Deadstock, or the leftovers of the fashion industry, represents the discarded bits of fabric that literally don’t make the cut. According to the AATCC, 10-20% of fabric gets wasted during production due to poor practices. These encompass excessive ordering, inaccurate demand forecasting, or even poor quality control [ShipBob, 2020]. 90% of these thrown away fabrics could easily be recycled, repurposed or donated.
You might be shocked to find out that 84% of all garments end up either in landfills or incinerated [RoadRunner, 2021]. And according to Greenpeace, 20% of these are never worn!! That is a terrible waste. Not only because we are throwing away a perfectly good item, but also because every good - regardless of how worn, old, or out-of-style it is - can easily get a second life. As a second-hand garment it will very likely make someone else happy. And how about working your own personal magic on it? Cut, sow, patch and make it in your image. This way you’ll have saved an item and made a unique, limited edition out of it!
We all aspire to keep up with fashion. What’s this year’s stylish piece? What is cool, or what is trendy? But you don’t necessarily have to renew your wardrobe for that. Let’s be creative! This constant attempt is having its toll on the environment even if we don’t see it directly with our own eyes: the pesticides used on crops, the chemicals used to treat the fabrics, the gallons of water for production, the carbon emissions due to manufacturing and transportation.
It has been estimated that we wear our garments around 4 times [Fair Fashion Guide]. Imagine if you were to up that to 50. This small change on your part would result in a reduction of carbon emissions of 400% per item, per year. Isn’t that great?
You might be wondering what we’re doing to play our part in this great lifecycle of fashion. And you’re perfectly right to do so. So let’s have a look!
We are engaged in a strict recycling and zero-waste policy in our studio. The pollution of fast fashion can be reduced. One of our steps in that direction is a zero-tolerance for overproduction. We value quality over quantity. We prefer to focus our energy - and save it - by opting for sustainable, organic, natural and chemical-free materials such as bamboo, organic cotton, hemp, RPET and more.
Another one is our reliance on scraps to create beautiful new designs. It’s very important for us that every last bit of material has a purpose. We’re careful about recycling or upcycling every scrap. Nothing’s left behind with us. We truly have a zero-waste atelier!
We are proud to say that since starting this journey, our textile contribution to landfills has been zero.
The pandemic, although an unfortunate turn of events for us globally, has challenged our creativeness with respect to deadstock. As firm supporters of an ethical work environment as well as supply chain and as eco-warriors for a greener future, ADKN has decided to salvage these sustainable deadstock materials and give them a new life in our new collection: ADKN DLife. And it looks pretty great! We invite you to explore to your heart’s desire.
This collection presents a range of custom pieces aligning with our company’s vision, aesthetic, and values towards ethical and quality standards. Produced in our London studio, each item is available in limited numbers.
We encourage transparency when it comes to production. To that end, we disclose without restraint the sustainability of our garments and the truth behind each item’s price - something you don’t usually come across. Thus, our DLife collection has enabled us to:
- Salvage an average of 917 L of water per dress and 425 L per top,
- Reduce carbon emissions by an average of 5,4 kg per dress and 3,35 kg per top,
- Save around 77,4 kWh per dress and 31,25 per top,
- And repurpose an average of 0,5 kg per dress and 0,25 kg per top of deadstock fabric.
ADKN aims to bring a unique kind of fashion, to be at the forefront of normative changes in this industry, to make a change. All of this while creating elegant, timeless and sophisticated garments to make our customers merry.
We thank you for your support!