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by Carley Lake |
Last Updated: May 29, 2020 
The fashion industry has a waste problem. Here are some not-so-fun-facts before we dive into upcycled clothing and recycled clothing brands:
- We have broke supply chains. Around 35% of materials in the supply chain end up as waste. (1)
- We over-consume. The world now consumes about 80 billion new pieces of clothing every year. This is 400% more than the amount we consumed just two decades ago, despite only ~50% population growth. (2)
- We throw a lot of our clothes away. More garments are bought and discarded than ever—57% of these go to landfill. In the US, that means 11.9 million tons of textile waste a year. (3,4)
Innovative designers are taking this waste problem on. They transform old airplane seat covers, deadstock fabrics, donated items, and even items found in their local dumpster into one-of-a-kind pieces.
Want to support small businesses but don’t want to contribute to creating more waste? Check out these upcycled clothing and recycled clothing brands.
And exciting news! We’re creating a tool where you can easily connect with top upcyclers to turn your old stuff into one-of-a-kind pieces. Interested? See below and join the waitlist. We plan to launch in January 2021!
Meet the Top Upcycled Clothing and Recycled Clothing Brands
ANEKDOT
Berlin-based upcycled clothing and recycled clothing brand Anekdot makes underwear and lingerie using materials sourced from production leftovers, end of lines, off-cuts, deadstock, and vintage trimmings. The team even hunts down fabrics from factories that are closing down, makes surpluses, production errors or miscalculations. Female makers in Berlin and Poland make the items.
Items: Underwear sets, bras, panties, robes, swimwear
Location: Germany, ships internationally
Price: $$$, sets are around €115
ANTIFORM
All of the reclaimed materials and workmanship involved in this upcycled clothing and recycled clothing brand’s production is sourced within the UK. In addition, you can purchase a unique ANTIFORM x YOU dress. Send in a panel of your own fabric and then choose the outer fabrics, trims, and waistband of the dress from the brand’s library of reclaimed heritage and UK-made fabrics.
Items: Dresses, tops, skirts, pants, leggings, purses, hats
Location: UK, ships internationally
Price: $$, dresses are around £90
BEYOND RETRO REWORK
Each piece of Beyond Retro Reworked is 100% unique, made from recycled clothing. The upcycled clothing brand reworks brands like Disney, Adidas, and Nike. The brand starts with its raw material reserve, saving 600,000 garments from landfills. “Style that goes above and beyond, forecast a year in advance – yet made with the fabric of years past.”
Items: Jeans, jackets, shirts, sweatshirts, joggers, dresses, bags.
Location: UK and Sweden, ships internationally
Price: $$,dresses are around £90
CHRISTY DAWN
Local artisans make every Christy Dawn piece in Downtown Los Angeles, sewn with longevity in mind. The recycled clothing brand uses deadstock fabrics to minimize its environmental footprint. Instead of creating thousands of garments at a time, the brand sews a limited number of pieces for each look, numbering every dress they make.
Items: Dresses, coats, jumpsuits, sweaters, pants
Location: US, ships internationally
Price: $$$, dresses are around $200
COZY FLOOR COVERZ
The brand makes scrap rugs, tapestries, pillows and pet toys out of discarded garments. Born out of hatred for throwaway fashion and a desire to give discarded textiles another chance, all of the clothing in the early work was from the founder’s local mall dumpster. In addition, the founder donates 30% of profits to Post Landfill Action Network, an organization fighting waste on college campuses.
Items: Rugs, pillows, tapestries, pet toys
Location: US, ships internationally
Price: $, average rug is $40
DURGA UNIVERSE
Thanks to upcycling from preloved garments, collaboration with up-coming international artists, and tribal artisans, this upcycled clothing brand offers one-of-a-kind fashion clothing. The brand makes long coats, dresses, and even workout gear. One of my favorite looks is a coat called “Tibetan Goddess TARA”. Artist Nora Frosti of Sweden hand painted this piece.
Items: Dresses, jackets, yoga outfits
Location: Netherlands, ships internationally
Price: $$-$$$, yoga pants for €120.00, dresses vary
FADE OUT LABEL
FADE OUT Label is a unisex upcycled clothing and recycled clothing brand made from deconstructed vintage. The label embodies a “dump-to-hanger ethos” and celebrates responsible recycling of materials and innovative designs. The label believes in the sustainability of both material and actual production. The recycled clothing brand also has a direct relationship with customers and allows custom- tailoring and made-to-measure garments.
