Unique pieces made with textile waste? The students of the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Sara Kalach, Kristal Bolivar and Ana Alonso, saw in the scrap of cloth and used garments the possibility of creating WasteNotWaste. Your own sustainable clothing business.
The Mexican startup bases its business on circular economy. Its objective is to take advantage of the fabric to be able to recreate unique pieces and sell them through electronic commerce. Thus, they not only give clothing a second life, but also help reduce the environmental impact caused by the clothing industry.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD for its acronym in English), the production of clothing and footwear produces 8% of greenhouse gases and also every second a quantity of textiles is buried or burned equivalent to a garbage truck.
This sector is responsible for 20% of total water waste globally, since it uses 93,000 million cubic meters of water per year, according to the agency. Enough for 5 million people to survive.
Kalach recalls that to create their first sustainable clothing collection, they invited the student community to donate clothing that they no longer used. The result was the recreation of 15 unique garments, including dresses, blouses, jackets and a jumper.
The young woman recognizes that it is difficult to make people aware of the importance of reusing used clothes. “Most believe that used clothing is dirty or that it does not have the same quality as a new garment. We want to break with that paradigm and make that, if a person has four jackets in their closet, at least one of them is sustainable, “he says.
It is an ambitious goal. To achieve this, the co-founders are focused on creating capsule collections, that is, small collections that stand out for a characteristic element. In the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, they launched a range of 100 jackets made with denim in various shades of blue and pieces of shirt fabric. Each one had a cost of 1,000 pesos and included a mask, made with the same manufacturing process.
Usually when a designer creates a garment, he first makes the lines and then looks for the fabric. WasteNotWaste works the other way around, first it collects the fabric and based on that it designs the garments. “We seek to create a pattern, in which different colors and textures can be added to the same piece. Then they are tagged and offered on the brand’s social networks and website ”, explains the entrepreneur.
Today, the three entrepreneurs already have an agreement with factories of shirts, jackets and jeans to obtain the textile waste. And through Instagram and Facebook, the young people invite people to donate the garments that they no longer use, but which, due to some damage, it is not feasible to give away for reuse.
The brand also has a space in the sideboards of the Komorebi Concept Store. The expectation for this year is to enter more physical stores throughout the Mexican Republic. Only in thematic and artisan stores that combine with the theme of sustainability.
But Kalach mentions that the business model will continue to rely on digital channels, since they are betting that the same people who donate their clothes dare to redesign them on the brand’s website. Currently, the co-founders are working on their digital platform to ensure that the design and customization process by users is as easy as possible. The intention is that people participate in the initial part of the manufacturing process.
In the long term, the strategy of the entrepreneurs contemplates having activations with companies to increase the donation of clothing. Before the pandemic they participated with L’Oréal in a week of sustainability. Kalach details that at the event, which promotes circular economy and environmental issues, they placed boats to receive donations. They also gave talks at other universities, such as Anahuac, to raise awareness about the environmental cost caused by excessive consumption of new clothes.
Today, 50% of the fabric is obtained from factories and the other 50% from donations on social networks, which also serve as their means of sale. A percentage of the profit from WasteNotWaste goes to social causes. This year, the aid will go to PYMO, an economic fund that buys medical supplies such as gloves, masks, suits and protective glasses to take them to different hospitals in Mexico.
Due to the pandemic, the entrepreneurs decided to join forces with this fund, which, like her case, was born at the Tecnológico de Monterrey. They have also had to be much more careful in gathering and washing the fabric. In 2021, they will launch a collection of sustainable jackets and shirts, with which they hope to double the income they obtained last year.
Mario Borghino, author of the book Los Paranoicos se salvan and specialist in strategic planning, ensures that the best businesses for new entrepreneurs are those who know how to find the opportunity in the midst of adversity and make technology their main support.
The also lecturer and business consultant warns that the world will not return to where we were before COVID-19. The old strategic models ceased to be functional, and, he emphasizes, the security that companies gave to employees who accumulated seniority also disappeared.
“Mexico is a country at risk of economic crisis. There will be fewer and fewer jobs, more vulnerability and zero security. Technology is the most important resource for young people to build their own future because companies can no longer do so. New entrepreneurs must know the new attitude of the consumer, faced with an unstable world ”, he concludes.
