Preworn's transparency

Preworn's transparency

If you've found yourself asking, "where did my clothes from?", you're well on your way to tapping into the murky journey of the garment industry.

 

 

Looking at your clothing label and seeing that your shirt was made in Bangladesh really isn't a satisfying answer. Not when you discover that an 8 story garment factory collapsed, killing 1,132 people in 90 seconds. This was the Rana Plaza disaster; it happened in 2013 in Bangladesh and was a massive wakeup call for the fashion industry.

Fast fashion has workers putting in long hours and mass producing clothes at a low cost to keep it cheap on the Western end. The fashion industry has insidiously been designed to keep you buying and feeling unsatisfied until you buy more, throwing out yesterday's trend and not have you thinking too much about where your clothes came from and head to.

Preworn are at the tail end of a shirt's journey and we stop it from heading to a landfill. By giving clothes a second chance, we are slowing down fast fashion and intercepting the throw away culture practice.

We're here to shine a light and show you what happens within Preworn's warehouse. As the UK's largest second-hand retailer, we think you deserve to know our process of sourcing, sorting and listing used clothes.

 

So, how do the clothes go from this:

 To this:

 

 

Deals are made up and down the country with a variety of institutions and businesses. Charity shops who often struggle to push stock have an excess of items and this is where we sometimes step in. We take their clothes and sort through them to find amazing garments for you. The clothes are delivered to us in a large lorry and are unloaded into the warehouse.

 

 

Next, the rapid sorting process begins. This can be a dirty job. Sifting through bin bags, emptying pockets and discarding items with stains on them is something that needs to be done. 

Quality checks like these means the sorters look out for any holes, tears or sewing modifications made by the previous owner. They are regarded as waste and have their own journey to make to Pakistan.

 

When the chosen clothes are placed into cages, they make their way to the listing room. A second quality control check is performed at this stage. The truly excellent items are stylised, photographed and measured. The garment's information is put into our system and online ready to be purchased.

 

 

The fashion industry is shrouded in mystery of course, and we suggest you look into each brand you buy from. An incredible source is the Fashion Transparency Index. They fact check and rank the top 250 clothing companies and it is well worth visiting and seeing for yourself.

But where we can, we'll tell you everything about us and how we continue to play our part in circular fashion.

Shop Preworn. Good for the planet, good for your wallet.

 

 

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