Beware of scraps: luxury fabrics are sold at lower prices.

Paris (AFP) – Prices are low, but fabrics remain valuable: curly alpaca, macramé guipure or silk are now finding markets, although they were not used by the big luxury houses of the LVMH group.

All this surplus waste has been reintroduced into an unprecedented and hitherto taboo secondary market since 2021, while authorities put pressure on the sector to behave more environmentally virtuously.

Before the launch of Nona Source, an online platform and two showrooms in Paris and London, these miles of surplus textiles were either sent to the incinerator or gathered dust in warehouses.

One of the three initiators of the project, Romain Brabot, quickly saw a commercial opportunity and an environmental gesture.

“I realized that in warehouses there are what we like to call ‘sleeping beauties’, magnificent fabrics that lie dormant for several years after collections end and are no longer used,” he told AFP.

A boon for young designers and fashion school students, limited by the exorbitant cost of the bolts of fabric needed for creativity.

Last year, Nona Source sold almost 280 kilometers of fabric, almost equivalent to the straight line distance between Paris and Brussels, and almost 140,000 garments.

Fabric Library

Among the regulars: Arturo Obeguero, a 31-year-old Spanish designer who works only with this “dead stock” and understands no other way to create, grew up by the sea and studied in his small town. Tapia “respect nature.”

Eco-friendly and luxurious fabric brand Nona Source has allowed her to attract customers. For example, in his micro-workshop in his home, he created the black Spanish lace dress that pop star Beyoncé wore for her Renaissance tour.

“People are paying more attention to the origin of what they buy, but offering them something sustainable at a reasonable price is becoming very difficult,” he adds.

Pressure from government authorities, especially Brussels, is beginning to mount on the fashion industry to end the incredible mountains of waste it produces.

It is logical that initiatives like those of Nona Source are spreading in France and abroad.

The long-awaited Tissuethèque sale, specializing in haute couture surplus, will take place in Paris from June 14 to 17.

Greenwashing

For Hélène Valade, director of sustainability for the LVMH group, the priority is to “develop codes of beauty” or at least support, perhaps with delay, these new uses.

“Ten years ago, when we wore something made from recycled materials, everyone thought it was ugly. But now it’s not the same,” she emphasizes.

For some observers of the environmental transition, LVMH’s initiative is a positive, but they warn of a textbook case of “greenwashing” or eco-washing.

The fashion giants, upon closer examination, have no choice but to take the plunge, thereby promising to move towards transportation by boat, more efficient management of water consumption during the production stage, or even vegan leather.

“Until they remove plastic PVC from their production lines, particularly at Louis Vuitton, they will never be able to claim to be a green company,” Dana Thomas, author of the Fashionopolis investigation, told AFP. about the impact of fashion on the environment.

Louis Vuitton, the world’s most profitable luxury brand, produces its famous LV screen-printed accessories not from leather, but from… PVC-coated canvas, aka luxury oilcloth.

Dana Thomas welcomes LVMH’s initiative to create a luxury and second-hand haberdashery store, but also wonders: “Why didn’t they do this 20 years ago? “.