2015...a new year...
let's start it as...
"renew" year.
Recycle or Upcycle = Renew...in some shape or form.
So, what's the difference between "re" and "up" cycling?
Apparently recycling became considered "down-cycling" because the items of the "worthless" product are smashed apart. (Is that always the case?)
Upcycling is when the old product is given more value, not less. You convert things, thought to be of no value any more, into a new product, which is then considered of better quality. It should reduce the use of new raw materials when creating new products, which will reduce energy usage, air pollution, water pollution and green house gas emissions.
There are some fantastic upcycling creations going on in the design world. (I still think of it as "creative recycling" as much as anything.)
Issey Miyake, for example, wanted to find a way to utilise the "unwanted" paper by product of his wonderful Pleats Please label.
So, a designer called Oki Sato worked with the masses of pleated paper used to create these fabulous garments, and came up with .........
a "cabbage chair".
The idea is that the chair is shipped as one compacted roll, and the owner cuts it open and peels it back themselves. The chair has no internal structure and is assembled without nails or screws.
Another interesting designer working within the "recycling/upcycling" theme, is Tejo Remy. He uses reclaimed materials to create sustainable and witty creations which serve as an observance on overproduction and consumerism. For example:
 |
| Chest of Drawers "You Can't Lay Down Your Memories" |
 |
| Rag Chair |
The recycled drawers are held together by a cinch strap. The rag chair is built out of layered rags and the idea is, it can be added to as the owner wishes.
Check out this web site. http://inbm.nl/en/27/
It provides great information concerning the motivation and inspiration for the chest of drawers.
The world of clothing design is also full of creative upcycling ideas.
It's like, where to start first!
What about Maison Martin Margiela, 'cos he often works with reclaimed materials. His Artisinal Atelier line re/upcycles old clothing, fabrics, accessories and objects into cool handmade products. Like these garments....
 |
| A 2001 glove vest and a 2006 belt jacket |
Love the vest on a body, fits like a ......!
This is the label that accommodates the Artisinal Atelier line. The basic mission statement is "reuse, recycle and reinvent"
Check out this web site if you want some more info about this line
http://www.anothermag.com/current/view/3751/Exclusive_The_Maison_Martin_Margiela_Atelier_during_Coutureand this video is quite cool as well...it'll give you an insight into the wonderful construction that goes into the collections
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2k_SEB7Gro
If you want, you could have a go at making your own Maison Martin Margiela upcycled sweater! He generously offered the opportunity for people to do so. I included this in my 2nd blog last year, but this is a much clearer version. So, follow the instructions and transform 8 pair of socks into a cool sweater!
And, here's one of MMM's original sock sweaters.
Another group that focus on "reclaiming old garments" is Junky Styling. Annika Sanders and Kerry Seager established the business in 1997. They deconstruct worn clothing and rebuild it into "new" one-off garments. I like their concept of offering a "wardrobe surgery", which is described as a bespoke service working with customers own garments and transforming them into something fresh. I see a cool CdG element to some of their creations. Like this reworked raincoat for instance,
and this suit with the inside out look, Rei's worked with this concept a few times, and the tartan, it's also a bit of CdG, and Vivienne W.
Annika Sanders and Kerry Seager wrote a cool book titled 'Junky Styling, Wardrobe Surgery'.
It contains all sorts of info and piccies re the various collections they have created, and there are some great step by steps for some of their up-cycled creations, like a fly top.
Check this website 'cos it might have clearer instructions to read, if you want to give it a go.
And this is a cool youtube site to catch one of the Junky ladies demonstrating the transformation of a rather drab polo neck jumper. She's great.
A designer called Shannon Glasheen, is also passionate about reducing waste in the fashion industry. She is very good at de & re-constructing items of "tired" clothing. (I present this sheet to students to encourage awareness of sustainability. I photocopied this sheet years ago and didn't record the full source at the time, I'm sorry to say. I think it was a book called "Fashion Design Essentials".) The reworking of 3 separate garments has worked really well don't you think, there's a good design eye at work there.
Another designer who is also good at this is Annegret Hielscher...look what she's done with a tartan skirt and a trench coat.
And there is always the reworking of t-shirt knit fabric, it's a popular concept for reworking a product. Knit it again! (Echoes of Zoe in 2013, with her "Homeless" project, see last year's blog no. 11)
and I also love the concept of blending garments with garments
again, I think it's similar to a CdG conceptualist style of design,
and, this is a bit of fun...got lotsa old tea towels? Well, try this, dare ya!
 |
| A fab shirt dress and a quite delightful corset (courtesy Shona Heath & Tim Walker. I wrote about their cool work in my "Storytime" blog, at the end of last year) |
I think Comme des Garcons often works with a concept of reclaiming garments/fabrics.
In the F/W RTW 2009 collection, titled "Wonderland", RK produced garments from pieces of jackets. sweaters & parts of blankets. Layering was a major feature in this collection, coats superimposed on larger coats and khaki fatigues were also included. CdG may not have actually reclaimed used garment items, but the collection can certainly inspire it.
Junky Styling created a cool coat by up-cycling and re-claiming a blanket, a men's suit and ribbing. Looks very cosy doesn't it.
Another CdG collection, where I think up-cycling is a connected concept, is the 2011 F/W RTW one. This collection was explained as "Hybrid Fashion". It is the way RK uses vintage silk scarves for ruched dresses that rings the re/up-cycling bell. If you have got some fabric remnants, then you have what is required for a far-out dress. Look at this one for example, all sorts of fabric scraps or old sweatshirts could go into this!
Or an interesting top, and if you want a sleeve, strap one on.
