The NEW ethical fashion craze for Upcycling....
The wikipedia entry for upcycling states that upcycling is the process of taking old materials & remaking them into new products that have a higher value. Anything remade can often get lumped under the Recycled Tag but when you can add value to something old - that is the beautiful trick!
Fashion has always had a problem with the question of what to do with waste stock. It's bad for the accounts, but also there is the question of what to do with this stock. We have seen several news reports earlier in the year when retailers have actually slashed their old stock so that people couldn't take the clothes before they got picked up by the bin collectors. This was reported in New York and then within weeks it appeared it was happening here in the UK.
For big retailers, it's a case of balancing the books - can't sell the stock, so bin it & make sure that customers can't get their hands on unsold stock - "giving away" clothes for free isn't in the business plan and would be hard to justify to the shareholders who are hell bent on making profits.
For others it's a case of balancing on a grander scale. Have old stock that doesn't sell, add some creativity & then hey presto we have new stock to sell!
Here at Ethics Girls we love the remade/upcycling idea!
We have dipped our toe in the water ourselves & also found some other brands who have been developing this idea for awhile.
check out our 1st steps into the world of UPCYCLING FASHION:
Ethics Girls Remade is an experiment for us. We are taking some old stock & asking different designers to remake the clothes from their designs. We have a hemp mini skirt - remade by Yukki - a Japanese textile graduate who lives in Glasgow. Yuki cleverly reworked the length of the original skirt & used the off cuts to make a flower decoration detail. Yukki has stuck to the original design themes and given it a clear freshening up :) (price £40 / available in 2 colours).
For all forthcoming Ethics Girls Remade, our aim will be to upcycle fair trade / ethical fashion stocks. This way we continue to support ethical fashion, we support brands by taking unwanted stock off their hands & we are being wise old birds & doing our bit from the three Rs - Reuse :)
THTC hemp tees - My Only
THTC are a well known hemp tee shirt brand - for men & women. They have recently developed the My Only range of womens tees. Remaking mens hemp tees into something for women. The range includes the well known style of THTC which likes great print design that will get you noticed. check out the full range here
Coming soon....
We have worked with London based Goodone and our stock is arriving in the shop very soon...
Goodone has been upcycling fashion since the start. So we are delighted to have worked with them to develop some new creations from some old Kuyichi stock. We have a version of Goodone's heart shaped jumper & a mini skirt in 2 colour versions.
Ethics Girls Remade hemp tees - Alice is a student from Glasgow School of Fashion & has done some lovely reworking of hemp tees, adding patterned paneling. Each tee is unique :)
If you want more details of the Goodone & Ethics Girls hemp tees, then please email: contact@ethicsgirls.co.uk
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