A lot of blogs give attention to the looks of fashion, how to wear fashion and how to combine fashion items with other (fashion)items. When these items fall out of fashion, there are many websites that can tell or show you how to refashion or upcycle these discarded items. When you are not a creative person however, you can make sure these products get re-used elsewhere (through a thrift-shop or donating them to the salvation army) or get recycled in a more industrial way. Off-course we do not want the mountain of garbage to pile up unnecessarily…
There is no question on earth that I discourage these creative outbursts of re-fashioning and upcycling! As long as the materials are still good, usable and sturdy, there is no point whatsoever in wasting them. Every step to industrially process these materials (as garbage or as recyclable materials) it will ALWAYS have an effect on the environment. And the creation of new commercial fashion does damage to both the environment as well as to the (slave)labor involved in the various steps of the process. We – the consumers of commercial fashion – are finally, after a very long period of turning a blind eye, waking up to the horrid facts of the textile and clothing industry. But even though these issues are very important and should be written about, they are subjects for another blog.
What I want to address is the freedom of a couturier / fashion-designer to make use of refashioning, upcycling, and without a doubt the use of recycled materials. Using sustainable methods and materials is in my opinion the only option for the future of fashion, and of the textile-industry in general. There are many ways companies are able to work on getting there act more sustainable, but most of them are still waiting for another brand to go first. Well, some are already well on their way to achieve a more sustainable economy, but much more will have to follow fast, if we want to see changes in the mentality of the way of our economy. Dare to take this step, invest in the future and be applaud on, instead of waiting for another to move first. So I want to name two of these companies, at whom I have encountered some positive changes over the last year. First is HEMA, a Dutch store for small things one needs around the house (clothing – although no fashion-statements here, make-up, soaps, groceries, bakery, home-textiles, cutlery, toys, …). The noticeable changes are a shift from plastic toys to wooden toys, but more on topic: last year I noticed they sell black opaque panty-hoses made from 100% recycled materials. Mine are still without damage (for almost a year now, in a home with a toddler and 2 cats) and are comfortable to wear. I applaud this product and hope (with all my heart) that many more will follow. The second company has stores all over the world and really makes a statement about becoming fully sustainable. This is IKEA. For example, in the Netherlands IKEA sells only LED-lamps, they sell solar-panels and – again, more on topic – they use their own fabric scraps to make kitchen-textiles, place-mats and decorative textiles. These items are fabricated in a Dutch company, called I-did, located in Utrecht.
ÅTERSTÄLLA: textiel met een goed gevoel
Dat deze kussens uniek en vrolijk zijn, is te zien. Maar deze collectie heeft nog een uniek aspect. De ÅTERSTÄLLA collectie is gemaakt van gemaakt van 100% textiele restproducten en is ontwikkeld in samenwerking met de Nederlandse sociale onderneming i-did_slow fashion_movement. (From the IKEA-Nederland website)
Again, I applaud IKEA on this move towards sustainability and I encourage other companies to follow suit.
There is also a part for fashion-designers / couturiers to follow in this movement towards sustainability. Using sustainable materials and incorporating old materials into new designs. This is something I am aiming for with my own brand, but a very close friend and fellow couturier, Marjolein Turin from Somnia Romantica (you can find her on Facebook and on Etsy), also aims for the use of vintage materials into her very exquisite designs. The use of vintage materials give her designs even more character than they already have, even more drama and romanticity, and above all, the give her designs a true uniqueness. Another close friend of mine, the very classy Laila, does the same with her jewelry brand Elegant Curiosities (you can find her on Facebook and on Etsy). Most of her designs contain vintage materials, some even real memorial-materials (certificated off-course). Others contain taxidermy insects, arachnids, reptiles or bird-parts, all applied to very classy jewelry. But these examples are just some very talented, but also very small-scale artists. There is a world of possibilities for lager brands to incorporate old materials into their designs. This can vary from old designs of their own making, but also the use of collected materials from other sources.
Just a footnote to the reuse of materials: This applies to physical materials only! Fashion-designs get copied A LOT, but this is nothing more than ORDINARY THIEVERY. Unless the designer willingly sells his/her designs or patterns, or gives these away as a freebie in exchange for a like-and-share of a web-page or whatever, these designs are not to be copied. Yes, a designer with a serious case of a designers-block can get inspired by some of the amazing designs that talented couturiers will put on-line, there have to be a certain amount of very visible differences (and this is stated by law) to call a design your own and commercially produce it as such. In every other case the design will remain in INTELLECTUAL OWNERSHIP of the couturier / fashion designer.
