There’s a fashion revolution happening: made-on-demand clothes will stop wasteful fast fashion heading to landfills, say experts

Brian Rainey’s company Gooten uses a made-on-demand system – items are produced only once ordered, benefiting retailer, manufacturer and the environment

Too much fast fashion is worn once or twice and discarded and it often ends up in landfill, says a fashion industry insider. Made-on-demand minimises this

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A textile sorting factory from Redress shows how many items are discarded. The future of fashion, though, may be made-on-demand which would minimise waste. Photo: Luke Casey

Published: 4:15am, 25 Mar 2021Updated: 6:26am, 25 Mar 2021

The dark side of fashion is a ravaged landscape of waste and environmental damage, but a retailing revolution could change that picture. On-demand manufacturing will eliminate oversupply and waste, proponents say, ensuring only those items that have already been paid for will get made.

Designers, manufacturers, retailers and logistics companies are championing the on-demand way to shop. Fashion designer Misha Nonoo, who has collaborated with Meghan Markle on a capsule collection, has instituted an on-demand, direct-to-consumer system for her label. Her customers order one of her classic pieces and then wait for it to be made and shipped.

Brian Rainey, CEO of US-based production and logistics company Gooten, says the Covid-19 pandemic gave a huge boost to the e-commerce revolution already under way in retail, which in turn is aligned with on-demand manufacturing.

Consumers around the world will shop more online, he predicts, upending the world of retail and changing the way fashion is chosen and bought.

Brian Rainey is the CEO of US-based production and logistics company Gooten.

“As everyone was able to go from work trousers to joggers for work, we had this massive oversupply because consumer sentiment seemingly shifted almost overnight,” he says.

“Right now there’s US$200 billion worth of inventory sitting in warehouses after the dislocation problem with the pandemic.”