Why do luxury fashion Maisons sell untapped rolls of high-end fabrics and leathers skins?

Why do Fashion and Leather Goods Maisons sell untapped materials?

In order to find new purposes for clearance materials, Nona Source collaborates with the LVMH Group’s Fashion and Leather Goods Maisons by buying their leftover luxury fabrics and leather and offering them for sale on an online platform. 

Without even questioning its overall quality and main features, several reasons can cause a roll of high-quality fabric or leather to remain untouched:  

• A change in art direction and design style can sometimes cause previously ordered materials to remain unused. 
• In order to guarantee the quality and attractive price of a material, wholesale suppliers often require a substantial minimum order quantity. A certain amount of fabric or leather might then not be used for the collection, and the Maison will have to keep surplus material in stock.
• Designs can sometimes be cancelled throughout the designing process of a collection. Fashion Maisons need to estimate how many pieces of a design they plan on selling, and consequently purchase the required amount of fabric or leather before the fashion show. In case a particular design gets cancelled from the collection, the material it should have required, which is already being produced, will remain unused. In addition, complications in a design’s manufacturing process can occur, for instance a defective supply (e.g. zip, poppers…): the delay consequently triggered by such flaws can lead to the total discontinuation of a design as it will not match the next season.
• The material is not true to the requested colour. The fashion Maison considers that the fabric or leather fails to meet the expectations in terms of colour for the collection and the supplier cannot fix it without causing damage to the material.
• The fabric or leather has a minor defect invisible to the eye. In this case, Nona Source ensures that the material is of a strictly suitable quality before putting it online on the platform.

Nona Source debunks misconceptions about deadstock materials

The word ‘deadstock’ sounds unsuitably pejorative to talk about what truly are buried treasures just waiting to be discovered. Silk, linen, cashmere and leather, Nona Source offers high quality materials which sadly remain unused in luxury brands’ storage spaces: the luxury fabrics and leathers displayed on our online resale platform come from great luxury Maisons such as Loewe, Moynat, Berluti, Lora Piana, Fendi, Christian Dior, Emilio Pucci, Givenchy, Kenzo, Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Patou, Celine. They could eventually be used by designers for creating complete collections.

Ensuring highest quality materials

The fabrics and leathers selected by the designers of the LVMH group’s Maisons are taken through several quality control processes as well as many tests, such as pilling or even tensile strength. In addition, the LVMH Group has implemented its own internal standards for all of its fashion Maisons: the LVMH Restricted Substances List, which includes all national and international regulations as well as the most rigorous requirements available on any market. It prohibits and limits the use of specific substances in marketed products and in their suppliers’ workshops.

Offering exclusive materials

Weaving, dyeing, pattern printing or embroidery: every luxury fabric or leather is a demonstration of artistic craftsmanship and excellence. If a fabric or leather is exceptional by essence, it is also by its exclusivity. On the Nona Source website, these clearance materials are limited: regardless of whether they are available in dozens, hundreds or thousands of metres, the production which will never be restarted once they go sold out. By stocking up on deadstock fabrics and leathers, fashion brands create upcycled clothing and footwear and seize this notion of rarity.

Selling materials at a competitive price 

On our online selling platform, Nona Source decreases the price of these leftover materials  by up to 70%. Our first commitment is to upcycle these deadstock fabrics and leathers by putting them back on the market. By selling them at a competitive price, Nona Source thus aims at making high-end fabrics and leathers accessible to everyone in the fashion and design industry.

What happens to deadstock materials?

Nona Source promotes an eco-friendly approach by upcycling clearance fabrics and leathers. Lampshades, evening gowns… our online resale platform offers a second life to these materials through upcycling. By working with existing fabrics and leathers, designers of all industries redefine the scope of creation, for instance the clockmaking Maison Zenith paves the way to circularity with its DEFY Midnight collection, offering a range of watch straps available in seven colours, designed using excess fabric from a Fashion Maison and sourced on the Nona Source website. 

The LVMH Group and its Luxury Fashion and Leather Goods Maisons are committed to supporting the circular economy. The approach, known as “creative circularity” at LVMH, is one of the 4 strategic pillars of the Group’s environmental program, LIFE 360. The circular economy model is a particularly important issue for LVMH for reconciling economic growth and the protection of natural resources.