Finding fashion and helping workers with Lost Stock
Shoppers can benefit from fashion surprises - a welcome boost in dark coronavirus days - while supporting Bangladeshi garment workers into the bargain.
The idea for Lost Stock came back in the spring of this year to Cally Russell, Chief Executuve Officer of online shopping app Mallzee and son of Argyll and Bute MSP Michael Russell.
‘At the start of lockdown I saw a headline on the BBC ‘If coronavirus doesn’t kill my workers then starvation will’ from a Bangladeshi factory owner,’ Cally explained.
It referred to the cancellation of more than $2 billion worth of orders by retailers and the impact this was having on manufacturing countries such as Bangladesh - leaving factories unable to pay their workers and these workers unable to support their families. Bangladesh, where garment manufacturing accounts for 84 per cent of export income, was particularly badly impacted. Without income or employment, entire communities faced starvation while millions of cancelled garments appeared destined to end up in landfill.
Cally continued: ‘We set up Lost Stock to support these garment workers, the factories and to save cancelled stock from potential landfill via the delivery of ‘surprise’ clothing boxes.’
Set up by the Edinburghbased team behind Mallzee, Lost Stock enables shoppers to buy cancelled clothing stock direct from manufacturers through a personalised fashion box, while supporting a garment worker and their family for a week.
‘We initially hoped to sell 10,000 boxes in May and 50,000 by the end of 2020 to provide 50,000 weeks worth of support for Bangladeshi workers and their families,’ said Cally.
‘The support we received blew us away and we actually sold 50,000 in the first week. We have now sold more than 115,000 meaning we can deliver more than 115,000 weeks worth of support.’
Through a partnership with SAJIDA Foundation, Lost Stock also donates almost 40 per cent from every package sold straight to those who need it most. Each Lost Stock box funds food and hygiene supplies that support a Bangladeshi garment worker and her family - up to four) for a week.
SAJIDA Foundation works in 26 districts of Bangladesh with a mission of ‘health, happiness and dignity for all’.
‘Lost Stock has shown that a small idea, no matter where it comes from, can have a huge impact on hundreds of thousands of lives, said Cally, ‘and that in the current climate we need more people to back their ideas and try and make a difference.’
The mystery boxes cost £35 - or £41 for bulkier autumn/ winter boxes - for around £70 worth of new items. Packages are available for females, males and children and each package contains three pieces of high street fashion clothing as a minimum to size and style preferences. Lost Stock is also dedicated to driving a circular economy and has partnered with organisations to encourage customers who receive any items in their ‘mystery box’ that they don’t love to donate, swap or upcycle.
Zahida Fizza Kabir, Chief Executive Officer of SAJIDA
Foundation, said: ‘In this challenging business environment, garment factories are continuing to be forced to operate at partial capacity which has resulted in half a million job cuts. The majority of the garment workers solely depend on wages to run their households and do not have any savings to fall back on.’