There are approximately 2 billion t-shirts sold globally every year, but one fashion company is about to let the Internet decide how they’re made and who gets to model them.
Orin, a relatively new fashion company on the scene, has decided that despite all of the bad decisions made by the populace of the Internet. They’re going to let the people choose how they create their clothing.
Starting Monday August 8, Orin will call on its customers for two weeks to fill out a survey to determine which products Orin will make, what country will produce them, how much factory workers will get paid, and what kind of models should be showcasing the products.
Orin co-founder Kevin Chan said he was inspired by companies that have made transparency a top priority in recent years, such as Aerie with their “Aerie Real” campaign.
The huge campaign by Aerie was started in 2014 and continues to be the driving force behind all of the company’s products and actions.
“It’s a hypothesis I wanted to test,” Chan told Tech Insider.
Slowly but surely, fashion is becoming a more open-minded industry. In fact, it has even recently begun to call on models and other superstars who have aged past the much desired “youthful” look that many designers desire.
Last season, Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, and Naomi Campbell posed for Balmain, while Eva Herzigova, Yasmin Le Bon, Stella Tennant, and Nadja Auermann were scooped up by Giorgio Armani.
The models haven’t had such a demand for work since around 1986.
However, considering that by 2020, the population of people over 65 will increase by over 1.1 million, perhaps most designers have begun to accept that aging is inevitable.
“Fashion is much more open than it was, in terms of age, shapes and sizes,” said Rosie Vogel-Eades, fashion bookings editor of Vogue. “The people who are creating advertising have realized that they need to appeal to more of a 360-degree customer. It’s not the 18- to 25-year-olds who have the buying power now.”
Orin is taking that power and bringing it to a new level with their experiment.
Their survey has three steps: Products, Manufacturing, and Models.
First, users will select what kind of products they want to see the most. The company is currently limited to women’s active wear, but Orin still offers a variety of options.
Next is manufacturing. Users will be able to choose from four factory locations, as well as whether or not the company is certified to protect the environment.
Finally, users will be able to tell the company what kinds of models should be showcasing the collections. It’s a bold business move, but ultimately one that could yield impressive results.
“It starts with what products are getting made,” Chan said, “but now people are saying they care about how it’s made. So we’re letting the consumer decide that as well.”
