Scottish Designers campaign to prevent clothing waste

07 Jun '14

2 min read

Designers including Jennifer Morris, Deetz, William Chambers and Alan Moore offered their design skills to be part of an exciting campaign which encourages the upcycling and recycling of unwanted clothes to cut the massive clothing wastage in the UK. As a nation it has a staggering £30 billion worth of clothes and it bins clothing which is still worth £140 million.

The Scottish designers each liberated a piece of clothing or accessory to give it a new lease of life showing that, with some straight forward adjustments, that old little black dress or the discarded suit lying at the back of the wardrobe can be transformed into an updated, on-trend garment. Each of the designers added simple updates which can be easily followed to create a DIY high-end look all for under £10.

William Chambers said, "I got involved in this project as hats are excellent accessories to update and upcycle, meaning you can wear the same hat with different trims to various special occasions. If you buy well and invest in a good quality timeless hat shape it can be easily modernised with new trims so that it can get worn again and again."

The upcycled items updated by the designers were used in a fashion-forward photoshoot, all styled with second-hand accessories from Glad Rags thrift shop in Glasgow, proving no one needs to spend a fortune to update their wardrobe.

Glad Rags are a not for profit organisation and can provide that pre-loved could-be-new pair of shoes or the vintage-look statement clutch to give the existing garments a fresh, fashionable look at a fraction of the price all the while helping the environment. If not a dab hand with a needle and thread, updating thelook with key second hand items is a perfect solution to ‘Love Your Clothes’ without contributing to the shocking amount of clothing wastage.

The weekend saw ‘Love Your Clothes’ invited consumers to be part of a campaign named ‘Spring Clean Your Wardrobe Weekend’. Run through Saturday 31st May – Sunday 1st June, people around Scotland cleared out their wardrobes and chose items to recycle or, follow in the Scottish designers’ footsteps and upcycle their garments to give their closets a much-need update just in time for summer.

John Lewis in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen ran workshops taken by leading Scottish textile designers along with Scottish bloggers Betty & Bee, who holded a workshop in Glasgow’s Beyond the Finish Line.

Jennifer Morris, Deetz, William Chambers and Alan Moore

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