Books By Style

Fashion is a beautiful industry filled with stunning garments and glamorous fabrics that often end up in a landfill. Often consumers don’t think about what happens to their products after they dispose of them or even understand what happens after recycling. Most consumers don’t know that the fashion industry accounts for 92 million tonnes of waste in landfills annually. The average US consumer throws away 81.5 pounds of clothes per year, with the entire country wasting nearly 85% of all textiles.

Repurposing these materials instead of trashing them will significantly reduce waste and carbon emissions while extending the life of the textiles. Urban Outfitters has helped promote upcycling through their Urban Renewal program, which remakes old materials and discarded fabrics into stunning, unique pieces. Each piece is created using handcrafted dye techniques and paint splatter treatments to create a one-of-a-kind, refreshed new look. The materials are all sourced sustainably from remnant fabrics and upcycling. Whether the clothes are sold in their original vintage glory or remade into something new, they can find a new life in any closet.

The renewal program has collaborated with sustainable fashion designers like Tessa Thompson and her Grandmother, Fay. Their brand, Tessa Fay, promotes sustainability and craftsmanship through handcrafted products sourced from either vintage or deadstock upholstery and drapery fabrics. The stunning collection features a one-of-a-kind vintage reversible corset with lace-up detailing at the back. Perfect for someone looking for clothes with multiple ways to wear them or anyone who wants to add a unique statement piece to their wardrobe. The top is the last piece you can buy from the Tessa Fay collaboration, sold exclusively at Urban Outfitters.

Repurposing the vintage materials by handcrafting them into a corset top not only extended the life of the fabric but improved it with its’ new versatility. Consumers with varying aesthetics can find a way to style this top to create many different bold, unique looks. Buying clothes you can style in multiple ways or finding new ways to style old clothes can help extend the life of textiles, preventing more waste from entering landfills. The clothes created from upcycling are one-of-a-kind, which allows consumers to create stunning, unique looks.

Readers and consumers looking to be more conscientious about what clothes and items they consume should be mindful of where they buy from and how these brands source their materials. Everyone should also consider what happens to their clothes after they leave them in donation bins. Unfortunately, they often end up in landfills. Try to research programs to donate them to, whether it’s the local churches and homeless shelters or brands like H&M. Make sure your choice supports the closed-loop fashion system, which means no clothing or materials get wasted; it’s either re-worn, reused, or recycled.