About Upcycled Fashion

It’s estimated that over 100 billion garments are produced annually, and sadly not all of these will be worn repeatedly – or even once!

 Upcycling is a design-based circular fashion approach, where pre- or post-consumer textile waste material is repurposed to create new garments. In other words, it’s when you take something that’s already made and then improve it or turn it into a fresh item.

 Upcycling is a growing trend among fashion designers, helping to save resources and keep huge amounts of textile waste out of the waste stream.

 One form of upcycling is using deadstock. Deadstock refers to leftover stock of a product, whether its whole garments that haven't sold or leftover fabrics. A rise in the use of deadstock and already existing fabrics has recently been embraced by many upcoming designers.

 A major example is Reformation, who makes many of their garments from rescued deadstock fabrics and upcycled clothing.

 Using deadstock textiles alone doesn’t automatically make a brand sustainable, as the process of creating clothes is not waste-free, but it does help reduce the amount of material ending up in landfill.

 How has Seven joined in on upcycling? Our factory uses the scrap material from swimwear production to create dog beds for their local humane society in Brazil. The factory has been certified as PETA approved cruelty free because of the amazing work they do for their local community.

• Other brands doing upcycling:
• Conenr Ives
• Ahluwalia
• Amour Vert
• Beyond Retro
• Urban Outfitters
• Wolf & Badger
• Farm Rio
• Re/Done
• Collina Strada
• Rave Review

How can you upcycle at home?

Thrifting! Finding a special piece at your local thrift store, taking it home and transforming it into something new is the very essence of the upcycling movement. It could be simple change like putting cooler buttons on to the extreme like turning a shirt into a skirt! This is a fun, cheap and easy way to create one-of-a-kind upcycled styles.