Materials Matter
The Industry Is Broken
Our founder worked in fashion for years - from positions on the factory floor to corporate headquarters. She worked with designers, merchants, operations, and VPs for brands that sold millions of dollars of clothing every day.
But the same issues kept appearing, and sales started declining.
Common belief dictated that only certain customers would buy certain garments at certain prices. If a fabric didn't fit into the cost structure to sell a t-shirt at $10 for a Fourth of July doorbuster, forget it.
Corporate dogma stated that if a customer loved a dress last year, do it again this year - but with just the tiniest change to trick her into thinking it's something new.
Standard practice was to shop competitors, bring samples back, and then send the same off to mills and factories to replicate the fabric, print, and silhouette - with only enough alterations to pass the legal team's purview.
And in the end, so much red tape was required to get to production that deadlines were missed. The only solution was to discard all prior work, turn to wholesalers with pre-made products chosen off a rack, and slap on a label - just to fill space on the floor.
What We Are Doing About It
We had to see a change. Change the process, change the red tape and waste, and change the idea that profit margin makes the calls on what goes to market.
Our approach is simple. We find brilliant fabrics. We figure out what product can be the canvas to let the fabrics shine. Then we make it. We don't even consider the price until the final product is complete.
To us, fashion is like art - artists don't first decide on their selling price, and then make the art. How could one ever truly create when restricted by the selling price? Art is more visceral than that. It comes from inside, from our passions and fears. It's crafted and honed by our experiences and skills. Only once the artist surfaces from the creative flow is price considered.
So how do we do it - become artists in the retail world?
We work sustainably and nimbly, because we know what we're looking for - that which we haven't seen. Once we find it we jump, but thoughtfully. We brainstorm until we land on the perfect style to showcase the fabric. We only sample the garment and fabric when we have a viable idea, reducing needless time, effort, and materials.
We don't have F/W or S/S launches. We don't create a huge line of products to sell, then ultimately discount and discard.
We limit our environmental impact. We even have our cut and sew factories ship the fabric scraps back to us with the final product. That's where our sample swatches come from.
We'd rather have 1 product on the site that we stand by 100% than a dozen that are just there to drive a profit.
Our Future
Like all artists, we're dreamers. We have a lot of things we want to do, but currently can't.
We want to find better ways to be sustainable with our packaging and shipping. Some options won't be available to us until we can scale up - but we're already excited by what we are finding.
One day, we want to have our own mill and factory, so we can be even closer to the action, our innovation only limited by ourselves.
And of course every day, we're always searching for that next fabric. If you find one that does it for you, let us know. Tag us on social media or email orders@waxwinglabs.com.