Assemblage

Bandana dresses are one of the signature designs for Texas-based upcycled fashion brand Psychic Outlaw. This dress, like many of the brand’s other bandana dresses, focuses on a particular color palette with a central image on the front bodice. In the case of this maxi dress, fifteen bandanas of varying shades of yellow are assembled around the garment’s focal point, a black bandana with smiley faces. Founder Rebecca Wright created Psychic Outlaw around the concept of creating happy, unique garments from vintage and antique textiles. Her other signature looks typically incorporate home textiles such as quilts, tablecloths, sheets and blankets. Though most Psychic Outlaw’s garments are created with textiles sourced within Wright’s home state of Texas, she also has a “supply your own materials” model. This allows customers to send in their own textiles to have specific silhouettes created for them using their own measurements.

Designer Daniel Silverstein has made a business out of finding inspiration and use out of textile waste materials. His Brooklyn, NY based line Zero Waste Daniel creates colorful and artful streetwear from pre-consumer production waste. Unlike post-consumer materials that have been used before being discarded, pre-consumer materials are the scraps that occur during garment production. Because this area of waste is hidden from public view, it is often talked about less than post-consumer textile waste. However, 15% of textiles are wasted during the production process. By using various assemblage techniques, Silverstein converts these small scraps into large-scale textile suitable for garment creation. In the case of the artful crewneck sweatshirt seen here, Silverstein created a 3D decorative element by transforming scrap materials into the flowers that adorn the upper arm and shoulder areas of the sweatshirt. The shorts feature a wide array of floral patterns sewn in geometric shapes reminiscent of quilt blocks.

Unified by the color orange, this muffler scarf is assembled with textiles from four different post-consumer garments. The scarf’s eclectic design elements feature tiger print, camouflage, and signature embroidery details. The interior is lined with heavyweight black fleece. This piece features two elements that are repeated throughout ROOLĒ’s distinctive line: patchwork assemblage techniques and the use of a predominant color to harmonize a wide variety of textiles. Designer Gordon Holliday has built this sustainable menswear brand by utilizing post-consumer materials sourced within his local community of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Designer Margaret Burton is known for creating upcycled streetwear. Burton first became interested in sustainable fashion after working at a design house that routinely cut apart unsold items. As she came to understand that this practice of destroying unsold merchandise was not an anomaly, Burton set out to create her line using sustainability as a guiding principle. As a designer, Burton is deeply fascinated in the juxtaposition of tailored wear with streetwear, often creating works that blur the distinction between the two. The Lebron Suit pictured here is a product of this concept. This matching jacket and pants are created from five different Lebron James jerseys. Burton’s attention to detail is found not only in the prominent display of the player’s name and team logos, but also in smaller details. This is evidenced by the NBA tags incorporated into the jacket’s interior design and typography sewn on to the back of the collar.

Slow fashion designer, artist, and activist Korina Emmerich is well-known for artful wool garments and accessories. The bucket hat seen here is part of Emmerich’s Scrapyard line which upcycles the studios production scraps. Unlike the pieces created in her regular line which tend to feature just a single motif, Scrapyard pieces often incorporate a mix of textiles with an array of colorful patterns. These small leftover pieces are well-suited to small one-of-a-kind accessories. The hat on display is created from three different patterns of Pendleton jacquard wool scraps. The tag on the hat’s front is printed with “EMME Studio”, the name of Emmerich’s label, along with the word “LENAPEHOKING” printed beneath. Lenapehoking is the traditional name of the land that is currently occupied by Brooklyn.

The espadrilles seen here are made with burgundy and plum colored leather remnants sewn to a jute sole. Although the designer, Vallnez Mozell, has a background in interior design, she was inspired to learn how to make footwear after a beloved pair of espadrilles fell apart. While learning to recreate this shoe she also sought out ways to make them more durable and as sustainable as possible. The sole is made of 50% recycled materials. The small amount of materials needed for the uppers make it ideal for incorporating the scraps and remnants from larger projects. Mozell further extends her brand’s sustainability by offering customers a prepaid shipping label and discount on future orders when they mail their worn out espadrilles back to her.

This ensemble is created by Los Angeles-based designer CHI QC. The blue crew neck jumper features a number of colorful appliques upcycled from fleece, and the jeans have been reworked with geometric shape appliques in a contrast denim. In the words of the designer, “The Chi qc™ Sunset design is meant to represent the beauty of God’s creation and how its splendor never fades. The immortal denim symbolizes the eternal strongholds of Love and Wrath. Together these ‘Born Again Garments’ create both a unique look of nature and creativity, but also an element of existential thought.”