Items: Jackets, tops, dresses, pants, overalls, skirts, bags, hats
Location: Germany, ships internationally
Price: $$$-$$$$, jackets are around €200 – €400
FOUNTAINHEAD NYC
Fountainhead NYC redesigns vintage apparel into surrealistic and ultimately joyous pieces of clothing with a “puntastic approach!”. The pieces are created to evoke a sense of joy, consciousness, and freedom of expression. Its ethics are a response to a global way of producing, distributing, disposing of fashion, and lack of unique expression.
Items: Dresses, shirts, jackets, blouses
Location: NYC, ships internationally on Depop
Price: $$, items range from $75 to $280
GARBAGS
To solve a problem, you first have to admit you have one. In Portugal, only 20% of the total waste produced is recycled. Founder Tânia Anselmo wanted to turn this problem into a business opportunity. She created Garbags to inspire people to think about the waste they create in everyday life and to see it in a different light. She and her team make bags and accessories made from toothpaste tubes, coffee packaging, pet food packages, chip bags, and more.
Items: Bags, laptop cases, notebooks pens
Location: Portugal, ships internationally
Price: $$, backpacks are €95
GENIA EVELINA
Genia Evelina is a sustainable women’s ready-to-wear
Items: tops, dresses, jackets, skirts, pants
Location: Canada, ships internationally
Prices: $$$, range from $150 to $500
INSECTA SHOES
Insecta is the brainchild of two friends who had the idea of transforming vintage clothing into shoes. Today, the brand uses recycled plastic bottles, recycled cotton, recycled rubber, upcycled vintage clothing, deadstock fabrics, and production waste.
Items: Shoes
Location: Canada, made in Brazil, ships internationally
Price: $$, shoes are around $135
LARA INTIMATES
The brand believes all women deserve to own perfectly fitting, sustainable bras. Lara Intimates achieves this with a range of bras sizes 26A-36I, made from responsibly sourced deadstock fabric. Local, eco-friendly suppliers make all elastics, garment labels, and packaging. The brand also saves and shreds its cuttings so that they can be used to create new Lara products, as well as giving gentle worn, slightly imperfect items a second chance at love as part of its Factory Seconds range.
Items: Bras, panties
Location: UK, ships internationally
Price: $$, bras are around £50
LOOPTWORKS
Looptworks is a Portland, Oregon based business that re-purposes and upcycles abandoned, pre-consumer, and post-consumer materials like kiteboarding kite material, old airline seat covers, and motorcycle jacket leather into limited edition products. All the materials used to create Looptworks products at one time were headed to the landfill. Their long term goal is to work towards closed-loop (Loopt) solutions in manufacturing.
Items: Backpacks, laptop cases, shirts
Location: US, ships internationally
Price: $$-$$$, leather duffle bags are around $320, backpacks are around $180
MAHLA CLOTHING
Mahla Clothing is an independent slow fashion upcycled clothing and recycled clothing brand based in Copenhagen, Denmark. The brand is inspired by dark, cold winters and bright, endless summer nights of the North, and city lights. Mahla’s products are made from carefully selected sustainable materials, a combination of organic, natural fabrics, recycled fabrics, and upcycled materials.
Items: Dresses, shirts, blouses, bags, accessories
Location: Denmark, ships internationally
Prices: $$-$$$, range from $50 to $300
MAGNAFIED
Magnafied Clogs and Sandals are handmade in Denmark using unique, limited, quality fabrics on the uppers for a cool and different look. The fabric is vintage or deadstock fabrics that the brand finds in places like Los Angeles, East Germany, Denmark, and Japan. All shoes are handmade and made-to-order. This reduces unnecessary stock and possible waste.
Items: Clogs, sandals
Location: Denmark, ships internationally
Price: $$-$$$, clogs are around 1.500,00 DKK ($217)
MARGARET BURTON
Margaret Burton aims to create a memorable, one-of-a-kind product out of the fabrics others may just throw away. She creates items from what people donate. In addition to creating her items out of old clothes, she partners with non-profits around the world. She empowers individuals to spark change in their own communities. She teaches them why it is important to take care of clothes, keep them for years, and she gives them the skills to repair them if they get damaged. For more information, visit the Empower page.
