Jats(Just a t-shirt), a slow-fashion t-shirt design company that prints your passions, was born in Brussels, the fruit of a meeting between Lionel Petit and Arnaud Michel, who have been working at Seed Factory for several years.
Rather than designing visuals that only appealed to them, and trying to sell them as best they could, they decided to find out what made people tick.
"By collecting this information and constantly challenging our community about what's inside them, we've realized the limitless diversity of people's interests.
To reflect these passions, we initially divided our visuals into two types: ' blueprints', an Anglo-Saxon term for technical drawings used in the industrial world. Vintage drawings' are cross-hatched drawings that could have been drawn with a pen on the corner of a table.
These visuals are only available for short periods defined by countdowns. This technique enables us to group together production and give our customers the benefit of economies of scale" (Lionel Petit).
T-shirts
To guarantee a perfect fit, a quality product (organic cotton) and a fair price, Jats has opted for a pre-order concept. As textiles are produced according to demand, there is no overstock and therefore no waste.
They can then afford to offer a T-shirt at the right price, guaranteeing that the customer is paying for a quality textile and not for a stock of unsold merchandise.
The slow fashion concept
Every year in Europe, over 4,000,000 tonnes of textiles are thrown away. When demand is high, major brands overproduce in order to avoid losing potential sales. The result is a huge amount of waste.
What's more, many of them favor a low-quality product that won't last the test of time. The aim? To amplify the consumption reflexes of people who will quickly need to replace their textiles, as they degrade faster.
For Jats, these outdated practices need to be reviewed, monitored and regulated.
What's certain is that they're not the only ones thinking along these lines, and that consumers' consciences are beginning to awaken.
The Jats solution
To counter this type of practice, Arnaud and Lionel are proud to offer a top-quality t-shirt, produced only on demand and with quality materials. They have chosen to sell online so as not to disperse the textile budget on store rental costs. They also use countdown timers to concentrate production and deliver quickly.
They surround themselves with service providers and suppliers who bring to the brand all the best labels (Vegan, Fair Trade, Organic cotton, etc.).
They also dedicate a page of their site to a complete size guide, as well as a washing guide. These help customers to make the right choice when buying their product, and to look after it in the best possible way so that it will last for years to come.
How did the company cope with the Covid 19 crisis?
" The project itself was born in 2020, we took a year to question, analyze, perfect, ...
It was only at the beginning of 2021 that we went before the notary to put our year of reflection into practice.
With the current health crisis, we were convinced that a virtual point of sale was the wisest choice, and that's one of the reasons why we decided to stick to the deadlines set before the pandemic " (Lionel Petit).
Projects for the future
Many large companies stifle smaller ones by leaving them no choice but to sell exclusively via their platforms. They have selling points such as free returns and free delivery. In reality, these two assets can only be economically profitable on gigantic volumes, which few companies manage to achieve.
These big brands make their selling points seem indispensable, by accustoming consumers to advantages that only they can offer.
Fortunately, in recent years, a number of new brands have decided to work on a pre-order basis, with reasonably-priced deliveries. The founders of Jats are proud to be part of this trend, and hope to continue pioneering tomorrow's fashion, so that it returns to a more humane and fair pace.
To remain consistent with the way they work, they decided to buy their textiles from a well-known Belgian brand, and to entrust the transformation and printing of their textiles to a printer in Brussels, who prints in the Namur region. Finally, they asked an adapted work company (formerly known as a "sheltered workshop") to pack and ship their T-shirts. They're proud of the movement they're part of, and look forward to a fairer future.
Why settle for Seed Factory ?
"We're at the Seed Factory because we're both veterans of the building, and it's also where we met. Arnaud was at The Fork ( Tripadvisor ) and I was at Paf! As The Fork was a Paf! customer at the time, we had the opportunity to work together, and without realizing it, it was the start of something very strong!
Running an online business, we could theoretically have made do with wi-fi, but we shouldn't underestimate the strength of a place like this; an environment for working, exchanging ideas and experience. During our years with our respective employers, we were lucky enough to meet Maisons Clothes, with whom we share an office and who have become our producers.
So, in conclusion, it's extremely practical on a day-to-day basis to be sitting next to your producer in an environment that's conducive to business development" (Lionel Petit).
Like Jats, you want to rent an office in Auderghem? Find out more about the Seed Factory business center. Don't hesitate to arrange a visit with Edouard Cambier and his team by phone or via their online form.
Follow us on :
