Deadstock- What is it and why is it dead?

You hear us talk a lot about deadstock fabrics in our garments - but what does this industry jargon 'buzzword' really mean?  The word itself is kind of off-putting too. To understand more, you'll have to understand the current business model for fashion. 

Today, large brands are ordering thousands of yards of fabric from supply mills for any given season or style - and they have to build in a buffer to make sure they have enough fabric to create all of the supply that they anticipate for the product line.  And remember, most large wholesale brands are ordering fabric months in advance, so it is very difficult to estimate quantities and is safer to be more conservative and request more fabric. 

Unfortunately, this process creates a ton of waste in the form of excess fabrics sitting in warehouses all over the world, until it is ultimately burned or thrown away. In fact, unused fabric costs the industry $120 billion per year. This leftover fabric is called "deadstock".

Fortunately, brands like ours who are not on the wholesale fashion plan can make use of these "leftover" fabrics to create beautiful, small batch styles. 

Because we use deadstock, we rarely find large amounts of any one fabric. Small fabric rolls mean small production runs- often times, we make only a few of any given style in a specific fabric or print.

In this model, everyone wins. We get beautiful fabric without generating additional pollution, the landfills are less full, and you get a unique garment that was handmade by artisans that will make your friends a lil jealous.

Now, not all deadstock fabrics are created equal - there are still reams of deadstock made from synthetic fibers. At Paneros, we only use deadstock fabrics from natural materials such as cotton and linen, as well as manmade cellulosic fibers such as Tencel and Rayon. Additionally, all of the deadstock fabrics we use are certified by the Oeko Tex Standard 100 for safe materials free from harmful substances and manufactured in a sustainable and socially responsible way. 

Check out our limited edition women's collection that features deadstock styles now that you know what that means.