Production Intern at Hodakova 1/3

 Post 1/3 

The past two weeks have greatly verified my expectations against reality. Working closely with both logistics and sourcing departments, I had the chance to see and experience what production using deadstock garments is like. Before starting the internship, I perceived deadstock sourcing as the holy grail of sustainable production - now, I see the plethora of complexities and limitations that are bound to such an innovative and relatively new approach to production. Due to its novelty, the solutions and structures of conventional production management are sometimes inapplicable, requiring new standards and 'know-hows'. 

The process is particularly lengthy and both time and labour consuming. Sourcing and procurement, including building a reliable supplier base, requires plenty of time, research, and patience, as per my supervisor's experience. Each sourced garment goes under thorough quality control to ensure garments are in top-tier condition (e.g. checking for pilling, discolouration, stains, general signs of wear and tear). Some garment repairs and handling take place in-house, including stitching or sewing, removing pilling or stains. Then, the garments are checked against tech-pack criteria, e.g. exact measurements or colour way needed for a specific style and pattern. Once the alignment between the garment and the ready-to-wear garment's material consumption is met, the deadstock material needs to be marked with its purpose before landing in factual manufacture - clear communication, similarly to conventional production, remains at core of all production activities. After successful productions, ready-to-wear garments are again quality-checked, packed appropriately and shipped to ordering stores. 

Although it has only been two weeks so far, I am beyond grateful to be constantly learning about the complexity of implementing sustainable solutions and innovations within the supply chain/production. While thinking about how said processes can be streamlined for more efficient production using deadstock, I wonder: do we actually have to make everything faster and more efficient? Perhaps that's both the 'cost' and 'benefit' of sustainability - to slow down, become more attentive, handle the garment with more thorough care (and awe).