Everything Must Go

Different items of clothing flocked and turned into non woven materials

Red coat slashed to become 'waste'

Red coat slashing detail

Clothing sorted into piles by colour

Yarn woven from coloured clothing

Blankets made from recycled yarn

Emergency blankets made from recycled yarn

Living and Giving Primrose Hill

The new Mary 'Queen of Shops' Living and Giving shop for Save the Children in Primrose Hill is gorgeous! The shop was previously inhabited by the fabrics and business of Ian Mankin, a natural and organic fabric shop, selling fabrics woven in Lancashire, where I still work part time (now relocated to expand our other shop in Fulham).

The transformation of the shop is stunning and I was amazed to see the fantastic change that has been created.

Well worth a visit: 109 Regents Park Road, London.

Living and Giving Westbourne Grove

EFF Social at EJF Pop Up Shop

April Ethical Fashion Forum Social at the EJF pop up shop on Carnaby street. Speakers from Forum for the Future, EJF, and Think Act Vote brought everyone up to date with their latest projects and initiatives. After the presentations the attendees were encouraged to try on the clothes in the upstairs boutique from labels such as From Somewhere, Goodone, Lowie and Monkee Jeans. Think Act Vote t-shirts that had been redesigned and customised by other designers such as Ciel and TRAID:remade were also available to try on.

It was a fun night and really interesting to hear the speakers from different areas of the industry speak so passionately about the major issues related to environmental and ethical concerns that effect the fashion industry.

Salvation Army Reusable Bag

Salvation Army Charity Shop Re-usable bag. Offering discounts on future products if you bring back your bag next time you shop at the Salvation Army.

Metro Re-create in Association with Oxfam

above image from www.metro.co.uk

Metro launches their competition to encourage Art and Design students or graduates (of two years) to use the paper to inspire an artistic creation that responds to one of the four themes below:

Morning
Green
Free
Urban

And fits into one of the 3 categories:

Art
Design
Fashion and Jewellery

The deadline for entries is March 26th 2010. There are three great judges, one representing each of the three categories.

The winning pieces will also feature in the metro newspaper, online at metro.co.uk and in Oxfam stores. And 20 runners up prizes will be awarded to those who narrowly miss the top spot.

See the website for more information and to apply

Radley & The Heart Foundation

The above window notice in this Radly shop reads:

"£40 off your new handbag when you donate an old one,
all donations go to the heart foundation see in store for details"

This photo of the shop was taken at the start of the summer, so I am unsure if the project is still running. I thought it was worth a mention here, as it is another example of high street retailers supporting charities by encouraging their consumers to donate their unwanted fashion products.

It is vital for consumers to become familiar and comfortable with the ideas of donating and reusing clothing and accessories.

Monsoon Campaign - Clothes for Life

Another national high street retailer taking action to encourage consumers to reuse, pass on and donate their unwanted clothing.

Monsoon have launched the 'Clothes for life' campaign
where you will receive a £5 voucher for future purchases of Monsoon clothing (over £30) when you take to the store and donate items of unwanted Monsoon clothing.

The money raised from the resale of these clothes will help support the NewLife Foundation.

Initiatives like this provide fantastic potential source material for Upcycling designers. Maybe to make more people aware of the scheme Monsoon could pass on some of the clothing to Upcycling designers/student designers to create unique garment designs from unwanted Monsoon clothing. The remade and one off pieces would be of a higher value and able to raise more money for the charity.

TRAID

TRAID
(Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development)

Is another charity also promoting the possibilites and advantages of Upcycling to reduce the amount of textile and clothing waste.

The TRAIDremade collections are currently stocked in the Brighton branch and the flagship store in Camden. As well as accepting donations in store, Traid also collect unwanted clothing around the country in their collection banks such as in the photograph above.

Mary Queen of Charity Shops

Following the successful television series, Mary Portas teamed up with Grazia to create a pop up charity/vintage shop early summer 2009 in Westfield Shopping Centre, West London.

Charity Shop project:

It can only be a good thing for charity shops to improve their 'brand'. A higher profile will not only to encourage consumers to donate unwanted clothing but also to consider them as a place to shop.

The television show highlighted the amount of 'junk' people own and want to clear out, but aren't good enough quality to be sold on or donated to charity organisations.

As a result of this, a mainstream option needs to become available for the clothing people no longer want to wear and feel isn't good enough to be sold in a charity shop. This clothing, the current destination for which is the bin (and therefore landfill), should be collected by or donated to rag/textile recycling businesses to be recycled or downcycled - and diverted from landfill.

Many people are also unaware of the links charity organisations have with such textile recyling companies. Any garments passed on to charity organisations that they cannot sell will be passed on to recycling rag companies.

Charities, The High Street and Recycling

Oxfam and Marks and Spencer


As mentioned in a previous blog post, the union between Oxfam and Marks and Spencer encourages consumers to donate their unwanted M&S clothing to Oxfam in return for vouchers to be spent at the national high street retailer. Part of the 'Plan A' initiative encourages consumers to think about re:use and encourages them not to throw their old and unwated clothing away. See the Marks and Spencers Plan A website for more information on the Clothing Exchange

TRAID
(Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development)

has many charity shops in and around London, collecting clothing and sorting them at their Wembley headquarters. TRAID also have many clothing banks situated around the country and in 2002 launched their Upcycling initiative TRAID:remade.

This photograph was taken in the flagship Topshop store in Oxford Circus, London, of a traid clothing donation bank. Topshop customers are encouraged to donate their unwanted clothing to the charity.

Oxfam

Oxfam is currently leading the way in charitable sustainable fashion initiatives.
Joining forces with Marks and Spencer to encourage consumers to donate their unwanted M&S clothing to Oxfam in return for vouchers off new Marks and Spencer purchases.

The above (bin bag) image was taken on a visit to the wastesaver plant in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. The bags of clothes delivered here are just one of the many daily deliveries, all sorted by hand and then sent on to the relevant Oxfam outlet to be sold.

(Top photo of the Oxfam in Camden, London. Photo to the left - flyer advertisement for the Marks and Spencer and Oxfam Clothing Exchange).

Taken from the s/s 09 Ecologist magazine Oxfam has five areas highlighting 'eco' and ethical fashion design.
Loved for Longer

Fairtrade

Reinvented

Made with Love

Good Fashion Sense

How To Donate Your Unwanted Clothing

There are many ways to donate your unwanted clothes to charity. Donation bags can be collected from your local charity shop and are often delivered to your house. Large boxes are located in all communities and can usually be found near recycling bins for more popular recyclables such as plastic and paper. Where the clothes and shoes are to be donated please make sure they are in good condition.

Clothes that are stained, worn or damaged try making them into cloths or more domestic textile products or find your nearest textile recycler - this will often be called 'downcycling' - but doing the same job as the 'rag and bone men' of a previous time.