Sustainable fashion credentials are always worth scrutinising, but upcycling is a growing category that’s really gaining pace. In London, brands including Helen Kirkham and Ancuta Sarca create brilliantly interesting new shoes from old, while Conner Ives' deft way with splicing together old T-shirts has earned him cult appeal.
The recycling mood is catching on elsewhere, too. In an interesting twist, high street shoe chain Schuh has launched a first collaboration with second hand store Vintage Threads (which has outposts in Covent Garden, Soho and a concession in Selfridges).
Together - using items from Schuh’s take back initiative (drop off any old shoes for them to recycle) as well as Vintage Threads own second hand clothing stock - they’ve produced a collection of 57 one off pieces created from old Nike and New Balance trainers, which will be available exclusively in the Oxford Circus store with all profits going to World Land Trust.
Charlie Oxley, and Freddie Rose, Co-Founders of Vintage Threads, explain that “Teaming up with schuh has provided us with an exciting platform to push the boundaries of reworked vintage fashion. Our favourite piece in the collection has to be the VT Rework Nike Air Max 97 Blackout Leather Vest which was constructed by hand by recovering NIKE Air Max 97 Black trainers and combining it with an Italian leather jacket.”
Leading on from the sportswear-core vibe comes another tie up, this time from Notting Hill’s Chillie London and Hairy Mary (from £100 at Chillie London, 361 Portabello Road with 5% of profits donated to Maggie’s Centre). These two very cool independent brands have created a covetable mash up of what they’re calling PE kit meets Miss Haversham.
Chillie London founder and stylist Natalie Hartley offers that, ‘Upcycling is the new ‘new’. We’ve been so excited about this one because it’s a perfect mix of feminine masculine. Reworking clothes is a lot more work than people realise, it’s an art. We’ve learnt to keep things simple and not put too many ideas in one piece.”
The football tops slashed with lace details are very much worth snapping up before they disappear. “There was no concept” adds Hartley, “We just loved what Rosie (Barton, Hairy Mary’s designer) does. We sourced sportswear brands like adidas but also wanted to include more retro brands like Umbro and Puma as they have an aesthetic that looks unique when re-purposed.”
You might, of course, have your own groaning archive of old personal fashion stock. Want to re-spin these? Check out Della Yellow, which will take your old clothes and turn them into something wholly new. Simply choose a style from their website (from £10, della-yellow.com), pop your piece in the post to them and welcome back an entirely reimagined item (your scraggy old jeans could become an of the moment denim skirt).
In a fashion landscape drowning (literally) in over-produced clothes, the new mood to re-use what’s already there is a welcome addition. More innovation, please.
