Like many of us, my friend was a daily commuter. He used the same backpack everyday, eventually it broke, and he needed a new one. I asked him, what he was doing with the old backpack, and as disappointing as his response of ‘erm, throw it in the bin?’ was, it sparked the idea for my graduate collection! I made the decision that I did not want to buy any new fabrics and chose to design and manufacture exclusively upcycled garments. My visual research theme was dinosaurs, with their destruction and extinction reflecting our concerns for the destruction of the earth’s natural habitats and resources. Through the upcycling process, starting with the aforementioned backpack, each garment is bespoke, as the fabrics were determined by the availability of the materials that were donated/found. The overall aesthetic of my collection showcases a hybrid of dinosaur inspired silhouettes, utility features, and customisable elements to promote transeasonal styling - all created using a hybrid of upcycled materials. I believe that upcycling is the future of sustainable fashion and I am hoping to go on to study an MA course to further my knowledge, experience and skills within this area of the fashion industry.
