It's no secret that the fashion industry still has some work to do in order to become more virtuous. It is important to remember that many initiatives are being developed today to address the issues it faces.
Loss of material when cutting
One of these problems is the loss of material linked to the cutting of fabrics during manufacturing. The first step in the manufacturing process, cutting the rolls of fabric follows the patterns created by the designers of the client brands. This step has long led to a significant loss of material. The patterns, in fact, are not always optimally designed to use all the available material and the remaining scraps, too small to be used on other pieces, are therefore unusable as they are. According to the Refashion website, this cutting step would result in the loss of 60 billion m2 of fabric worldwide. A significant figure to say the least, which can be reformulated as follows: between 20 and 30% of the material is lost during cutting, on average. And when we consider the known effects, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, of fabric production, breeding, transport, but also, once spinning has passed, of fabric manufacturing itself- even, the loss is in reality significant (see our carbon footprint on this to understand all the stages).
What to do with these fabrics?
In his book Is ethical fashion possible? Sociologist Madjouline Sbai explains that these fabric scraps are either thrown away or frayed to be transformed into wiping rags or home insulation.
Part of thinking about the circular economy is finding ways to limit the loss of these scraps. Several solutions are being developed, including the creation of laser cutting machines allowing extremely precise patterns and shapes to be followed. These patterns are designed to fit into each other, thus optimizing the use of the fabric. We are already making good use of it with our partners.
Loss of material to meet production minimums
Clothing workshops often have production order minimums, which allows them to make their production line profitable. Brands have a certain quantity of products made and, for various reasons, do not always consume their entire stock of fabrics (cash flow, miscalculation in production). It then happens that certain rolls of fabric do not reach the quantities necessary for the minimum production required, and that they therefore remain “dormant” in the workshops. These ends of unused rolls often end up being thrown away. Companies like Nona-Source revalue and encourage the creative reuse of existing unused resources, such as dormant stocks.
Upcycling, Hast style
Faced with this problem, other solutions also exist, such as using fabric scraps to make other types of products that require less footage. This is what we wanted to do by using fabric scraps from our shirts to make our “upcycled” boxer shorts. In 2019, we therefore designed our first boxer shorts with fabrics originally intended for the production of our shirts. This involves developing a form of upcycling, this process which literally means “recycling from above” consists of creating new value with materials that are no longer used, of using unused material that has destined to be thrown away.
This season, we decided to try the experiment again, this time purchasing these forming stocks from one of our suppliers. The idea of using these stocks allows us to participate in the circularity of the economy, and thus continue to commit to more virtuous fashion.
Discover our upcycled boxer shorts .
