Global Action Through Fashion reminds the world that they indeed can reuse, repurpose, up-cycle and recycle. That is something you are unlikely to hear from a for-profit company interested in their bottom line. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the 2.5 billion pounds of postconsumer textile waste in the U.S. represents 10 pounds for every person, most of which goes into landfills. The idea that dressing ethically is not only about conscientious buying but also about combining waste and creativity to make new things served as the inspiration for our second project on June 24, 2010.
Everyone owns t-shirts, usually many. They are staple items, worn as undergarments, given as gifts at events, and used to convey messages ranging from what musicians one likes to messages advocating ethical fashion choices. The social-environmental statistics on t-shirts alone are shocking. It takes about a third of a pound of pesticides and fertilizers and up to 10,000 liters of water to produce just the cotton to manufacture a single t-shirt. This is not even taking into account the chemicals and water poured into the dyeing and finishing process, the carbon footprint of shipping that garment around the world, the human labor required to sew it together, and the impact of all those chemicals on the people along the production line. An overwhelming 1.2 million brand new t-shirts sell every day in the U.S. alone.
At Reconstruct, Reincarnate and Re-cool your T-Shirt, a team of tailors and printers helped participants up-cycle their old t-shirts into something exciting and new. Participants who had never before used a needle and thread learned to turn old t-shirts into new shirts, scarves, dresses, hats and more. Participants cut fabric, wove fabric, embellished, and silkscreened “Global Action Through Fashion” onto t-shirts along with the GATF logo and an image of the globe as a heart, making old clothes into something new.
This workshop was much more than a fun evening of arts and crafts. It addressed some of the solutions to the larger fashion threats facing our world. It taught participants to use less for more. Instead of disposing of an old garment, participants learned to make something new with it. This keeps old garments out of the landfill and makes something new without using more resources. Through the reconstruction process, participants learned how to sew, enabling them to repair, alter, and prolong the lives of many more garments to come, saving thousands of gallons of water, and reducing the use of harmful chemicals.
Along with cutting, sewing, and refashioning, ethical fashion designers Joui Turandot of Vagadu and Dustin Page of Platinum Dirt spoke, educating and inspiring participants. They are leading Bay Area ethical fashion
designers who create their lines out of postconsumer waste and discarded fashion. Turandot refashions fabric scrap and old clothes to create couture garments of the highest quality for both men and women including vests, shirts, and dresses. Page creates his line of high-end leather jackets from salvaged leather from the car seats of luxury vehicles he buys at the junkyard.
Both designers prove that used materials, which many consider waste, can indeed be made into high-end new products that are competitive with any conventional luxury product. Participants networked and met designers, producers, industry professionals, and academics working in the ethical fashion arena. Once again, this GATF event left consumers and industry leaders empowered to have a positive impact on the world through fashion.
