Made To Order Clothing | Luxury Fashion Made in England
Made to order clothing | A more sustainable fashion model
My latest blog is dedicated to made to order clothing. I am very proud that over 95% off all the clothing we sell on our website is made to order. From a sustainability and climate perspective it certainly ticks the right boxes. However from personal experience it is not an easy model to build.
Advantages of Made to Order Fashion Brands
Made to order clothing used to be synonymous with made to measure. Cut and made for individual clients based on their measurements and preferences. The two were inseparable. However with more shoppers willing to buy online, such a model can be adopted. Further it has some desirable benefits.
Firstly it reduces waste in the industry. No matter how good the forecasting, every fashion company is left with unwanted stock at the end of the season.
Further a made to order model improves the working capital of the business as less cash is tied up in stock. Therefore you may ask why don’t more fashion brands adopt this model. Unfortunately there are some major drawbacks.
Disadvantages of the Made to order Clothing Model
However while the benefits are worth considering, the adoption of such a model is very difficult for fashion brands of all sizes. In order to successfully implement a made to order clothing brand you need an agile and flexible production line. This is why the model is easier to adopt for brands already operating in the made to measure space. Think made to measure shirts from Jermyn street or suits from Savile Row. Both are set up for this type of production. However for most companies that contract out their manufacturing and rely on placing big orders to benefit from economies of scale, this is simply not an option.
In fact the only viable way of creating a made to order clothing brand is to have control over your production line which ultimately requires in house manufacturing. This automatically removes most fashion brands operating today. Those left who do own a plant may still struggle to move to such a model as they will no doubt jeopardise profit margins for this new production schedule.
This last point is an important consideration. A made-to-order clothing business by construction cannot compete on low prices as they will lose the benefits of economies of scale by adopting this model. Therefore if the fashion brand sells lower priced clothing that is price sensitive then this model could be their undoing. In fact a made to order clothing business is actually only reserved for the luxury end of the fashion industry. Those businesses that operate with higher gross margins with less price sensitivity. Such circumstances enable them to adopt this new model, knowing their customers are still willing to pay the extra money.
Made to order build on quality
It is clear that in order to build a made to order fashion brand of any size, you will have to accept higher unit costs which will translate into higher retail prices. Therefore you will be targeting your brand at the middle to higher end of the market. At a higher price point customers expect more from the brand including quality materials, construction and customer service. Further the clothing will be built around classic and timeless designs. Items that will look great in a wardrobe today, but also in a decade’s time. In my personal view there is no point building a made to order business without incorporating a philosophy of excellence in fabric, construction, design and customer service.
Style and made in England Clothes
I realised the benefit of made-to -order after working with an Italian manufacturer when I first started my journey in fashion. No matter how good my forecasting, like all brands I ended up with left over stock. In fact some of this stock is still in my loft all these years later.
It became clear then that this traditional model had serious flaws as I have already outlined. As a result I took the brave step of opening my own factory back in 2012 and started manufacturing my own British made capsule collection which I sold at country shows. However while this model was more flexible, I still carried some stock to take to the events to show customers. It was not until we went fully online after COVID that the model became what it is today. All the clothing is now made to order and the only stock we carry is returned clothing which fortunately remains very low.
Further we have benefited from our “create your own trouser” service where men can input their waist, inside leg and build. This is made to order, made to measure service has proved extremely popular since launched back in 2017. What started as small collection of chinos, today has extended to over 10 colour along with create your moleskin and corduroy trousers and jeans.
All the clothing on our website is made-to-order and made in England at our Suffolk factory in England. I have always striven to produce the very best quality clothing that will last the test of time. I use only the finest materials and fabrics along with a robust production schedule that ensures no seam will ever fail. You will find many seams on our shirts, jackets and trousers and double are triple stitched. This cost us extra money in thread and labour, but the results are worth it. I have built an international customer base that appreciates my vision.
It is not just quality British made clothing, but also thoughtful designs that are both timeless and classic in nature, but also incorporate my unique signature styling to ensure they stand out from the crowd. I don’t cover my clothing in heavy branding but instead let the design, fabric and cut do the talking!
Sustainable Clothing and Size
Whilst the negative impact of the fast fashion industry is now being understood by a wider audience thanks to the news, few reference the part that vanity sizing has played in the current clothing excess. With online sales increasing all the time in the clothing industry the relevance of fit should be centre stage. In a store it is possible to try on clothes regardless of the label. Online a reference is needed. Vanity sizing was created to make people feel better about the size of the clothing they are purchasing. To do so a once recognised system equating to actual measurement was abandoned and the lower numbers attributed to larger garments. In some cases the drop has been by more than one traditional size. An often used example is that of Marylin Monroe. At her fame she was a UK size 14 but now she would now fit in a size 8 garment from many brands. The relevance of the number that truly represents size has been lost and it is now a fact that more than half or people do not really know what size to buy.
The result for the online industry is a huge number of returns bringing with it added costs, added transport and more unwanted stock. The situation compounds the environmental burden of the clothing industry. It is now not unusual for well known branded clothing companies to have a return rate around 30%. Care in choosing your size online is therefore very important.
Making to order helps with this issue as long as people genuinely know their own size or take the time to measure either themselves or a garment they know fits. Here at Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing we concentrate not only on clothes made to last primarily from cotton but we major on fit. For example, by offering a range of trousers personalised to a range of measurements returns are minimised. We stress that measurements are vital. Our size chart shows the physical measurements true to traditional tailoring sizes. It may seem old fashioned but without a true reference from the clothing industry in general it is the only sure way forward. A small inclusion of elastane can also help with minor size discrepancies but the tape measure rules when it comes to online sales. If clothes fit well they will be used a lot and the issue of returns for ill fitting garments becomes redundant.
Conclusion
Made to order clothing certainly has benefits for both the fashion brand and the consumer. It also is a better solution at a time when reducing waste and sustainability are more important than ever.From an environmental standpoint, slow fashion is clearly better than fast fashion. However the adoption remains difficult for most businesses and is only really viable for the high end fashion. If the consumer wants to be part of this movement they will need to accept that they will have to pay more for their clothing. Further made to order clothing is never in stock so customers will have to get used to a longer lead time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Would you describe your clothing collection as sustainable or slow fashion?
Sustainable means many different definitions to people and includes provenance of fabric, treatment of all workers in the manufacturing and supply chain, as well as the ability to replace what is used at a rate that the environment can survive. Our clothing is indeed made from cotton which is sustainable and the garments are made to last by properly paid workers here in the UK, so we are certainly slow fashion as opposed to fast fashion brands, and have also moved towards sustainable fashion in its purest form. Are all your clothes Made to order?
Yes all our clothing is made-to-order in our own factory in Suffolk, UK, including shirts, trousers and jackets.
Can I order made to measure trousers directly on your online shop?
We offer a create your own trouser section on our website for chinos, moleskin trousers, corduroy trousers and jeans. Simply enter your measurements online and we will make you a bespoke pair that fit, just like visiting a tailor for a made to measure suit.
Do you deliver next day?
Clothing made to order cannot be dispatched for next day delivery.The clothes have to be cut and made specifically for your orders rather than picked from stock. It also means we can rarely offer significant discount or a sale shop like those brands trying to get rid of unwanted stock.
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