WHY MADE TO ORDER MANUFACTURING MATTERS.

Est. 134 million tonnes of textile waste/year by 2030

Globally, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) estimates that up to 85% of textiles go to landfills every year. By 2030, the projection is that we’ll be discarding a staggering 134 million tonnes of textiles a year.

STATUS QUO

Clothes are a necessary part of life, but our ever-expanding wardrobes are damaging to the planet. Even though most people haven’t worn at least 50% of the clothes in their closets in the last year, excessive buying is at an all-tim high. What’s worse is that global  consumers discard 92 million tonnes of textiles every year, and 75% of that ends up in landfills or is incinerated.

For their part, companies that sell textiles drive overconsumption habits with increased product offerings and output. While companies do their best to predict what’s going to sell, they routinely miss the mark. “One of the greatest drivers of waste is… producing the wrong items, often due to poor forecasting.” Yet excess production isn’t merely a by product of overestimating consumer demand.

Many actually believe it’s a “precise calculation of profits and losses.” Meaning, it’s cheaper for manufacturers to overproduce. Producing too much and disposing of excess product after the fact is a more cost-effective model for many retailers (especially since recycling excess inventory would require additional manpower and spending). As a result, fashion retailers are grossly overproducing their wares, with enormous amounts of leftover stock either being disposed of or burned without ever reaching consumers.

Source: Impaakt; Community Score reports for each company.

MADE-TO-ORDER

Made-to-order clothing, or as we call it Handmade-to-order, means that a garment is only made once a new order comes in, it isn’t a novel concept. But it is a powerful one. 

It’s the opposite of producing clothes in bulk, which is what the legacy brands do. And what happens to their leftover stock? It gets incinerated or sent to landfills. In other words, it’s terrible for the planet.

 Made-to-order clothing is much better for the planet:

• Reducing waste – Fashion already generates 92 million tonnes of textile waste every year, but made-to-order clothing doesn’t add to it. Instead, it helps reduce it.

• Waste lifecycle – Clothing waste + the plastic packaging takes over 200 years to decompose in landfills and leaches toxic chemicals and methane gas during the process, contaminating soil and groundwater. 

• Plastic ingestion and entanglement harm 1,200+ marine species causing the death of 100,000 marine mammals every year.

• Using less resources – The most polluting stage of a product’s lifecycle tends to be the initial production phase. So, because they’re only producing what they actually need, these brands have a much lower environmental impact.

• Fewer returns – Consumers often purchase items in different styles or sizes and then return whichever doesn’t fit, ignoring the high cost behind free returns. But when you’ve invested in a made-to-order garment and waited for it to be ready? You’re more likely to keep it! So, by discouraging returns, made-to-order brands are reducing their environmental impact even further.

• Lower carbon emissions – For all these reasons, made-to-order clothes tend to result in lower CO2 emissions.

• More conscious purchases – Made-to-order clothing inspires consumers to be more conscious with their shopping habits. Instead of ordering dozens of $5 items (and only wearing them a couple of times before repeating that), you’re investing in fewer and higher-quality pieces that are made to last and… just for you!

Sure, this means you need to be a liiiiiittle more patient. Made-to-order clothing can take 3-6 weeks to arrive at your doorstep. But once it’s there, we bet it’s going to stay in your wardrobe for YEARS.

You have the power to make a difference.
Choose handmade-to-order over bulk clothing to level
up your athletic wardrobe game and do your part
to leave the world a better place. 

MADE TO ORDER IS NO LONGER A LUXURY ONLY THE WEALTHY CAN AFFORD.

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