Here's my take on the reclaimed scarf top
 |
| There is a similarity between this dress and the scarf dress above. I can see lots of old sweatshirts going into this one. This is from CdG's RTW A/W 2014. |
One more CdG collection which conjures up the idea of reusing fabrics/ scraps etc, is the S/S 2013 RTW. The theme is "Crushing", and appears to use scraps and bits of previously constructed toiles. I liked Sarah Mower's suggestion , "Maybe Kawakubo glanced at a chaotic pile of half-completed or rejected lapels, sleeve shapes, shoulder pads, ragged canvas offcuts and saw beauty in it". (In my 7th blog last year I posted a black skirt I made which was inspired by this collection).
Graham Hudson, the British artist, was involved in the creation of the cool crowns the models wore.
He works with found materials, like upturned paint cans, wing mirrors, aluminium food packaging, brass brackets and broken toy cars. Aren't they fabulous. Rei has always included fascinating head wear with her collections.
This cool head wear concept reminds me of one of the costumes designed and constructed for the Stage Challenge we entered in 2012. Our entry was themed around 'caring for our environment'. I loved this particular costume, "rubbish" bag and the cool 'used coffee cup & other stuff' hat set it off perfectly.
'Sustainability' in Clothing/Fashion Design is quite hot at the moment. There are a huge number of designers operating in this field. Two "names" that have taken my eye recently are: Dr Noki: House of Sustainability and Andrea Crews: Reinterpreting Second-Hand.
Noki (a play on the word Ikon) is interesting. From what I can gather, he experiments with cool customisation. He likes to challenge the wearer and the viewer by taking recognisable iconography and rearranging the message through cutting, stitching and embellishment.
Check this link for a workshop he ran. Interesting pictures..and it's the good old reknit a knit t-shirt technique.
What's with the mask you may ask. It's the SOB (Suffocation Of Branding) mask and is a part of Noki's silhouette.
And watch this YouTube link for a rather cool view of his work.
Andrea Crews is a Paris-based creative collective. They create projects based on the use and reinterpretation of second hand garments. It sounds wonderfully creative, as they express their vision in workshops, performances, fashion shows and sales. I like their idea of working with others to bring a vision about fabric to the world.
Try this link for info about them. Click on 'About' and it should be in English. Their work may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I don't think that would bother them.
I like the concept of collectives working/creating together, that idea of a shared vision of what individuals are hoping to achieve. A group of 4 American women who are in this league is, "Saviour Scraps". The name is an allusion to the group's preoccupation with fabric (my thing exactly!) Four women, so it is also the idea of the traditionally feminine aesthetic of craft (which some people can still be rather dismissive of!)
Anyway, these cool creative women create exciting spaces out of scraps of unwanted fabric. They turn the fabric scraps into fantastical installations which the public can interact with. I'm not sure where the group is at today, but they have worked on some very fun creations. I do hope they are still operating, but their web site is no longer active.
Here are some of my own creations that have reclaimed bits and pieces from other garments or scraps of fabric. CdG inspired. Great use of left overs. Fun to wear. Some people have trouble with the mixing of patterns...I would have, once upon a time, but CdG has released me from that "fashion" hang up!
This is an example where I have upcycled a pair of Issey Miyake low crotch pants. I unpicked them, and with a bit of re-cutting & re-sewing here & there, "et voila", a summer sarong.
and here, I took the top created from this pattern, and re-cut it to create a very CdG style shirt. Great fun.
Now, I want to go back to that phrase, "chaotic pile".....
piles of clothes......
piles of unwanted clothes...
that end up somewhere else in the world.
Picture piles of clothes....many piles of clothes...
Where do they go?
This web site will give you an insight into where some of those many piles of clothes go. It's most interesting.
And another pile of clothes, same thing, clothes no longer wanted, but this time they are used in an exhibition.
This is a Mark Borthwick photograph. He is a British photographer, now living in Brooklyn, New York. I like his somewhat minimal, personal style, especially in the fashion shots. He presented a book, 'All Events Are Even', which is based upon a pile of used clothes, with all sorts of people rummaging in the pile and dressing up. It's a lot of creative fun. Mark Borthwick presented his exhibition in the Alleged Galleries, which was owned and directed by Aaron Rose. Rose writes a really interesting comment called 'Keep it Pretend' in the book. It's great, as it's all about gaining back that wonderful lack of inhibition we all possessed in our childhood....hence the dressing up. Remember the hours of fun pretending, that were to be found playing with a dress-ups box!
This concept reminds me of a fabulous afternoon I experienced with the Yr 9's at Bexleyheath School, Kent. A wonderful group of women came to the school with a truck load of unwanted clothing. They spread all clothes out in piles around the hall, and the Yr 9's were encouraged to create new creations. It was fantastic, exhausting, but fantastic. I am not 100% sure, but I think this might have been the group. www.traid.org.uk
Traid is a wonderful charity which works to stop clothes from being thrown away. If you go onto their site, and click on 'Education, Secondary School', you'll see the various creative workshops and classroom activities they run, with the aim to inspire and empower every child & young person taking part to make more sustainable choices, while gaining knowledge, new skills and confidence. You can also download some great lesson plans, if you are keen on raising students awareness concerning this important issue.
When the Yr 9 activity was going down in the hall, I came across a rather cool men's suit jacket, and I cut off the sleeves
and ended up creating this..
a cool CdG inspired coat garment, which is created from fabric purchased in New York, leftover scraps and ribbon, plus the suit sleeves.
While researching for this blog I came happened to come across these "umbrella skirts"...
and it inspired me to post the one I created.
My fabulous Vincent van Gogh umbrella died, so I made it into a skirt....and lovely Tessa is modelling it as a dress.
Now, I want to conclude with some suggestions for a good life from the wonderful Kevin McCloud. He makes good sense to me because I take his suggestions on board regarding my own craft.
It's about all of us playing our part in trying to reduce waste in our world.