
April 22, 2020 at 02:00PM
Canadian Julia Grieve pioneered the idea of upcycling when she founded Preloved 25 years ago; its offerings include T-shirts, sweaters and loungewear made with swatches of upcycled denim and wool. But despite the brandâs longevity and industry kudos, Prelovedâs eco-minded ethos was eclipsed by the fast-fashion giants that dominated the 2000s.
Now that the frightening facts about the environmental and ethical impacts of the garment industry have become inescapable, repurposing fashion has another opportunity to take hold, even at the designer level. âUpcycling is not something that is usually associated with luxury; however, I think this is changing,â says Natalie Kingham, fashion and buying director at MatchesFashion. âBrands such as Germanier and Chopova Lowena have shown that they can be considered incredibly fashion-forward in the luxury space and still have a focus on sustainability.âÂ
Whether itâs humble denim, vintage rugs or glittery lamĂŠ, thereâs no limit to the textiles that todayâs designers can breathe new life into. Here are some fashion brands that are upcycling their way into our hearts:
M Missoni

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In the fall of 2018, Margherita Missoni became creative director at the previously licensed M Missoni. âBefore accepting, I started thinking about how I could give it a point of view while keeping it part of the Missoni world,â she says.Â
She visited the storied brandâs archives and discovered a wealth of materials from its home decor line. The Spring 2020 collection features jackets and coats that incorporate MissoniHome archive fabrics from past decades and sweaters that are made with upcycled yarn.
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For upcycling designers, managing expectations is almost as much work as the designing itself. âIâve never worked on a collection like thisânobody has,â notes Missoni. âAt the beginning, it was quite difficult for everyone to adaptâand itâs still difficult. When you make a sweater with upcycled yarn, the first 100 are going to be in one colour; the second 100, the stripe will change to a different colour. The people who sell need to understand that, the people who buy need to understand that and the people who produce need to understand that.âÂ
Germanier
When Charlieâs Angels star Kristen Stewart appeared on the red carpet for the filmâs L.A. opening last fall, there was something more outstanding about her outfit than its bling factor. Stewart was clad in a cocktail dress slathered with upcycled Swarovski crystals by Paris-based designer Kevin Germanier. But unlike some who flaunt their ethical practices to entice an enÂvironmentally mindful clientele, Germanier stresses that aesthetics come first in his designs. âI never use sustainability as a marketing toolâI never emphasize the fact that I upcycle,â he says. âIâm not here to educate people or give a moral lesson to someone; my job is to make beautiful products. Iâm a designer.â
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Germanier sources fabrics at places such as the MarchĂŠ Saint Pierre and says heâs grateful for all the vintage vendors and people who offer him materials to use in his collections. âCollaboration and the community are extremely important,â he says. âIâm really blessed that people are reaching out to me.â
CALLA

Paris-based Calla Haynes, who grew up in Toronto, found a way to express her creative inclinations in a sustainable way after putting her eponymous brand on hiatus in 2015. âI wanted to do something meaningful with all the fabrics that meant so much to me, and I was also a bit overwhelmed with all the dead stock,â she says about the custom-print textiles that were left over when she shelved her line. Meeting minimum orders and the âwishful thinkingâ of producing too much in the hope of selling it are two reasons why designers have a hard time escaping excess, says Haynes, who has also worked for Rochas and Nina Ricci. âThatâs the strange reality of this industry: We accept having all this waste.â
Haynes initially sent her leftover fabrics to Morocco to be made into Boucharouite rugs but has since expanded her upcycling endeavours to include babouche slippers, which are made from well-worn vintage Moroccan rugs. âItâs funny because those rugs are almost a double-recycling thing since technically Boucharouite rugs are made from old fabric. Theyâve already been recycled into rugs, and [now] theyâre being recycled into shoes.â
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For Montreal-based designer Courtney Pedersen, her reliance on upcycling was born from a tension between loving fashion and loathing its wastefulness. âI studied fibre arts at a small school in Nelson, B.C.,â she says. âThat was a lot of years ago, but even when I was doing that, I was pretty concerned about the environmental impact of the textile and garment industries.âÂ
Pedersenâs collection consists of one-of-a-kind garments made from materials sourced in thrift shops like Value Village. âIâve found everything from silk dĂŠvorĂŠ to fine cotton gauze to linen there,â she says. âIâve even used bedsheets. Some people might be squeamish about that, but I think in todayâs age of being very aware of whatâs happening environmentally, itâs a good thing to be open to.â
Peterson Stoop

Amsterdam-based Peterson Stoop approaches sustainable design in a holistic way, addressing not only the inherent waste factor but also how harmful elements of creating clothing and accessories can be. Co-founder Jarah Stoop notes that the outlook she shares with Jelske Peterson evolved after they broke into the industry the âtraditionalâ way in 2013. âAt the time, we were designing bags and shoes,â she says. âWe didnât really know what direction it would take us because we both came from art school and had all these idealistic ideas about starting a brandâor maybe [they were] unrealistic ideas, because we thought we could produce everything in-house and make a really big collection.â
Now the duo uses existing materials to make upcycled shoes that boast some familiar characteristicsâseveral of the styles use pieces taken from worn-out Nikes and Converse Chuck Taylor All Starsâand their âremasteredâ wares are a testament to the level of craft and ingenuity thatâs routinely ignored in a world of mass manufacturing. âI think a lot of people donât realize that things in shops have been made by somebody,â says Stoop. âThey can be made by a robot, but most things have been touched by 20 or 30 people who have all done little steps in the process. Thatâs also why we make what we make: to really show that they have been made by hand.âÂ
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Anya Hindmarch - I AM A PLASTIC BAGLooking for more upcycled goodness? Click here for a roundup of sustainably-minded buys.
The post Meet the Brands Giving Old Fabrics New Life Through Upcycling appeared first on FASHION Magazine.
Author Odessa Paloma Parker | Fashion Magazine
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