After clothes stores were forced to close their doors as per the lockdown restrictions, billions of pounds worth of orders were cancelled by retailers, resulting in mountains of unsold stock in factories and thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers losing their jobs. Lost Stock, a new initiative set up by Cally Russell, the founder of shopping app Mallzee, helps to tackle both problems at once.
You order a £35 mystery box of clothes (after filling in a questionnaire about your size and colour preferences), which contain at least three items worth up to £70 that would have gone to high street retailers like Topshop. Lost Stock has partnered with the SAJIDA Foundation to help support a garment worker and their family by supplying a food and hygiene package for every box that is sold. So not only are you getting clothes at a bargain price and preventing them from going to landfill, you’re helping workers who’ve lost their income to get through the pandemic.