WHY WE DON'T HAVE SALES. AND WHY WE DO...

WHY WE DON'T HAVE SALES:

I tend to think that some one buys a Lost Shapes t-shirt because they like it. And, unless you're a particularly fickle bunch, if you like it now, you'll probably still like it in 3 months time. 
But that's not how the fashion industry works, or wants you to work. The reason we have end of season sales is because, according to fashion brands, even if something was an absolute must when it arrived in store, it's pretty much passe after it's been in the shops a few weeks*.  They need us to gobble up their unwanted stock at cut price to make room for a new season, new colours, and wonderful new opportunities to consume.
Environmentally and ethically, the fashion calendar is a disaster: built on the premise of replace and discard; bad news all the way from the factory workers under pressure to work harder and longer to meet quick turnarounds to the landfill that 350,000 tonnes of UK clothing end up in each year. (Statistics from WRAP)

But there's another reason we don't automatically sell everything off at the end of season: because I'm still proud of it. If I design and print a decent jumper in October, it will still be a decent jumper in January. And if you bought it in November, I imagine you'd rather not feel like your good taste becomes obsolete after Christmas too. It's not that Lost Shapes isn't keeping in touch with trends (sometimes it just so happens that we're bang on up ahead there!), but we're certainly not at the mercy of them, and we don't think you should have to be either. Buy it if you like it, keep on wearing it.

*(and who needs warm coats in January anyway, eh? I'm looking to spring. With goose pimples and purple arms.)

Another Nice Day. And Another. And Another. And Another. Lost Shapes loyal customer and fantastic photo-provider Joel shows us how to really wear a t-shirt: playing at the park when he first bought his t-shirt in July 2013; Mending boreholes in Malawi Spring 2014; hammocks on high mountains in Switzerland Summer 2014; Lake Malawi Winter 2014.

AND WHY WE DO:

All that said, sometimes you need a little sort out. And in order to find space for all the new ideas that are eager to be printed, sometimes things need to go. So this January we've decided to concentrate on the clothing, and leave the homeware to others, so there are a few tea towels and bags to sell off. In an effort to tidy the shelves, we're also selling off samples and limited editions - popular designs in a different colour or style, or something that just doesn't fit in the Lost Shapes range now. All of these bargains are over on the Etsy page. But hurry, quantities are very limited!

You can find out more about the ethics of overconsumption in the fashion world on the Guardian sustainable business pages here.