The clothing industry, particularly the fast fashion segment, is notorious for its negative environmental impact. Producing clothes already has a significant environmental footprint, both in carbon emissions and water consumption, but the industry’s tendency to overproduce is further magnifying its destructive effect.
While most businesses frown on having a large excess of inventory, the fashion industry has long been able to tolerate overproduction due to high mark-ups and (inhumanely) cheap labor, raw materials, and transport. For clothing companies and their shareholders, not having enough stock to meet demand is a graver sin than producing too much.
However, inputs are becoming more expensive, and overproduction is going to eat a progressively larger hole in clothing companies’ margins. Overproduction is estimated to cost retailers $500 billion annually, and that figure is expected to rise even more in the coming years, with carbon footprint regulations, an incoming European Union ban on the destruction of unsold garments, and the rising cost of storage space. Developing countries such as Uganda, which used to be the dumping grounds for wealthy nations’ unsold clothes, are now rejecting them.
Thus, the fashion industry is left in a dilemma of how to reduce their production volume without sacrificing profitability.
Tech Tailors, a clothing technology startup based in Amsterdam, has come up with a novel yet familiar solution – reintroducing made-to-order clothing, but with the help of technology to keep it affordable. According to Tech Tailors co-founder Sanne Schoenmaker, custom-tailored clothes are expensive due to the amount of labor and time invested and the difficulty of scaling up production. Mass production of clothes in typically five sizes helped bring down their cost, but it gave birth to the overproduction problem.
According to Tech Tailors’ research, US clothing inventory levels are at an all-time high, and return rates are growing faster than revenue growth rates for 91% of US retailers. McKinsey estimates that 70% of returns are due to sizing issues, particularly with women’s garments.
Industry estimates have placed overproduction rates at 30% of 150 billion garments annually, resulting in 45 billion unsold garments. However, Tech Tailor’s more detailed sales and return analysis has concluded that total overproduction is more likely to be at around 38% of 276 billion garments or 106 billion unsold pieces.
Tech Tailors’ solution has been made possible by the improved accuracy of 3D scanning apps, and more and more manufacturers are now willing to work on a made-to-order basis, thanks to automation. The company was then able to develop the patterns and the software to bring automated mass tailoring within reach. Tech Tailors has created a plugin that transforms the pattern created by clothing companies into a dynamic pattern that is ready to accept custom measurements from the customer.
When the customer orders a dress online, Tech Tailors’ plugin will automatically adjust the pattern to the customer's measurements and preferences. It works with several software partners for the body data sizing part of the solution, either through scanning via a smartphone app or by answering questions such as height, weight, shoe size, and age. Those metrics are used to generate a 3D avatar and Tech Tailors’ software adjusts the pattern to the measurements before sending it to the factory. The customer will then receive their custom-made garments within one to two weeks.
According to Schoenmaker, most of the focus on sustainability in fashion is on using more sustainable materials and production processes. However, if the industry is still overproducing, then it offsets the sustainability gains made, resulting in a lower net impact. By solving the overproduction problem, Tech Tailors can help create up to 54% carbon reduction for the entire life cycle of the garment.
Through its mass made-to-order solution, Tech Tailors can help bring down return rates, reducing the number of unsold garments. While production costs for made-to-order indeed will go up, reducing overproduction will result in larger profits in the long term, Schoenmaker says.
Aside from vastly reducing return rates, Tech Tailors’ solution can also make the clothing industry more inclusive. Instead of forcing billions of people to fit into the same five sizes, clothes will be custom-made to each person’s body measurements.
“I believe the clothing industry is stuck in the past with its five standard sizes,” Schoenmaker says. “If you're particularly tall, petite, curvy, or muscular, then good luck to you – you won't fit in. Aside from the inclusivity aspect of it, there's also the financial aspect, as returns and unsold inventory are losses for the company. But, if companies sell made-to-measure, they can sell to a potentially wider audience.
“Tech Tailors envisions the future to be a mix of bulk production for timeless items that people can buy if they need them quickly, while the vast majority of clothes will be made to measure on demand, thanks to our automated solution,” she concludes. “Customers don't have to wait six to eight weeks to get their clothes, which are produced as close to home as possible, further minimizing the environmental impact.”
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Sanne Schoenmaker
