Fashion becomes more virtuous in the face of unsold stocks

“Sorry, there is no one in the office today, we have a Covid case”, announces Édouard Caraco, welcoming us to The Bradery. This afternoon at the end of March, when the epidemic is on the rise again in France and the government has just announced the closure of stores in nineteen French departments, the site teams have been placed in isolation. However, this young business owner has nothing to despair about. Launched in 2019 with his best friend, Timothée Linyer, The Bradery displays an Olympic form. A year and a pandemic later, this site specializing in the destocking of high-end brands has multiplied its turnover by ten thanks to a clever targeting of millennials. Breakdown of sales to staff and closed network of outlets will have benefited the French start-up. The result ? Labels like Sandro, Vanessa Bruno, Zadig & Voltaire knock on his door, seduced by the project. “We signed 150 contracts. The brands need to sell their stocks and they realize the service that we can provide them, ”says Édouard, who also argues that this model makes it possible to reconstitute cash to pay salaries, but also to finance the next collections. Because the urgency is real. You should know that, in France, six hundred and twenty-four tons* of new clothes are put on the market each year, which is the equivalent, in weight, of sixty-two Eiffel towers. In January, a shopkeeper gave an alarming report to the “Figaro”: “We are used to having 10 to 15% unsold. Generally, they are sold during the month of March or at the following sales. But, this year, I have almost one in two garments left on my hands. So what to do with this ruinous merchandise? “It's a disaster, is moved Pierre-François Le Louët, president of the French Federation of women's ready-to-wear. The impact is severe and a return to normal is not expected before 2023. If, in 2022, we return to the level of activity of 2019, that would already be extraordinary. For this year, it is irretrievable. “And with the new closures imposed, the specialist has little hope. “This is another blow to fashion. The activity is at half mast and it is not by offering aggressive promotions that we will return to growth. The season is lost. We were let go by the government, and without any visibility on the future”, he regrets. Gildas Minvielle, director of the economic observatory at the French Fashion Institute (IFM), shares the same observation: “In one year, the cards have been reshuffled. The market has become totally unpredictable, recording a 15% decline in turnover in 2020. No more short-term production and just-in-time management, we are playing the card of caution by cutting into capsule collections, reducing in the number of references and colors and by further geolocating the offer thanks to artificial intelligence. Brands cannot afford further losses. »

Too much waste, too much overconsumption… the pandemic has also accelerated consumer behavior change. Now we turn to the second hand. This sector, which reached one billion euros in 2020, has become essential for the survival of brands. With this in mind, luxury is organized by forming virtuous partnerships with second-hand platforms such as Vestiaire Collective. The site, which has just won the status of "French unicorn" thanks to the entry into its capital of the Kering group, offers a paying Brand Approved service for brands. The project: allow customers to bring back their pieces that have already been worn, and then resold once authenticated on Vestiaire Collective, in exchange for a voucher for the brand. The idea, tested by Alexander McQueen, is "in the process of being extended to the other brands of the group", affirms Fanny Moizant, president and co-founder of Vestiaire Collective. A principle to which Mulberry also adhered. “We had already taken the lead with the Mulberry Exchange service, which consists of reselling used and refurbished parts in our house in exchange for a voucher for the seller. This allows us to increase the visibility of the brand and attract a new type of clientele, younger and more attentive to the circular economy,” explains Thierry Andretta, CEO of Mulberry.

“ In France, 624 tons of new clothes are put on the market each year, the equivalent of 62 Eiffel Towers. »

In this context, thwarting the “köpskam” (the shame of buying, in Swedish) by encouraging young customers to afford old collections is a parade. As proof, Cos shows that you can combine utility with ethics by giving a second life to your stocks. Just click on the Scandinavian brand's website to see that new products and archives coexist without cannibalizing sales. Or degrades a long and skilfully constructed image? " Not at all ! It is very daring of him to present this double offer. Brands bet on the lifespan of their products ignoring trends. We no longer draw a line on an item after one season, we offer them again to the public at an attractive price. There is no expiry date when the product is of high quality,” recalls Stephanie Crespin, co-founder of Reflaunt, a platform that connects premium brands with the second-hand market. At the antipodes of a fashion with programmed aesthetic obsolescence, making your unsold products profitable becomes cool. And opens the doors to new business. Thus we are betting on renting the “greatest hits” from old and new collections at Maje or at Ba&sh, we are testing live shopping at Monnier Frères. Everything is good to take to try to save what can still be saved.

Another significant factor that comes into play is the application of the anti-waste law for the development of the circular economy, which prohibits the destruction of unsold items, a common practice in fashion. From January 1, 2022, “producers, importers and distributors of non-food products” will now be forced to recycle, donate or reuse their new unsold items, under penalty of financial penalties. Éric Legent took the lead. His company, ReValorem, founded a little over a year ago, collects stocks from luxury houses to dismantle them and recycle the clean materials thus obtained. “This law forces players in the sector to rethink their production volume by focusing more on the quality of the product whose materials can be used again. At ReValorem, we help brands identify the different components of products by encouraging them to design new materials from recycling, such as creating a hanger from shredded leather, fabric and basketball soles,” explains the co-manager. of ReValorem. A new concept, which speaks to houses such as Dior, Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen, which are among its early customers. And proving that unsold products are good? " Certainly ! They allow on the one hand to create jobs in France for the manual dismantling of products, and on the other hand to the brands to go to the heart of the manufacturing, to improve their production practices. It is a valuable source of information from an economic and environmental point of view,” he concludes. So many possibilities to transform unsold goods into a concrete and responsible alternative to alleviate the crisis and textile overconsumption.

* According to a report by the Ecological Transition Agency (ADEME).