A few weeks ago the online platform @praeludere_ launched.
Founded by Lucianne Tonti, Prelude is a space for customers to shop emerging and independent designers who use thoughtfully sourced fabrics and gentle manufacturing techniques, where everything is available either through pre-order or on a made-to-order basis.
Buying on pre-order or made-to-order means designers only produce what is needed, reducing both garment and textile waste, and their environmental impact.
@praeludere_ also allows a direct connection between designers and customers, removing the middle man. Prelude is trying to foster a more personal environment where designers can see who’s buying their clothes, as apposed to sending it off to department stores and never knowing where they end up.
Additionally, a pre-order and made-to-order system delivers cash flow to emerging designers. The money you spend goes towards the labor and materials needed to make your product, and taking away wholesale and store buyers means there’s no retail margin and more money goes to the designers for their work.
Lucianne Tonti hopes more consumers will start to embrace pre-order and will be willing to order clothes in advance. “I think this is an opportunity to become educated about the timeline fashion works on,” Tonti told Vogue. “We’ve been taught by the high-street brands that you can see something on the runway and get it for $60 next week. It’s really time to unpick those habits, because someone is suffering in that equation. More than one person is suffering.”
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