Upcycled fashion is the buzz word these days. The term fashion is no longer confined to mere flaunting of the latest trends; but “Going Green” is fast catching the imagination of the people. Incorporating the word sustainability in their creative pursuit is the new mantra of this generation of designers. Since upcycling allows them to innovate with the unwanted, designers have found a way to make trash appealing and working towards sustainable fashion. “My creativity should benefit me and not harm anyone or anything,” says Payal Jaggi, a stylist and designer, who regulates her brand under the name “Kinche” to promote eco-friendly clothing. Her collection boasts of vintage Kantha jackets that have been up cycled from 30-40 years old quilts and are one of its kind.
Amit Aggarwal, tagged as the best young designer by the Marie Claire India and Elle India, launched his up cycle clothing brand AM.IT and joined the group of green fashionistas in 2012. “For years, ever since fast fashion has arrived, we are facing a lot of waste generation from manufacturing units and rejected clothes by people that eventually accumulates as dumps. That’s where the idea of upcycling comes in. I enjoy the sensitivity it takes to make something fresh out of things which were once considered waste. What I have enjoyed is giving a new identity to the no longer usable products.”
Talking about his latest a la mode collection, he says: “In our ready to wear line, AM.IT’s spring summer 2016 collection, we started using waste polythene bags sourced from rag pickers and vendors in Sadar Bazaar that were hand cut and embroidered onto our garments. Also, pre-owned clothing picked up from various markets in Delhi was utilised in addition to the plastic. The material, which was going to get dumped into landfills, was designed into high fashion for our brand.”
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On one hand, the ideology of upcycling deals with the conscious approach towards humanity and environment, while for many other designers it is about respecting the sentiments and valuing the nostalgic association with an apparel or an object.
Designer Aneeth Arora’s “Pero Up cycle” believes in keeping alive memories of discarded outfits. “The Pero Upcycle service was conceived to take care of clothes we bought once with a lot of passion but somehow could not find a way to wear them again, all with our hand-stitched technique, special fabrics and personalised attention. The jacket you bought with your first salary, the wedding dress that you cannot seem to find a reason to wear again, the sari your grandmother passed on to you on your graduation, that impulse to buy at a flea market that does not seem as interesting anymore. Péro loves how clothes connect with us on occasions and how they have million stories to tell and we would like those memories and stories to find a new chapter in your life, and become heirloom for generations,” says Aneeth Arora, the owner of this label.
Aneeth takes inspiration from the effortlessly stylish dressing styles of the local people. “It is always fascinating to see how they mend the defective pieces to bring out a new style every time instead of throwing it away as a waste,” she adds. Meanwhile, designer Paromita Banerjee considers her conglomeration of upcycled clothing as way of revealing a tale. For her, “It is too good to waste and throw away”. This concept is termed as “Boro” in Japanese and has a collection under the same name.
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“Our Boro celebrated this patch-working and quilting in smart separates like Kimono jackets, waistcoat, shirt dresses, etc. We came back with Boro Part II in 2014 again at Fall/Winter where we created a wider range of upcycled clothing incorporating the Bengali laal-paar / temple border fabrics, khadi, bagh printed textiles and quilting,” she says.
On the possibility of green and up cycled fashion getting included in the mainstream trends, Paromita says: “It is slowly becoming the most natural extension of our wardrobe since people are slowly waking up to the idea of sustainable fashion. Now the client who wears upcycled fabrics and products understands the core idea that goes behind the product and therefore embraces the moreover. Nowadays, each upcycled product range is well researched and ideated from drawing board to implementation.”
Amit does not forget to mention that the products are handcrafted skilfully and hence are durable and indeed beautiful. Breaking the wrong and pre-conceived notion that the upcycled dresses de-glamourises the look, Aneeth Arora calls it a trendy concept. “Being conscious towards environment, is glamorous in itself,” she observes. Whereas Paromita feels that glamour is directly proportional to practicality and functionality. A responsible fashion is what adds to the glamour quotient.
All this is in consonance with the emerging trend as people are fast abandoning polyesters, showing a red flag to the never ending shopping cravings and thereby supporting responsible fashion that means upcycling the already existing pieces in their wardrobe. It is all about creating value out of the waste.
Why to settle for anything less when you have multitudinous options to go distinctive, creative and more expressive through upcycling. Since upcycling allows one to innovate with the unwanted and trash, designers and stylists have found it appealing to experiment more with this notion of sustainability.