Glossary (AZ)
Residuals, ‘leftover fabric’
Residuals or leftover fabric is leftover material. It can come from brands that have ordered too much fabric, or from manufacturers, such as fabric in the wrong colors or with errors or from canceled orders. Normally this is thrown away and therefore lost. They are also sometimes called residuals deadstock.
Deadstock
The term deadstock However, it usually refers to unsold fashion items or other products (such as residual materials) that have not been sold and are still in stock at a retailer or manufacturer. Deadstock can occur due to a variety of reasons, such as overproduction, changes in consumer demand, seasonal trends changing, or simply poor planning.
Overstock
Overstock is sometimes used as a synonym for deadstock, but in fact it is something different. Overstock is excess stock, or residual stock, read: unsold clothing items. For example, overstock can arise because too much has been purchased or incorrect forecasts. Overstock is often still actively offered (read: is it still for sale to consumers). Deadstock is usually no longer intended for sale, and deadstock has often been removed from inventory.
This is what is meant by the race to the bottom in the fashion industry and the curse of the 3 euro T-shirt
Race to the bottom / Race to the bottom
In the fashion industry, the race to the bottom refers to the phenomenon whereby clothing companies produce their clothes as cheaply as possible and try to cut back more and more to remain competitive. Because the fashion industry is a saturated and competitive market.
Price competition has been going on for decades. Our clothes have become cheaper and cheaper. Much clothing production has been moved to countries with lower production costs such as Bangladesh. Fashion companies have also started making more clothing from cheaper materials such as polyester. With the rise of fast fashion companies and discounters where a T-shirt is on the shelves for the bottom price of 5 euros or sometimes only 3 euros, price competition in the sector has further intensified.
For clothing brands, the lowest possible cost price is usually interesting. The production price is often heavily negotiated.
The cheaper a product can be made, the cheaper a clothing brand can market it (and the more money can be made).
Price often comes before the impact on people and the environment, and often at the expense of, for example, fair labor compensation for the people who assemble our garments.
The term is also used for the spiral of overproduction, overconsumption and the crazy fashion system.
The curse of the 3 euro T-shirt
Of “the curse of the T-shirt for 3 euros” refers to the phenomenon where people have come to regard extremely low prices for clothing, such as T-shirts that cost only a few euros, as normal and fashion companies have started looking for ways to further reduce production costs to meet this expectation. Because the cheaper they can have their products made, the cheaper they can be marketed and/or the more profit can be made.
Sources:
– FashionUnited.nl article ‘Making something new from something existing is ‘in’: this is upcycling‘, September 5, 2023
– FashionUnited article ‘What is fast fashion? (The term may refer to rapid production or rapid consumption)’August 28, 2023
– FashionUnited article ‘This is greenwashing (and the latest state of affairs)’July 10, 2023
– Parts of this article text were generated with an artificial intelligence (AI) tool and then edited.