REPORT


stock by Wies Mauduit


If you google the definition of the word ‘deadstock’,


you will find it applies to items that have never


been sold and are unlikely to be sold due to a lack of demand. These items are brand new and never used but take up valuable storage space. In fashion, it could be old designs, less popular sizes,


or colours that did not appeal to consumers. They used to be referred to as ‘dead stock’. Over time, the meaning has evolved to refer not only to unsold


items but also to resources, like the materials to produce the items. Financially, deadstock represents tied-up capital. These are items that cost money to produce, store and manage but are not generating any revenue.


A growing problem


Over the past two decades, deadstock in the fashion industry has seen a considerable increase, reaching US$120 billion in value today. If the excess materials are not remade into something else, they lie stagnant in warehouses, get shipped to incineration sites, or are dumped in landfills.* In 2017, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation published a report about the state of the textile industry. The report says: “Every year, 92 million tonnes of fabric end up in landfills or are burnt. Every second, the equivalent of a rubbish truck full of clothes is burned or added to landfill, often in developing countries in the Global South that are unable to process this volume of waste. In the last fifteen years, clothing production has approximately doubled, driven by a growing middle-class population across the globe and increased per capita sales in mature economies. The latter rise is mainly due to the ‘fast fashion’ phenomenon, with quicker turnaround of new styles, increased number of


* ‘Is Deadstock the New Green in Sustainable Fashion?’ (2024) – Econyl (www.econyl.com/magazine/ is-deadstock-the-new-green-in- sustainable-fashion)


48 the hat magazine | 101


Material afterlives


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