In the United States alone, the average consumer discards 81.5 lbs of clothes every year. Inaccurate trend prediction leads to 30% inventory that consumers don't want. Brands often gamble on consumer behavior, style popularity and seasonal materials 6 months ahead, resulting in a massive amount of inventory that goes unsold and ultimately discarded.
Ziqi Deng set out on a mission to change this dynamic using technology. Her company, RE(SOURCE), is altering what the fashion supply chain looks like by enabling a more agile supply chain that allows brands to test styles. Currently, only massive brands like Shein can operate on an agile timeline; for smaller brands, this approach is inaccessible due to a lack of resources and supply chain ownership. On average, a big brand takes 3-6 months to plan ahead for the new collection launch while fast fashion companies like Shein does it in 7 days. A lot has been said about Shein's damage to the environment due to the poor quality of clothes and its undurable nature; but its high efficiency and the test-driven approach is redefining how the fashion industry works.
RE(SOURCE) brings independent brands into a new landscape, one where they can work with agility, produce with ease, and make changes quickly. Solving the common problem of excess inventory that plagues the fashion world, the organization helps tackle a stunning statistic: inaccurate trend prediction leads to 30% of inventory never being sold because consumers don't want it. Ziqi designed her company's supply chain to be vertically integrated and handle fashion trends well by connecting Chinese manufacturers, fabric mills, freight forwarders, and sample makers to the global market. RE(SOURCE) uses artificial intelligence to improve real time trend prediction and cut down on the number of garments that never find a home. By the end of this year, the goal is to have a 1-day turnaround time for virtual samples, a 3-day physical sample, a 14-day bulk production timeline, and a 7-day restock window.
Building something this complex and advanced would be nearly impossible for even some of the best business leaders out there, but Ziqi's career path uniquely prepared her for this undertaking. It started at Duke University where she studied statistical science and public policy. Here, she began to build an affinity for statistical models and algorithms, one of the most important components of her business today. She also worked at 4 different internships and lived in 3 countries during a gap year, opening her worldview up and made her aware of her dedication to entrepreneurship.
Before she even graduated, she jumped into her first entrepreneurial adventure: an e-commerce store that sold minimalist home goods. She learned so much about retail, supply chain, and business ownership by starting Walden Theory, and she knows that the success of RE(SOURCE) relies on the foundational skills she developed in this experience. Most importantly, she knows that she is born to be an entrepreneur from that experience.
A talented businesswoman, Ziqi is building RE(SOURCE) from the ground up and has spent $0 on ads to acquire their over 200 business users. Instead, she focuses on content marketing, where the company has amassed 13,000 followers across multiple platforms.. At a popular fashion, art, and music event, South by Southwest, RE(SOURCE) partnered with 20 different brands and tech partners and pulled in 1,000 event participants.
Ziqi's dedication to sustainable progress and innovation has led to the creation of a more efficient and less wasteful fashion industry. RE(SOURCE) is poised to revolutionize the fashion supply chain and solve the problem of excess inventory that plagues the industry. Ziqi's bold leadership and unwavering commitment to creating a better future for all of us make her a true inspiration in the world of business and technology.
