What is upcycling and how it can transform your wardrobe

Research by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, released in 2017, reveals that the equivalent of a textile garbage truck is wasted every second in the world. As it is necessary to think about new forms of consumption, to try to reduce the negative impact on the environment, a term has gained prominence lately: “Upcyling”, that is, the creative reuse of products. Instead of throwing old or damaged clothes in the trash, why not transform them?

O Incredible.club wants to show how practice applied to fashion can change the way you look at your wardrobe once and for all.

The first record of the word upcycling appeared in 1994, during an interview with German businessman Reine Pilz for Salvo magazine. At the time, he said that recycling was more like a downcyclingimplying that the reuse of materials created products of “inferior” quality.

“What we need is a ʽupcyclingʼwhere we value old products more and not less”said Pilz.

O Slow Fashion is the movement that came to break the concept of fast fashion, where clothes are manufactured, consumed and discarded in record time. As the proposal is to rethink the way we acquire the pieces of our closet, the term upcyling emerged as a strong ally to fashion.

In order not to throw away clothes that tore, stained, or simply ended up getting sick, the idea is to reinvent and think of new uses for that piece🇧🇷 It is worth daring to be creative to reduce the impact of textile waste.

As we know that creativity can be lacking when it comes to using your clothes differently, the suggestion is to look for ideas on the internet from people who are more used to creatively reusing products.

Bloggers like Giovanna Nader and Nataly Neri give several tips on how to transform clothes in unusual ways. You can also throw the hashtag #upcycling on Instagram for more inspiration.

The best advantage of upcycling is to win “new” pieces, without spending anything. On the Ideias Incríveis Youtube channel, there are a series of cool tips to give new uses to closet pieces, where the only thing you need is to be creative… And get your hands dirty! See some examples:

Another interesting suggestion is to get to know genuinely Brazilian projects that are involved in the concept of upcycling and sustainability in fashion. The Re-Roupa group, for example, aims to reuse fabrics, using what fashion in general rejects. The Insecta brand, on the other hand, transforms PET bottles, used clothes and other waste materials into new shoes — and beautiful ones!

Do you have the habit of transforming your clothes? Tell us your tips and tricks in the comments.