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Waiting more than a month to receive your sandals: Alohas and the 'boom' of brands that produce to order

FashionSomething is changing when in times of express shipping there are those who decide to wait more than a month to receive the shoes, the blouse or the dress that they have already bought.

By Amaia Odriozola

Whoever enters the Alohas online store this week will find a new drop: a mini-collection of boots with a thick platform that are very reminiscent of the white ones already worn by the Danish influencer Pernille Teisbaek (in Copenhagen it is already autumn de facto, and hers are from cult Instagram brand Gia Borghini). Buying them now from Madrid, Barcelona or Seville might seem like the product of a heat stroke and, however, whoever does it will have a reward. On the one hand, the 30% discount that applies for a limited time to all the brand's launches. On the other hand, one can be almost certain that when they arrive at home, there may be time to release them: according to their made-to-order system, we calculated that they would arrive in mid-October. Waiting between four and six weeks to receive shoes might seem crazy in times of prime subscriptions that pulverize deliveries, but the truth is that during the year of 2020 and the beginning of 2021 the brand has experienced a growth of more than 400%, according to its founder, Alejandro Porras, in Vanity Fair. This explosion of success reaffirms a new shopping culture, more deliberate and less compulsive, without the massive overproduction typical of the fashion industry and carried out in local workshops, which is aligned with a goal of sustainability thanks to the production method under demand.

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Also called on-demand, this form of manufacturing is not new and has been operating successfully for some years: firms such as Prabal Gurung, Antonio Berardi, Emilia Wickstead or Jenny Packham have been producing a certain number of orders for some time. Other brands, such as Nike, have also approached this concept, in their case with a customization service whereby only the chosen model is manufactured. But the real revolution comes from small brands that have changed their system for a more environmentally friendly one: produce only what is sold, eliminate seasons, move away from throwaway trends, and ultimately, create a more sustainable way and with a longer useful life, putting into practice a shared objective, that of circularity. The case of Alohas is a benchmark in our country, but they are not alone in changing things.

andion

This Galician shirt brand had been operating in a small town near Santiago de Compostela for three decades until its leap to Instagram made it a fashion phenomenon. Its romantic shirts, with floral prints and large collars, fit perfectly into the feminine and demure aesthetic that “well-dressed girls” combine so much today with New Balance sneakers, but if it is having such success it is also because of its sustainable narrative. They sell through private messages on the social network, they manufacture from scraps and adapt the measurements to their clients. They take two weeks to make, yes, but whoever buys one of their blouses knows that there probably won't be another like it.

Laagam

Esperar más de un mes para recibir tus sandalias: Alohas y el 'boom' de las marcas que producen bajo pedido

This firm so exposed on Instagram is located in Barcelona. Its creator, Inés Arroyo, launches new designs every Wednesday (what is now called drop) and gives one week to pre-purchase: whoever has not purchased theirs before the following Wednesday can sign up for a waiting list but only will produce again if at least 50 customers join it. Orders reach your customers between ten and twenty days after purchase. As no material or energy is wasted in making unsold stock, they claim they can offer a better price and offer a 40% discount off the regular price. Her most recognizable piece is the dress with romantic sleeves and a colorful print.

Manola

Behind this firm with such a powerful presence on Instagram, which defines itself as luxury and ecological sports fashion, is Belén Hostalet, who in this project has combined her passion for exercise, her experience in fashion, her knowledge of social networks and a sustainability goal. Among her clothes there are sets of leggings and t-shirts, sweatshirts and other basics with a minimalist aesthetic. Manola works with a pre-order service by which only the ordered garments are manufactured and they are outside the traditional sales system, but discounts are applied to the first to buy (20% during the pre-campaign, which lasts three weeks, and 10% during production, which takes six weeks).

Mandra Studios

Clothes to be at home, pajamas, swimsuits and yoga clothes are the most recognizable pieces of this firm launched by two Catalan entrepreneurs, Gemma and Esther, with sustainability at the center of their production process. They work with so-called capsule collections, with limited productions of between 50 and 150 pieces, and use the pre-order system, with which they only manufacture what has already been sold. They do not make sales, they use sustainable materials prioritizing recycled or organic options, and they ensure always local production with small associated workshops. Its packaging and labels are made with recycled materials such as paper and polyester.

Paynter

This British brand only makes three models of (unisex) jackets a year and only produces them when it has reached a certain number of orders. “We take iconic jacket styles and remake them using the best materials we can find. Our jackets are made to order, in limited edition batches, just three times a year. It is our way of making sure that we do not generate waste. Each jacket we make is designed by us in East London before being made by a small family-owned factory in the north of Portugal, and each one is hand numbered in the order it is sold. Illustrated labels inside tell the story of that batch, plus details most brands would cut out,” says the brand. Their first model opened a waiting list of 2,500 people: since then, every time they launch a design, their reservation is sold out in less than an hour.

It was the data that motivated its creators to do things differently: "Every year 175 billion pieces of clothing are made. 50 billion go directly to landfill and another 50 billion go to landfill after not being sold."

Maison Cleo

Every Wednesday at half past six in the evening, Marie (who previously worked at Vestiaire Collective) and her mother Nathalie (a seamstress and passionate about fashion) open their online shop for romantic and French-inspired blouses. In five minutes they close it again: it is the time it takes to register the limit of orders that they are capable of attending. Considered a benchmark of ethical fashion, they are against mass production, they sew all the garments themselves, and use previously used materials and never synthetic ones. When its allure conquered women as famous as Emily Ratajkowski or Leandra Medine (who later uploaded their looks to Instagram), the rage for this brand exploded.

Olivia Rose The Label

Another family-inspired story: Olivia Rose Havelock created her brand in 2017 inspired by her grandmother's style. Her most recognizable dresses have honeycomb, puffy sleeves and sweetheart neckline, and her fascinating presence on social networks has made her a favorite brand of guests and influencers. Olivia Rose produces all of her clothes in her studio in Edinburgh, UK and only takes orders twice a month. She handles the entire process herself, from searching for fabrics to making, labeling or shipping the garment, and most of the pieces take between four and six hours of work. Hence, she only accepts a limited number of orders and works with a pre-sale system that allows her not to waste fabric or resources, and to offer a service tailored to her clients. The next time she will open her shop will be on September 19 at 6pm (British time).

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