Recycled clothes: are new clothes becoming old hat?

Customised clothes and accessories in the recession
On a crisp autumn night at Northcote Lane vintage market in Milgi’s restaurant in Cardiff, Beck Holland, the creative force behind Becorations, bespoke decorations, sells her handmade accessories made from an array of recycled materials.

Beck Holland with some of her handmade decorations

In previous generations, the repair of clothes was a necessity and, necessity being the mother of invention, people also customised their clothes to update them. Nowadays, however, we live in a throw-away culture but, could the current economic climate and an increasing awareness of environmental issues, be changing this? Beck, who uses everyday items, including old guitar strings, buckles, buttons, shells and curtain hooks to create her accessories believes so.

 

Necklaces made out of old buttons

She claims, “As an educated society we have a responsibility to the environment and those around us. Everything I make is locally sourced and made from things that have been thrown away and are not needed anymore.”

In this video by Beck she shows how she makes a decorative heart out of bass strings:

Video credit: Becorations

Beck sells her goods at vintage and craft fairs as well as on her website and believes her main inspiration for setting up Becorations was the Cardiff based sustainable label, Zolibeau, which has been running for just under three years and was set up by two sisters, Sarah Valentin and Julia Harris.

Sarah believes the brand is about taking something that has been discarded and transforming it into something beautiful. As well as making and customising clothes using old fabrics, the sisters run weekly ‘Re:Fash’ classes teaching basic sewing techniques and offering people an eco friendly way to makeover their wardrobes .

A selection of dresses customised by Zolibeau

Their base in the Women’s Workshop enables the sisters to integrate in the local community and they have also run summer sessions for younger people giving them an opportunity to update their clothes and host a fashion show.

Sarah, who has a HND in fashion, claims one of the reasons behind the creation of Zolibeau was the recession. She claims, ‘Our inspiration behind Zolibeau was partly because we didn’t have much money at the time. We’ve always been into charity shops because we get quite bored with the high street as we don’t like what it stands for. It’s very materialistic, there’s no depth to it and I like the thought of something having a story behind it.”

 

A tank top customised with an old tie

Sarah also believes the recession is, at least partially, behind the popularity of Zolibeau’s ‘Re:Fash’ course and claims several people on the course started coming because they were struggling financially. As part of the course, the sisters supply the necessary materials and encourage people to look at their own wardrobes with a creative eye before splashing out on high street goods.

Sarah expands on what Zolibeau do and how they got started:

Another initiative in Cardiff committed to the re-use and customisation of old clothes is PreFab. The YMCA project consists of a charity shop in Albany Road and a warehouse in Splott, where old clothes are donated and sorted before being sent to the shop for sale or used to make accessories such as bags and Christmas decorations.

The work station where PreFab update and customise old clothes for sale in their charity shop

PreFab are also hoping to collaborate with Cardiff Metropolitan University (formerly UWIC) design students to up-cycle old pairs of jeans and believe it is important to try and educate people as young as possible on the environmental effects of wasted fabrics and how they can counteract this.

YMCA clothing banks are dispersed throughout Cardiff

Vicky Rutter who works as a recycling operative for PreFab, claims that used textiles make up a huge proportion of the waste going to landfill so it’s important to try and reduce this as much as possible.

Vicky also believes the repairing of clothes is an important life skill which, in the current economic climate, is more important than ever. She claims, “There is such a throw-away culture now. With Primark you can just go and buy clothes for £3 and not wear them again and it’s really dangerous and damaging to the environment and to us as we don’t really value what we are wearing.”

However, she concedes, despite the financial times and an increasing awareness of environmental issues, there is still a stigma attached to wearing second-hand clothes and claims, “I think there are still sections of society who wouldn’t shop in a charity shop.”

Vicky explains why it is important to recycle and recondition clothes:

It appears the recession and an increasing environmental awareness are definitely starting to impact on people’s spending and recycling habits but Beck, Sarah and Vicky all believe there is still a long way to go to combat the stigma surrounding second-hand and customised clothes. So, next time you buy that new top, maybe just stop and think where it comes from and where it will end up.