About Us

Why we need to democratize garment manufacturing

The fashion industry has a $50 billion dead stock issue because an estimated 30% of fashion products are never sold as trend cycles have shortened to just a few weeks. Meanwhile, SHEIN, one of the fastest growing companies, is the most-polluting company with its ultra-fast fashion model, emitting 16.7 million tons of CO2 annually. And 75% of brands reported supply chain disruptions affecting their production timelines, leading to more than $2 trillion in economic loss globally since 2020.

Something seems massively broken in this system! Trend cycles are outpacing conventional supply chains with lead times from design to production delivery of 9-12 months, emerging designers have a hard time entering the industry to bring innovation, and garments have become disposable items (only 1% of garments get recycled).

After working in fashion for a few years, we found 3 striking supply chain issues:

• Traditional paper-based systems hinder the flow of information, resulting in delays, increased costs, and emotional distress.
• Linear supply chains with production steps spread across the globe are highly exposed to disruptions as brands cannot easily switch suppliers on short notice.
• Mass production (high MOQs) leads to a mismatch between supply and demand, resulting in significant amounts of unsold stock which is financially and environmentally unsustainable.

So how will a bunch of 20 something year olds fix this mess?

At Labwear Studios, we’re committed to democratizing garment manufacturing by providing manufacturing services that allow brands from around the globe to create samples and produce garments seamlessly via a single interface. By eliminating traditional complexities, Labwear Studios is making garment manufacturing more user-friendly, highly accessible, and less wasteful.

So what are we exactly? Well, the conventional terms of describing us as a manufacturer or agency does fall short. In other words, we’re a Swiss technology company operating a supply network initially focused on the northern region of Portugal. As we expand across geographies, we‘ll unlock the most powerful supply network to bring demand and supply in sync, saving brands substantial amounts of financial and environmental costs while braking down entry barriers for emerging designers.

The predominant fast fashion and mass production approaches are driving over-consumption and -production, creating tons of waste, no matter how sustainable the garments are. At Labwear, we believe in solving problems at their roots by enabling brands to produce smaller quantities faster, while enjoying a digital end2end journey from design to production delivery.

And honestly, the industry does not need more clothes. There are already so many clothes out there! But the issue with these garments is that most of them are cheaply made using mixed-fibre materials so they pretty much go straight to the landfill. We strive to replace trash with great garments which are made from mono-fibre compositions to ensure recyclability and eventually build a Labwear Loop, where we take back garments, recycle them, and produce new ones.

In short, we’re on a mission to disrupt a broken industry! Join the manufacturing platform of the future!