“Upcycled” clothing takes resale to the next level
“Upcycled.” It’s the newest phrase to hit fashion and environmental circles with fashion designers and artists taking resale clothing, throwaways, and fabric remnants and transforming them into brand new pieces as “upcycled” high fashion.
Two years ago fashion and marketing guru Nicholas Graham (founder of the Joe Boxer line) partnered with Goodwill Industries in San Francisco to create a new line of “recycled” resale clothing, William Good.
While it has been a struggle for the William Good line to catch on with fashion retailers because of the highly unique nature of each article of clothing, recycled clothing is certainly raising awareness on a variety of levels.
Another side of “upcycling” that is catching on with fashion designers like Looptworks is using the front-end waste of textile companies and creating fresh new designs from fabric remnants and excess.
Taking the form of a grassroots movement, small fashion design shops are picking up the idea of “upcycling” on a local level. ATL Fashion Photographer and Blogger Cameron Adams in Chattanooga, Tennessee just hosted a recent fashion show featuring clothing lines from local “upcycle” fashion designers like Collective Clothing and Leo.
