Upcycled
“There is a kind of poetry in taking the unwanted and giving it another life – as a design process it has its own aesthetic signature, its own set of values, its unique method. It may not be for everyone, but those who love it can become passionately addicted.”
While working on my blog post from last week, the term upcycling kept popping up. In relation to sustainably- and ethically-produced fashion from Africa, the articles I was reading talked about how African designers often “upcycled” materials from the fashion items that are constantly flooding into their ports. Rather than producing and using completely new materials, they repurpose materials that they already have to create unique, luxurious and sustainably-sourced fashion. For this week’s post, I thought we could do a deeper dive into upcycling and its role within the fashion industry.
For decades, fashion has operated within a linear system – items are created, sold and discarded. Even iconic, luxury fashion houses are guilty of burning their excess stock, which is extremely detrimental to the environment (shocker, right?). One of the key factors in making the fashion industry more sustainable is switching from a linear system to a circular system. On top of finding ways to ensure that garments are worn more often and utilizing more sustainable materials, the fashion industry and its designers must find a way to make sure that “old” or “out-of-season” clothes can be transformed into new designs (Ang, 2019). This is where upcycling comes into play. As defined by Orsola de Castro, Creative Director at Fashion Revolution (2019), “upcycling is a creative design solution to an environmental crisis – it is also the single most effective way at slowing down fashion without resorting to boycotting brands” (para. 4). Rather than constantly purchasing new clothing, upcycling, or buying clothes that are made of pre-existing materials, helps to “save an enormous [amount] of water, slow down unnecessary virgin textile production and drastically reduce landfill mass with its associated emissions burden” (de Castro, 2019, para. 5). The key here is that upcycling gives the gift of time and longevity to fashion. In an industry that revolves around ever-changing seasons, time and longevity are extremely undervalued characteristics. Upcycling allows for pieces of clothing to survive again and again.
Hôtel Vetements is a French-Danish brand that upcycles old curtains, upholsteries, linens, tablecloths and more to create luxurious, quality clothing.
In my opinion, a necessary factor to integrate upcycling into not only the fashion industry but also into the minds of consumers is to reimagine the connotation surrounding recycling. For decades, I think recycling or reusing older products meant that they were of lesser value. You didn’t, and many people still don’t, want to buy something that’s “vintage” or “repurposed” because someone else has already had it, therefore it’s of lesser value. However, I don’t think that’s the case at all. Rather than burning or getting rid of excess stock, designers should look at upcycling as a creative challenge – a way to elongate, reinterpret and add on to the story of clothing that has already lived one life. By implementing upcycling-techniques into their businesses, designers can help to save the environment by utilizing skills they already have – creativity and ingenuity. If designers lead the way, consumers will follow.
Bye for now,
McGee