OK, full disclosure: I am an unashamed, rabid fan of Project Runway, and as you may imagine, my favorite "character" on the show was Elisa Jimenez.
While considering the vapid land of fashion, I was mulling the difference between recycling and upcycling. Was there something beyond just shopping at used clothing store, trading outgrown children's clothes and toys with other parents and the on-going conscious reduction of acquiring new stuff?
While it may be mucking around in the minutiae, the difference between upcycling was defined in the book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (North Point Press, order from Tallahassee's Word Traffic Books) as the practice of converting waste materials into products of greater value--glass into building materials, tires into playground fall zones, etc. This is different from "recycling" which is turning waste back into the same or very similar thing.
So, for fashion, it's recycling just to reuse a garment the same way and upcycling when a garment is remade into something else of supposedly greater value. Nick Graham, designer and founder of Joe Boxer, has formed a San Francisco design team, and opened a store that upcycles used clothing under the label of William Good (a upcycled use of the store name Goodwill and Goodwill is a partner in the venture). If you're not traveling to the Mission District of San Francisco to shop for William Good fashions at the Fillmore Street Goodwill store, fashions are available at their online store.
Better yet, make your own!
1.03.2008
UPCYCLYING, SUSTAINABLE FASHION AND CONFESSIONS
*
1 comments:
This is really cool... Let's just hope that somebody here in Tallahassee has the gumption to start a similar business. I would shop at a place like this in a heartbeat.
Post a Comment