
– the extra fabric manufacturers produce along with orders with the confidence that this too will be sold.
With no clear regulation on terminology, brands are able to call deadstock, stock that is dead to them because
nobody purchased it, rather than unsellable goods. This is likely to create controversy. It is, therefore, sug-
gested to use a more respectable term – “upcycling”. There are leading designers who are giving fashion a
spin by repurposing vintage clothing and fabric. Some reports suggest they use clothes sourced from a
secondhand market in Accra. This shows what happens to huge volumes of unwanted clothes the west sends
to Africa, before many of them end up in landfill. The media reports have claimed that not just high-end
designers, a cluster of smaller labels are utilising these techniques to make new clothes out of old.

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