Upcycling is the practice of creating a useable product from waste or unwanted items or adapting an existing product in some way to add value.

There are very important environmental benefits of upcycling. One of the benefits is minimising the volume of discarded materials, which means that the waste, that is being sent to landfills each year, will be reduced. Also, with upcycling there is no need for production to use new or raw materials, which means that chemicals and greenhouse gas emissions will reduce and overall it will conserve global resources.

Nowadays upcycled garments are becoming more and more popular in the contemporary fashion industry and I want to talk about some of them.

Urban Renewal- Urban Outfitters have introduced their very own ypcyled range. The fate of deadstock and surplus materials, meaning the products that companies make but aren’t able to sell, normally ends up in landfills. But the team at Urban Renewal revamp them. Because of that, each piece is created in very limited numbers.

ASOS Reclaimed Vintage- ASOS has been making moves making their clothes more ethical, but they have taken it a step further with their ASOS Reclaimed line. They are searching for authentic vintage clothing and rework and update them into modern designs.

Beyond Retro- This is a vintage retailer. They found creative solution for the pieces that don’t sell. They launched an upcycled label made only from secondhand fabrics. After collecting unwanted clothes, the company then redesigns the pieces based on fashion forecasts, upcycling them for seasons to come.

Re/Done- This is a vintage brand, which focuses mainly on denim. They take vintage denim apart and repurpose it into new jeans. The pieces are made using water-conserving methods without the use of harsh chemicals.