Items: Jackets, shirts, dresses, pants
Location: US, ships internationally
Price: $$$ – $$$$$, shirts start at $149, with suit made out of Lebron James jerseys for $2,5000
MIA VESPER
Mia Vesper is a New York-based designer who generated buzz for her one-of-a-kind leather tapestry moto jackets. She staged a guerilla-style presentation outside of the Marc Jacobs show venue, with her friends wearing her designs, according to Nylon Magazine. The brand uses vintage Italian wedding blankets from the 1960s, old shoemaker textiles, and upholstery fabrics for her designs. She recently launched her first ready-to-wear collective which uses new, deadstock, and vintage fabrics.
Items: Dresses, jackets, shorts, pants, skirts
Location: US, ships internationally
Price: $$$$ – $$$$$, dresses from $500 to $1,500 in ready to wear, jackets in tapestry collection around $3,400
OSOM BRAND
Osom Brand’s products are made using upcycled yarns from discarded garments. This reduces textile waste from going to landfill and the need for virgin fibers. The upcycled clothing brand also uses zero water or dyes in the process of making their yarns. Having started with socks, Osom will soon move into shirts and towels.
Items: Socks, towels and shirts coming soon
Location: United States, no international shipping
Price: $$, socks are around $16
PATAGONIA’S RECRAFTED COLLECTION
Patagonia launched its Worn Wear program to extend the life of its gear so we can all cut down on consumption and get more use out of stuff we already own. You can send in your items and also buy used on its site. The ReCrafted Collection of WornWear is made up of one-of-a-kind pieces, sewn from different materials from these
Items: Vests, jackets, bags, sweaters, shirts
Location: US, ships internationally
Price: $$-$$$ – jackets around $250 – $330
PRELOVED
Preloved is an eco-friendly upcycled clothing and recycled clothing brand based in Toronto, Canada founded more than 2 decades ago. The brand makes casual wear from deadstock materials. Items are all designed and made in Canada.
Items: Sweatshirts, jumpsuits, shirts, joggers, dresses
Location: Canada, ships internationally
Price: $$, sweatshirts are around $79
THE R COLLECTIVE
The R Collective is a social impact upcycled clothing and recycled clothing brand with a mission to create beautiful clothes using rescued textile waste sourced from
Items: Dresses, tops, skirts, jumpsuits, coats, jackets
Location: Hong Kong, ships internationally
Price: $$-$$$, dresses range from around $200 – $400
RÆBURN’S RÆMADE PIECES
Designer Christopher Raeburn reworks surplus fabrics and garments to create distinctive and functional pieces for his RÆMADE pieces. Fabrics include old, parachutes 1950’s Royal Air Force silk escape maps of Sweden, Russian naval blankets, and more.
Items: Blouses, dresses, shirts, pants, skirts
Location: UK, ships internationally
Price: $$$-$$$$, range from €195 to €1725
READORN JEWELRY
ReAdorn is a maker of sustainable jewelry with a special focus on waste reduction. The brand provides a place for you to send your broken or unwanted jewelry and will upcycle them into new designs.
Items: Necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings
Location: UK, ships internationally
Price: Average price is £50
RE/DONE
RE/DONE jeans are a celebration of Levi’s jean’s past and a continuation of the jean’s story. The brand takes the vintage denim apart at the seams, repurposing it as the fabric of new jeans. All jeans are remade in Downtown Los Angeles using water-conserving methods and no harsh chemicals. Quantities are limited since each pair is handpicked, hand-cut, and one-of-a-kind.
Items: Jeans, shirts, shorts
Location: US and the Netherlands, ships internationally
Price: Dependent on designer, $$-$$$
THE RENEWAL WORKSHOP
The company helps to provide circular solutions for brands. Its renewal system takes discarded apparel and textiles and turns them into renewed products. The Renewal collects data and gives it back to brand partners to help them improve the production of future products. Brand partners include Mara Hoffman, Lo & Sons, and Eagle Creek.
