2022 Targets : Less is more

To kick-off the year with a bang, let’s get stuck into our plans for 2022. Spoiler alert, we’re going to carry on doing what we’ve always been doing, but just less of it and better.

Let’s take it from the top:

Yes, we buy too many disposable clothes.

Yes, we’re gobbling up all the planet’s resources.

No, we’re not all going to die tomorrow.

No, we’re not powerless in all this.

So, together we can do something about it.

Here’s how we’re going to go about it in 2022.

In 2020 and 2021, we gradually upped the pace at which we released new items.

And in 2022, we’re going to slow this down again.

“How can you expect to grow a brand by launching fewer products?” we hear you ask “What dark arts are at work?” even. Maybe.

Well, simply, we reckon that by doubling down on fewer items we stand a better chance of making more of an impact.

For those of you who like numbers, that means instead of bringing out 40 new items this year we’re going to release half. For those of you who aren’t very good with numbers, that’s 20.

So we’ll have more time to develop each garment with you. This means we can go deeper into your needs, refine the quality further, find better production solutions to reduce waste and generally continue to make the best clothes possible for your budget. Ones that look great and last for a very long time.

As you may also know, we launched womenswear in France last year and we’re going to be applying that same philosophy there.

Is this really a big deal? Kind of, for the fashion industry.

If you consider there’re 20 people in our production team (excluding your good self), our ratio of person to product is quite indulgent. Pitiful some may say. It wouldn’t be uncommon to ask the same 20 people to develop 500 to 1000 products in a year.

A premium fashion brand typically puts out 500 products a year. Fast-fashion you’re looking at 100 times this. Zara averages 65,000. Yeah you read that right. (source French / Source English)

So our output of 20 new items of menswear and 20 of womenswear is pretty radical in its own quiet way.

But we believe that’s the way to go. Because as you’ve no doubt heard us say before: better to have 1 good jumper than 5 average ones. And that’s true for every item (or future item) in your wardrobe

Since March 2021, we’ve been measuring and sharing with you the environmental impact of each item we put up for preorder.

The point is not just to prove how clever we are, but to actually do something about it. Our aim is to improve each item’s score and reduce its impact every time we run a preorder. Without compromising its durability of course.

If you’re new to Asphalte, this means we’ll continue to source better materials that are less damaging to the environment, and lower the water consumption and CO2 emissions of each item we develop.

It’s going to be hard and some tough decisions are going to have to be taken, but we’re used to that. Because even a very small change can make a big difference when scaled up to the volumes we need to grow to in order to change our industry.

Transparency also gives us no place to hide which is pretty useful when you’re up against it.

Sure, we’ve been working since day 1 to make sure people could buy better quality clothes. This is why we choose top-notch fibres and materials, produce everything in Europe, developed our preorder model etc.

Our questionnaires allow us to collaborate directly with you on each garment that we make, we now want your input on how we grow Asphalte as a company. Yup, this move doesn’t come with a rewind button either.

In 2021, when possible, we invited some customers down to our offices to take part in our first face-to-face focus group. We’ve since hosted about 30 of these and it’s no overstatement to say that it’s radically changed the way we see what we do, let alone the co-creation process.

Even though this open approach has been part of Asphalte’s DNA from the get-go, it’s all come a long way and we now want you more firmly in the driving seat. We’ve long suspected that the keys would be better off in your possession, so catch.

2022, will see more focus groups, more questionnaires, and generally more of your input on every important decision we make.

To sum up

2020 was good*

2021 was good*

2022 will be better

Back in the starting blocks, we hope you're ready

The Asphalte Team