Welcome to The Sample Room!
We are live! It's been a long time coming but Daisy & I could not be more excited to launch The Sample Room, particularly after the endless stream of sad news resulting from the absolute madness of Covid-19 which no doubt we will all feel the echos of for decades to come.
As brand owners ourselves, the concept came to us when we were running a physical sample sale together in the late summer of 2019. Labour intensive, expensive and simply exhausting, it seemed mad that there wasn't an online platform where we could present our past season stock at sample sale prices in a beautiful and well curated way that represented our brands in a way we felt wouldn't compromise our integrity. It turned out we weren't the only ones.
There is no doubt that there are other sites that brands utilise to distribute past season stock. But as business owners ourselves, we wanted to be different. We wanted to put our designers at the forefront of our business to ensure that their brands are treated respectfully and that listing with us is both financially and reputationally risk free.
Living in a changing world, we're also passionate about sustainability and circular fashion. It's no secret that the fashion industry is one of the biggest polluters on the planet, emitting more carbon annually than international flights and maritime shipping combined.
Since 2000, clothing production has doubled - and in the last 20 years, most fashion companies have gone from averaging two collections per year to over five. Unbelievably, 85% of textiles go into landfills each year (that's enough to fill Sydney Habour). This, combined with super brands burning stock ('to preserve product scarcity and brand exclusivity') and the concept of 'dead-stock' is what propelled us to make our dream a reality. Clothes are not perishable, they are timeless, a representation of who you are, your character and how you choose to shine. One person's discarded dress is another persons treasure. You will never hear us refer to clothing as 'dead-stock' - the idea makes us squirm.
We hope you enjoy browsing The Sample Room as much as we have creating it for you. With new brands and pieces being continually added to the site, make sure you come back regularly to see what's new. As the name would suggest - all of our stock is limited so you'll need to make sure you act fast if you find something you love!
Love,