Items: Jackets, dresses, shirts, pants, swimwear, bags
Location: US and the Netherlands, ships internationally
Price: Dependent on designer, $$-$$$
RENTRAYAGE
After over 2 decades of working in fashion/retail for both large and small brands, Erin Beatty wanted to challenge what she knew and how we’ve done things. Her first Rentrayage collection consists of one-of-a-kind pieces made entirely from unwanted vintage, offering new life to the things we leave behind.
Items: Dresses, shirts, jeans
Location: US, no international shipping
Price: $$$-$$$$, dresses are over $1,000, shirts are around $150
THE SERIES NY
Each bright and colorful piece in THE SERIES NY is made entirely of existing and renewed materials. According to the brand, the clothes are to be styled and worn during all seasons. The clothes do not follow or subscribe to fleeting trends. The one-of-a-kind garments are created in only a few vintage-inspired silhouettes that are meant to last and be worn again and again. Each piece is also created for all beings. “There is no womenswear or menswear. There is humanswear.”
Items: Tops, puffer jackets, jeans
Location: US, ships internationally
Price: $$$, puffers are $300, shirts around $80 – $124
SUAVE KENYA
Suave Kenya sources its material from Gikomba, the largest open-air flea market in East Africa. The brand usually chooses denim to use for its bags and totes but they are constantly experimenting with an array of fabrics. From silk shirts to leather jackets, if it’s interesting enough, they’ll find a use for it.
Items: Messenger bags, totes, backpacks
Location: Kenya, ships internationally
Price: $$, backpacks are $50 – $60
TOKYO KALEIDOSCOPE
Tokyo Kaleidoscope is an eclectic recycled clothing and upcycled clothing brand currently based in Tokyo, Japan. The founder reconstructs the garments from traditional vintage kimonos. She uses the original shape & length of the kimono panels and crafts them into modern-day wear. To purchase items you will need to send an email to the brand. TK also makes custom items.
Items: Dresses, playsuits
Location: Japan, ships internationally
Price: Custom items are around $500
TRMTAB
TRMTAB makes its bags from upcycled leather scraps that combine to create a unique blend of color shades and textures, giving each product in the collection its own personality. With age and use, the leather develops a distressed look and rich patina.
Items: Bags, wallets, laptop cases
Location: United States, ships internationally
Price: $$, bags are $100 – $189
VINTAGE STOCK RESERVE
Vintage Stock Reserve is a company that revolves around the style and culture of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, inspired by Vintage Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Nautica, and Levi’s. They specialize in vintage custom garments, created by embellishing vintage products with their own twist and style.
Items: Shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, button downs
Location: US, ships internationally to the UK, Canada, and Australia
Price: $$, shirts for around $100
THE VINTAGE TWIN
The recycled clothing and upcycled clothing brand hand picks and rework “the most badass, relevant and clean collection of vintage on earth.” You can take their 90-second styling quiz and a stylist will email you with photos of some of their items that will match your taste.
Items: iTe-dye sweatshirts, tees, button downs, dresses, sweaters
Location: US, ships internationally
Price: Dresses start at $48 – $250, sweatshirts $45 – $95
ZERO WASTE DANIEL
Zero Waste Daniel was my gateway into the zero waste and upcycling design world. He is a New York-based clothing designer and zero-waste lifestyle pioneer. He uses pre-consumer waste sourced from New York City’s garment industry. In addition, he uses other hard-to-recycle materials to create his line of genderless clothing and accessories.
Items: Sweatshirts, joggers jackets, shirts, patches
Location: US, ships internationally
Price: $$, joggers are around $89
And exciting news! We’re creating a tool where you can easily connect with top upcyclers to turn your old stuff into one-of-a-kind pieces. Interested? See below and join the waitlist. We plan to launch in January 2021!
Lastly, to learn more about the power of upcycling, new circular solutions, and how you can help, check out the Upcycle Foundation.
Fact sources: 1. Global Fashion Agenda and The Boston Consulting Group (2017) Pulse of the Fashion Industry 2. Greenpeace, 3. Global Fashion Agenda and The Boston Consulting Group (2017) Pulse of the Fashion Industry 4. The New York Times/US Environmental Protection Agency
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