Upcycling — The New Hype in Sustainable Fashion
by Aarushi Gurnani
‘‘Fashion may be fickle but its impacts are large and global. However, sustainable fashion is increasingly adding another low energy, low waste, low transport and low raw-material-use word to the circular economy’s four “Rs” — reduce, reuse, recycle and recover. Upcycling.’’
In a world still dominated by fast fashion which churns out trendy throw-away fashion pieces at whirlwind speed, the idea of upcycled or refashioned clothes can be a rarity. However, it is slowly gaining popularity as it is one of the most sustainable things people can do in fashion.
Fashion industry is responsible for 92 million tons of global waste every year — that’s about 4 percent of the world’s entire waste, according to a report by Pulse Of The Fashion Industry via Forbes. Most of that comes from leftover fabric unaccounted for by clothing patterns, which most brands simply toss. But one’s trash is another’s treasure — and making use of these leftover fabrics is exactly where upcycling comes in.
What Really Is Upcycling?
It is important to understand that upcycling is different from recycling. While Recycling is finding another use for an existing garment or in the case of textiles it sometimes also means converting (waste) into reusable materials. The process of recycling clothes may also include the breakdown of high-grade materials into their purest raw forms or substrates.
On the other hand, Upcycling can be seen as a creative design solution to an environmental crisis — since it is not possible to completely stop buying clothes, upcycling encourages us to learn how to buy better, which includes buying clothes produced with pre-existing materials. Upcycling literally turns old or unwanted materials into something useful or creative with a higher value but a smaller footprint — recycling, in contrast, is sometimes described as down-cycling because reprocessing tends to decrease value at each successive stage.
In contrast to recycling, upcycling retains, adapts and improves garments so the value of the end-product is greater than the sum of the parts. It can help to reduce air and water pollution, landfill use, greenhouse gases, waste disposal handling costs and combustion. Even cigarette butts can be upcycled into premium products. Therefore, Upcycling can also be defined as a way of processing an item to make it better than the original. In the example of clothing, this is often taking something that doesn’t fit or is stained/torn and refashioning a wearable product from it. Upcycling can be carried out using either pre-consumer or post-consumer waste or a combination of the two. Pre-consumer waste is produced while items are being manufactured (such as the pieces of fabric leftover after cutting out a pattern) and post-consumer waste results from the finished product reaching the end of its useful life for the consumer (such as a T-shirt that doesn’t fit anymore). These new upcycled designs tend to stir controversy in the fashion industry because they challenge perceptions as to what is trash and what is fashion.
The plus side to upcycling is that it stops adding extra stuff to a world that is already overwhelmed with material things. It also reuses materials that may otherwise end up in the landfill in creative and innovative ways.
Upcycled Fashion in India?
Since upcycling has emerged as the new wave in the fashion industry, designers from India have also jumped on the bandwagon. I have mentioned two below :
- Pune-based brand, Ka-Sha (by Karishma Shahani Khan) has been at the forefront of the upcycling movement. Since its inception in 2011, Karishma has ensured she operates on a zero-wastage policy. Be it using old vegetable sacks and rejected plastic bags to make jackets, or creating pieces out of old Benarasi saris or even making denim jackets from discarded jeans, the designer has always made an effort to sustainably create her collections. She also creates signature pom poms, footwear, and scarves from leftover fabric in her studio.
- Delhi-based clothing label, Doodlage is strongly dedicated to an ethical construct of upcycling. They work with eco-friendly fabrics, such as organic cotton and fabrics made from corn and banana fiber. Other sources of fabric are the left over or discarded textile from large manufacturers (which account for the ‘wastage’ in export terms) and fabrics that are left unused by other retailers post-cutting.
However, it is also important to acknowledge that mainstream consumption of upcycling fashion may still be years away. This might be the case because 1. Upcycled clothes are sustainable and therefore may be priced at a higher rate than fast fashion garments, and this higher price may work at its disadvantage, 2. Consumers might prefer the cheaper alternative simply because they are in trend, 3. It is not always feasible for an individual to create Upcycled clothes due to lack of time or resources.
Nevertheless, I would like to end the blog by mentioning why upcycling is important or what are the benefits of upcycling. Firstly, it saves materials from going into the landfills, it uses old materials to make new cool stuff, for example — making candles from wine bottles etc. Secondly, it reduces the usage of natural resources. Upcycling existing resources means that we don’t have to use any new raw materials in the production process. Thirdly, Upcycling encourages creativity and innovation, it takes a lot of creativity to come up with a meaningful item from the waste, which is unique and stylish. Lastly, what is great about Upcycling is that it doesn’t have to be restricted only to clothes, you can Upcycle your old furniture, leftover juice or milk bottles, old plates, the list of items that can be Upcycled are endless.
