ReFashioned: Cutting Edge Clothing from Upcycled Materials

refashioned upcycled fashion

Hot on the heels on the culmination of Live Eco’s upcycled fashion design competition last night, Avant Garde dress – won by Marquin Sampson from CPUT, comes the release of “ReFashioned”, a new eco fashion book by fashion activist, designer, and FIT lecturer Sass Brown.

The book pays homage to 46 forward-thinking international designers who work with recycled and upcycled materials. According to fastcodesign.com, “Trash turns to treasure in miraculous ways in these pages: There’s a parka made from old parachutes; a chain mail-esque purse from soda can ring pulls; a linen jacket from vintage German flour sacks; and delicate jewelry from bike tires. One delicate and romantic piece is made entirely from discarded cow nipples. Human hair, military tents, and ship sails are just a few more of the unlikely materials made unrecognizable after being transformed into high-end, highly innovative styles.”

“It took about three years for me to produce the book,” Brown tells Co.Design. “In a world of simply too much stuff, it is vital that eco-fashion is not just good, but is in fact extraordinary. There is more than enough stuff in the world already–the idea of adding anything more that is not outstanding seems unconscionable,” she writes.

“The whole point of the book is to showcase what amazing work is already being done to recontextualize waste as a resource,” says Brown. More of her work is available at www.ecofashiontalk.com.

ReFashioned will be on my Christmas wishlist this December. If you, like me, also want some upcycled and recycled fashion inspiration, you can order the book online here.

Image here

More from Nikki Stear
Simple solar solution for rural Africa
Pay-as-you-go solar technology is making it possible for remote and off-grid communities...
Read More