Do your Clothes Have an After Life?

Yes they do and “Upcycling ” is the answer! The term is used to define the process or the art of reusing old clothes or worn out items to create new garments or items. In a nutshell, it means reusing your old stuff in a more creative manner. Thus, it is a new wave of sustainable fashion (eco-fashion, to be precise!) that is aimed at reducing clothing waste. It requires tremendous amount of creativity to churn out flashy wearable items from old and used ones. The trend is catching up in the contemporary times, creating a “need” for new breed of fashion designers. The resulting creations are in high demand in college clothes swap parties and among the others who support efforts at sustainability. As an example, users love finger-less gloves that could be created from upcycling old woolen jumpers or sweaters.

Scene at Home

The trend seems to have become popular in India as well. The most common example is the upcycling of saris that give way to elegant scarves, kurtas, shawls, shrugs, necklaces and quilts. In this manner, the upcycling Indian industry support and empower female artisans.

A popular home grown method for upcycling saris is to deploy the traditional Indian hand embroidery mechanism, “kantha “. The kantha technique/mechanism involves tiny rows of running stitch hand sewn from end to end which in turn provides strength to the upcycled saris. The kantha embroidery creates an eye-catching rippling effect across the fabric.

Put Scrap Fabric to Use

We can also upcycle fabrics, other than clothes, in innumerable creative ways. Top hints:

So now you know that you simply have to look around your house to find those old pieces of fabric or clothes and then put on your thinking or rather creative cap to give these an afterlife.

The Business Side of things

And if you thought that upcylcing is quite a home based phenomenon then look here for various enterprises that thrive on the concept:

Doodlage: It is a Delhi-based fashion clothing brand that is committed to upcycling the untouched or barely worn clothing. doodlage

Mehera Shaw: The Jaipur-based brand uses waste like scraps, fabrics, trims and threads to create value-added accessories.Mehera Shaw

Pero: It is a Delhi-based designer label initiated by Aneeth Arora. The focus is on creating wearable garments from reusable fabrics.Pero
There are plenty of others in the international market as well. Get ready for the new wave of fashion that is affordable yet trendy.

Don`t throw your clothes/fabrics as garbage. Upcycle these..ah better than recycling!