Sarah Aphrodite began her fashion career in the Netherlands before moving to New York and building her brand 'Sarah Aphrodite' in 2008. Aphrodite’s upcycled designs are playful and romantic—big silk bows and floral accessories are concocted from scrap fabric and oversized deadstock t-shirts are stamped with Aphrodite’s signature heart shaped cut-out. The designer, now based in Northampton, MA, also has an archival couture collection worn by celebrities like M.I.A., Kylie Jenner, and Chloe Cherry.
Kristi Kruser is a fashion stylist and costume designer with a formal training in fine arts and sustainability. Her NY-based brand, SALVAGE, intends to bring awareness to the magnitude of waste generated by the fashion industry. Kruser’s pieces are made from scrap materials that have been twisted, knotted, and re-fashioned to create new and unexpected designs.
Elise McMahon is a Hudson, NY-based upcycler who creates furniture, accessories, and custom interiors using existing local materials. LikeMindedObjects, McMahon’s brand, informs, educates, and inspires consumers and artisans alike on the limitless potential of upcycling and circular design. McMahon’s sub-brand CRCL.EARTH manufactures shoddy [shredded scrap fabric] that can be used as an eco-friendly alternative to petroleum-based polyfill.
Kim Nguyen is a NY-based designer and founder of the upcycled brand, Nguyen Inc. Nguyen’s work utilizes deadstock materials and repurposed t-shirts to create new, bold, and expressive designs. In 2023, Nguyen gained attention for hosting a guerrilla-style fashion show featuring ‘It’ girl models, Paloma Elsesser, Richie Shazam, and Imani Randolph.
Sarah Nsikak is a Nigerian-American fine artist and designer based in Brooklyn, New York. Her brand, La Réunion, upcycles existing textiles to create bespoke hand quilted pieces in beautiful, feminine silhouettes. Nsikak’s work has been featured in dozens of prestigious exhibitions and the artist herself held a residency at Materials of the Arts, NYC’s largest creative reuse center, in 2023.
Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen is a New York-based artist and designer who crafts bespoke collections from antique, found, and repurposed textiles. Transcendent of time and place, Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen’s collections contain palpable emotion—honoring the history and innate energy held within the fabric used to create each original garment.
Brynn Heminway, editor-in-chief of Display Copy, sat down with the designers featured in A Common Thread to discuss the garment waste crisis, the politics of upcycling, and tips for elevating your wardrobe.
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Brynn: Let’s establish the context for why, as a fashion designer, you’re creating new garments with pre-existing materials. Is there a particular memory that stands out when you first confronted the magnitude of garment waste?
Sarah N: I’m originally from Oklahoma and I remember when my hometown got a Forever 21. I was amazed by the accessibility of clothes. It seemed like every time I went the entire store was entirely different. I remember feeling confused by the quick turnover and the low prices. When the documentary The True Cost came out it illuminated everything for me.
Kim: This isn't my first memory but a core memory I have is from visiting a place that I can only describe as a fast fashion showroom center in Italy. It was like the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets but all the stores were fast fashion brands. I felt physically sick from seeing so many clothes being sold at such low wholesale prices by companies that didn't seem to acknowledge the consequences of overproduction and, presumably, unethical labor practices.
Sarah A: I don’t recall a specific moment because I’ve always worked with reused materials… I’m definitely influenced by my modest upbringing in the Netherlands and Waldorf schooling as a child. We always tried to reduce our waste and we didn’t live a luxurious lifestyle. I still feel alien in luxury.
Kristi: There’s a unique phenomenon in New York City where those who have immense privilege and access to an abundance of goods discard them without care or thought. Mindless overconsumption is visible all over the city… it’s at your front door, dumped onto the curb and scattered across the street. When I moved here, I was forced to acknowledge that every day. Then, when I began my career working in fashion, I encountered a scale of waste that forced me to confront my own role in it. Is this really what it takes to make beautiful pictures? It was jarring to see the ways in which quality materials were being so devalued. So, I began collecting. Mostly trashed garments and textile scraps. This motivation eventually led me to enrolling in a course on Fashion Sustainability and establishing my brand SALVAGE.
