For over a decade Thread Together has offered an ethical solution to the Australian fashion industry’s excess stock issue – saving over 5.5 million garments from landfills and redirecting them to people in need.Thread Together collects brand new end-of-line stock from fashion retailers from around the country and, with the help of volunteers, the unsold clothes are sorted and distributed to people in need.“We exist to manage new fashion excess, it just so happens that the best way to manage new fashion excess is to give it to people who are experiencing hardship,” Anthony Chesler, CEO of Thread Together, told Inside Retail.“In Australia, one in eight adults and one in six children are living below the poverty line without adequate access to food, housing and clothing, which we refer to as the forgotten basic human right.” Thread Together’s mission is two-fold; to empower people and protect the planet. However, it requires the assistance of Australia’s retail industry.How retailers can get involved The not-for-profit is not a government-funded organisation and is funded by philanthropy and powered by volunteers.Fashion brands and retailers from all around Australia support Thread Together in four different ways:Donating excess product Donating time and expertise Leveraging their networks Making a financial contribution “We have organisations like David Jones that send their teams to volunteer as well as organisations like Bec and Bridge, Havaianas and PE Nation,” shared Chesler.“Most recently, we had a team from The Iconic – they sent their teams to our centres to support the work that we’re doing by not only giving us the clothing to give to people but actually helping us to deliver the service,” he added.A call to action Thread Together is experiencing a surge in demand for its services, clothing more people today than they’ve ever before.“We’re a supply-led organisation, which means we don’t buy clothing to close the demand when demand appears,” stated Chesler.“For example, right now, we don’t have enough men’s underwear. We can’t go and buy that underwear to replace it, because that’s not the model that we set out or the mission that we’re setting out to achieve,” he elaborated.Chesler is putting a call out to the Australian fashion and retail industry to assist in its mission: “To those that are not aware of us, please introduce yourselves to us.”“If you do have any aged inventory or anything that’s unsold as a result of stock holdings that you have at the moment, please consider donating that to us,” stated Chesler, noting that it is free to do so.“We’re happy to come and collect that product from anywhere around the country, whether it’s in the DC or whether it’s at a head office or inside a retail store, and we’ll work with that product to make sure that it’s given to people who are in need of clothing.”Thread Together is hoping to make its services more visible to fashion retailers so they can distribute the out-of-season stock that’s sitting in warehouses onto the backs of people who need it most.The power of fashionThread Together has turned the fashion industry’s overproduction into an opportunity to dress people with dignity. “Our clothing serves more than just a functional purpose, and what we are wanting to do is ensure those that are experiencing hardship or vulnerability have access, but as important to have choice,” Chesler explained.“Marc Jacobs actually said it best: The clothes only come to life when they’re on the backs of the people who need them most,” he noted.Thread Together has evolved its services over the last decade to close the gap between unsold new clothing and people who are in need.Through its network of charities and social service agencies, Thread Together created a solution to getting clothing to shelters that house women and children who have fled domestic violence.“We built a wardrobe service into 156 women’s shelters around the country, so there’s a physical wardrobe with volunteers and we merchandise it with a capsule of loungewear, sleepwear and underwear,” Chesler explained.“That gives us the opportunity to close the gap that we identified for the immediacy of the need for clothing for women and children,” he added.Another solution is its fleet of nine mobile wardrobes. Thread Together deploys these vans to homeless communities, including those who have been displaced by fires and floods.