From Closet to Canvas
A little creativity can turn the pieces you’ve stopped wearing into something worth keeping.
Before You Call It Old, Call It Something Else
We all have that one piece… honestly, you’re probably lucky if it’s only one!
The jeans you loved until the fit started feeling wrong. The dress you wore to death and now can't imagine wearing again. The shirt sitting at the back of your closet because there is technically nothing wrong with it... you just haven't reached for it in two years.
And yet, every time you clean out your closet, there it is….
We have been thinking about how quickly we decide that something has reached the end of its life. In fashion, we are constantly being given reasons to want something new, it’s how the industry runs; a new season, new trends, new aesthetics, new versions of the thing we already own.
But like our mindset, sometimes the most interesting thing you can do with an old piece is change it.
That brings us to a word we hear more and more in fashion: upcycling.
According to the Oxford dictionary, upcycling is “treating an item that has already been used in a way that makes something of greater quality or value than the original.”
And we love that definition because it leaves room for creativity.
Upcycling isn't just cutting an old T-shirt into a rag. It can mean tailoring, reconstructing, embellishing, dyeing, patching, embroidering or completely reimagining something you already own.
Basically: the piece isn't finished just because you are finished with it.
Fashion Has a Waste Problem
Of course, there is a bigger reason this conversation matters.
Fashion produces an enormous amount of waste. UNEP estimates that the textile industry generates around 92 million tonnes of textile waste every year, while clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2015 and the length of time garments are used fell by 36 percent. The organization also estimates that fashion and textiles account for around 2 – 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Those numbers are hard to wrap your head around, but the everyday version is much easier to understand.
It's the bag of clothes waiting to be dropped off somewhere.It's the dress you've worn twice… It's the jeans that need a little fixing… It's the shirt you stopped wearing because the collar is a little loose.
Before something becomes waste, there is usually a moment where we get to decide whether it still has another chapter.
And honestly, we think that can be quite fun.
The Stephen Wilson School of Second Chances
This is where we think art gives us a really interesting way to look at upcycling.
Take Stephen Wilson for example!
This is where we think art gives us a really interesting way to look at upcycling.
Take Stephen Wilson for example!
Wilson's work begins with materials that have already had another life: luxury bags, boxes, silk scarves, handbags and even album sleeves. He deconstructs them and turns them into canvases, layering embroidery, appliqué and other details to create completely new artworks.
And the result is pretty extraordinary.
You look at one of his pieces and forget that the material underneath was once a box or a handbag. It has been transformed so thoroughly that the original object becomes part of the masterpiece!
That's what we find so exciting about upcycling.
You don't always need new material to make something new. Sometimes you just need a new idea.
And if you've seen the new Stephen Wilson pieces at Locale, this is exactly the kind of thinking they invite. You're looking at something beautiful, but you're also looking at the possibilities hidden inside materials that could easily have been discarded.
We Have a Little of That Magic Here, Too
There is something especially lovely about seeing this kind of creative practice coming from Jamaica too.
We are such resourceful people! Surrounded by a community who know how to make something out of what they have. We mend, alter, customize, reuse, pass things down and find another purpose for things that were supposedly finished.
Upcycling might be a contemporary fashion word, but the instinct behind it feels much older.
Okay, So What Are You Going to Do With That Old Dress?
You don't have to be an artist or know how to sew to start (this is #1 excuse)!
You just have to look at something in your closet and ask a slightly different question: what could this become?
Cut it.Turn an old maxi dress into a mini or a skirt. Turn a t-shirt into a halter top.
Dye it.Give a faded piece an entirely new colour.
Embellish it.Add embroidery, beads, sequins, patches or even a little hand-painted detail.
Tailor it.Change the shape. Take in the waist. Shorten the hem. Remove the sleeves.
Combine it.Two pieces you never wear separately might make one very good piece together.
Accessorise it differently.Sometimes the clothes don't need changing at all. A different belt, scarf, brooch, necklace or styling trick can make an old favourite feel completely new. And if you really don't know what to do with it, find someone who does. A good tailor, seamstress or creative friend can see possibilities you might not.
Keep the Good Stuff Going
At Locale, we think there is something quite satisfying about wearing something you have had for years and finding a way to love it again.
Clothes are meant to be worn. Fashion is supposed to be creative. We don't need to stop buying beautiful things. But we can become a little more curious and cautious about what we already have.
The most important part of upcycling is that you made something yours again.
And who knows? That forgotten dress at the back of your closet might just be waiting for its second act.
Give it a chance. You might surprise yourself!
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