Brynn: What are some of the logistical challenges you face as designers when working with pre-existing materials?
Sarah A: The hard part about upcycling is that it makes producing collections at scale very difficult. The money in fashion lies in being able to produce in quantity. That's why fast fashion brands produce so much product.
Kristi: I often wish that the gathering of materials could be expedited so that I could produce more consistently. But I also think that the challenge of collecting adds value to the final form.
Elise: When working to scale a design you have to create a system for sourcing and manufacturing that is consistent yet embraces the unique-ness of each item.
Sarah N: I love working with restrictions… My immigrant grandmother taught me how to use existing materials and I’ve always preferred this way of working. But there’s added labor for deconstruction and mending. Struggling to find enough yardage to complete a project is how I got into patchwork originally—to create yardage out of scraps and discarded material. I enjoy the process, but it can also be energetically draining.
Brynn: And what about the emotional implications that go hand-in-hand with designing using pre-existing materials?
Zoe: In order to create an environmentally sustainable practice, we must first start with the emotional context through which we relate, consume, and discard our objects. Every material holds the energy of the lives that it led before… the energy of all of the hands that created it. My designs use the held memory inside textiles and the emotionality with which it was crafted to infuse into each new piece with palpable intention.
Brynn: How should the model for donating or discarding textiles change, so that the output is more accessible to designers?
Elise: T-shirts alone make up 25% of the waste stream sent to Ghana. That’s 15 million t-shirts a month. If countries had to process all of their own waste, I believe we would start to consume less, properly recycle, and make these materials accessible to upcyclers. It’s the out-of-sight out-of-mindness of our current system that allows us to believe everything is fine.
Sarah N: Brands should be required to use donated clothing and textile waste as a requirement for producing new collections. I’m always wishing for a fast fashion brand to make a move and shock the world by making sustainable garments accessible—not just greenwashed by creating a diffusion line that says their garments are made using 'less water'.
Sarah A: It would be great if the connection between waste collectors and buyers was streamlined. For example, if I’m looking for deadstock linen in black—there could be a database to access who has it available.
Elise: Currently scrap material minimums can be very high. My sub-business CRCL EARTH uses recycled denim shoddy to make pillow inserts. We sell 5-20lb bags of the material to make it more accessible to those who want to turn away petroleum-based foams and fills but can’t afford or don’t have the infrastructure to process a 700lb bag.
Brynn: What advice would you give to emerging designers who are looking to work with recycled materials?
Sarah N: Reach out to people in your community. I’ve received priceless materials just by being open and sharing my work with others who have similar values. Friends and fellow artists will want to empower you and your work.
Kim: Keep trying. Keep experimenting. See your limitations as a part of the story. There are so many different ways that you can do this—find your own unique way.
Brynn: What are some creative ways that you access the waste stream?
Elise: I’ve left buckets at a friend's bar or restaurant and ask them to put every green or brown wine or beer bottle into my buckets. I’ll crush those down and melt them into my next glass lighting or tableware project. I get scrap car parts from mechanics to sandblast and use for lamp bases, or 100lb t-shirt bales from sorting facilities to cut into loops and weave.
Brynn: If you’re not a designer, how can you make styling changes to pieces that are already in your wardrobe?
Kim: Anybody can be a designer. If you have safety pins, hair bands, scissors or shoelaces, you can drape and create new shapes out of anything in your closet.
Sarah N: One that I've been thinking about doing soon is swapping out the buttons on my shirts and jackets.
Kristi: It’s easier to style around classic pieces that you love. Personally, I invest in mostly second-hand designer or vintage clothing and accessories, so if I get bored of something, it’s easier for me to reintroduce it into the resell market.
Brynn: What advice would you give to your community, who are cleaning out their closets?
Kristi: Give pieces to a friend, organize a clothing swap, stoop sale, or donate to local clothing drives.
Sarah N: Consider making necessary alterations or mends. Donate to an organization like FabScrap who will make use of your textiles in a responsible way.
Elise: Mend and alter!
Sarah A: Call me :)