WE UPCYCLE UNSOLD T-SHIRTS INTO UNDERWEAR
Katie McCourt, 25, lives in Vancouver, Canada. She set up Pantee (pantee.co.uk), the world’s first underwear brand made from unsold T-shirts, with her 29-year-old sister Amanda When I was eight, a seaside fortune teller told Amanda and I that we would start a business together. So Pantee was always meant to be.
But our brand began when we started looking into what fast fashion is doing to the planet. We were horrified to find that it takes a staggering 2,700 litres of water to produce the cotton for one T-shirt.
What’s more, over two billion are produced each year but because of overproduction, 30 per cent of these garments are never sold. We thought there must be a use for this so-called deadstock clothing. And so in 2019 we began to upcycle unsold cotton T-shirts into beautiful, soft and comfortable undies.
We employed a great ethical designer who drew up our ideas for a collection of bras, crop tops, panties and thongs.
Then we found the owner of a sample room in Bangladesh who was willing to take a punt on doing something so different.
They shared our vision and need for an ethical production process, paying above the living wage and ensuring healthy working conditions. He also sources our deadstock T-shirts, which have to be soft and contain just the right amount of elasticity and recovery so our underwear retains its shape.
We launched a Kickstarter campaign in November 2020 hoping to raise £10,000 of pre-orders and within three weeks, we’d exceeded that target by over £1,000, which was a real boost.
Our first customer delivery was dispatched in January of this year (sustainably packaged and posted by our lovely mum Shona) and since then we have sold over 300 sets and had five-star reviews. And we also pledge to plant a tree for every order that we receive.
In Pantee, we hope to set an example that conscious clothing doesn’t need to be a compromise. It’s true – you can do your bit for the planet and look great too.