Rekotex helps companies to circulate textiles through the use of deadstock
Did you know that a lot of the fabrics ordered and bought by fashion brands (that has their own production) is not being used? A lot of textile, called deadstock, ends up as stock and never used? Marie wanted to find a solution for the fabrics and therefore she started Rekotex for circular textile use.
Can you please tell us more about Rekotex?
Rekotex was founded by me, Marie Jonsson, four years ago. I’ve studied Textile management at The Swedish school of Textiles and after that been out in the business for many years. In many of the companies I was in contact with, both brands working with interior and fashion, I´ve seen the problem with growing stock of leftover fabrics. I realized that the companies didn’t have the time or channels to get rid of this in a good way. At the same time, I saw the struggle for companies that wanted to find quality fabrics in smaller quantities to a reasonable price. I figured out that a common solution for these two problems was possible if I just could find the way to be an intermediary between these two kinds of companies. I took contact with a developer to build a digital platform that is the base for the business.
What is deadstock and where does the material you work with come from?
Larger brands in both fashion and interior design often start early in their process of developing new collections. It could be as long as 1.5 years before the products go on sale. At such an early stage, it is difficult to predict how much that will be sold, but you still need to order materials to know that there is more to sew from if a product is a success. In addition to this, fabric manufacturers often require high minimum quantities to start a production of a fabric. We choose to call this overstock for leftover fabrics, even though the most common way to mention it is deadstock.
Would you say that deadstock is a big problem in Sweden or Scandinavia/EU in general?
It´s hard to say how big the problem is though I haven´t found any figures on it. When starting Rekotex I took contact with some companies and all of them had problem with overstock and was happy to see that someone searched for a solution to take care of it in a good way.
Who are the brands that you collaborate with and are interested in the material?
Our selling partners are mostly Scandinavian brands that works in an international market. Common to the selling companies are that they have a great awareness of sustainability and only work with the most skilled fabric producers. Our customers are everything from smaller companies to large retail chains that want to make smaller unique collections with short lead times to sell in their concept stores. The production often take place local and there its so satisfying to see how many new companies that start up sewing units close to the market.
What has been the major challenges with your business?
The big challenge has been the logistical part as the fabrics remain in the seller's warehouse until a buyer is found, this to avoid unnecessary transport. The rolls are thus sent directly from the seller's warehouse, usually in different places in Europe or Asia to the buyer's production unit, which often is in different places in Europe.
What has been the largest gains? And how much deadstock material have you saved so far?
I would say that the biggest benefit is to have highlighted a problem that exists in the production process and being a part in finding a solution for this. When I started four years ago, there was hardly any talk about the term deadstock, which is now an established concept. It also feels good to be involved and influence for a greater awareness of efficient resource management.
Since we started, together with our partners, we have saved 50 000 metres of fabric. In terms of water needed to produce this fabrics it’s around 300 million litres which is enough for 6000 single persons in Swedens water consumption for a year.
If any brand reads this and is interested to have you as a supplier, what can they do?
We welcome you to our webshop to find out what the Re-source Collection can offer to improve your business. If you search for a specific quality that you can´t find in our shop, just contact us and we will check with our partners if there are rolls in their warehouses that you can bring new life to.Make sure to sign up an account at Rekotex to be able to see prices and to use other functions on our webpage.
If your brand is interested in selling fabrics, take contact with us at info@rekotex.se to get an inlog to our suppliers’ platform. There you fill in all information about the fabric. After that we need a meter of the fabric from you to make hangers and swatches out from. Rekotex takes photos and publishes the image and text in our webshop. Our customers buy from the webshop and we handle shipping and payment. So, it´s an easy process for you as a seller.
If any consumer reads this and want to support your business, what can they do? Is it possible to know if an item is made from your deadstock material?
We always want to highlight our partners that works for a more resource-efficient textile industry so follow our instagram account and you will see presentation of the products made from fabrics sold through us. Many of our customers also use our hangtags where it appears that the fabric was purchased through Rekotex.
Finally, what do you believe needs to happen to make the fashion industry more sustainable?
Awareness from the companies in all stages of the production process, good sustainability communication to the end consumer, developing circular options for using garments and materials for as long as possible and at last step have good ways to sort and recycle materials.
