If Coronavirus doesn't kill my workers, then starvation will.’ Factory Owner
Bangladesh
Lost Stock, the fashion initiative set up in the wake of Covid-19 to save lives in
Bangladesh has today launched kidswear boxes - Lost Stock for Kids. For £35, customers
receive a personalised selection of cancelled childrenswear stock direct from manufacturers.
Each purchase supports a family in Bangladesh for one week and also prevents brand new
clothing ending up in landfill.
The cancellation of over $3 billion worth of stock orders by retailers left manufacturers in
Bangladesh unable to pay workers and with mountains of unwanted stock. Lost Stock
launched last month by the team behind fashion shopping app Mallzee, solves this problem
by selling £35 fashion boxes containing five pieces of childrenswear matched to the
purchasers size and fashion preferences - each box sold feeds a family of four in
Bangladesh for a week through Lost Stocks partnership with SAJIDA Foundation
Clothes that were originally destined for high street retailers are shipped direct from
manufacturers to consumers in the UK, arriving in the post as a surprise Lost Stock clothing
box.
Originally selling only adult sizes the company has sold almost 100,000 Lost Stock boxes in
the past five weeks and today, with the launch of Lost Stock for Kids, they hope to be able to
support another 100,000 Bangladeshi families in the coming month.
Lost Stock for Kids caters for boys and girls aged between 4-14 years old and includes at
least five items that were originally destined for high-street retailers.
To ensure the money goes straight to those who need it most Lost Stock has partnered with
Bangladesh NGO SAJIDA Foundation. Each box supports a family of four for a week.
NGO partner, SAJIDA Foundation works in 26 districts of Bangladesh with a mission of
‘health, happiness and dignity for all’. Following the Covid-19 outbreak, a team of 3,700 are
providing essential food and hygiene supplies, supplying essential PPE kits, and have
installed 475 portable hand washing devices throughout the country.
Mallzee CEO and Founder of Lost Stock, Cally Russell, said: “Launching Lost Stock for Kids
is an exciting next step for us. The response since we launched Lost Stock has been truly
amazing - we hoped to sell 50,000 boxes by the end of 2020 and sold nearly double that in
the first month alone. We know that the Covid-19 crisis is deepening amongst garment
worker communities in Bangladesh and we hope that by launching Lost Stock for kids we
can help many more families and avoid both a humanitarian crisis and an environmental
one. Lost Stock allows consumers to get a great deal whilst at the same time helping a
family survive this awful tragedy.”.