A more conscious and mature way of fashion
There’s a growing consciousness towards sustainability and the urgent eagerness to save the natural resources of the mother Earth from getting extinct among people across walks of life and professions. While doing the basic at the home of waste segregation has caught up to us, the fashion industry - the biggest contributor to climate change – is also catching up to the trend of sustainable living called sustainable fashion.
There are various streams and forms to sustainable fashion. From using handloom material to finally reaching the point of using upcycled and reusable fashion the evolution is thoughtful. At a time when the fashion industry is churning out the trendy throw-away fashion, the need to use and reuse the fabric material making the effort to put to waste as little as possible is the trend for upcycled fashion.
At the time of making a garment, a lot of it after the cuts are put to waste, either land up in the dumping ground that harms the soil or is just left to rot in the corner. However, fashion designers are now picking up the practice of bringing to use the discarded cut pieces of the cloth material into making another garment. This method of design is an outcome of the existing material and shaping what exists into what could be.
To break it down, it an upcycled cloth is the method of taking old, worn out or damaged materials and transforming them into brand new pieces. Upcycled clothing is often also referred to as repurposed clothing, reused clothing, and recycled clothing, and is becoming increasingly popular in the contemporary fashion industry.
However, the only difference between upcycled and recycled clothing being that, upcycled garments use the whole piece of existing garment to create something new whereas in recycling the materials are broken down, say into patched, before they can be reused to make a beautiful garment.
Once you are done wearing a particular piece of garment and plan to throw it away which eventually will land up in a landfill, make an effort to recycle, upcycle, give it away or sell it. Begin this habit of giving away one piece of cloth upon buying a new one. You can give it to a cousin, friend, or donate the garment you chose to remove from the closet.
Or else recycle old clothes by giving them to a textile recycling program. Even better get creative and customize it in a fun way to create something unique.
The up side of adopting this fashion is that upcycled pieces use fewer raw materials, less water usage, and fewer chemicals and contribute less to the landfill.
