We already know that fashion has a waste problem. What we don’t know is how grave the problem really is. It’s $400 billion big. That’s how much fashion waste is costing the global economy each year, according to a recent World Economic Forum report, a whopping $400 billion. While that’s just the monetary effect it causes, the environmental impact is just as serious, if not more.
Fashion Waste And The Climate
Image used for representational purposes only.
As per a recent report by McKinsey & Company in partnership with Global Fashion Agenda (GFA), called Fashion On Climate, the global fashion industry produced around 2.1 billion tonnes of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions in 2018, equalling 4 per cent of the global total. Upstream activities such as materials production, preparation, and processing contributed to 70 per cent of this. The report projects that a minimisation in production and manufacturing wastage could alone deliver 24 million tonnes of GHG emissions savings. That said, overproduction leaves a substantial environmental footprint as well. A 10 percentage point reduction in industrywide overproduction, can help reduce emissions by 158 million tonnes by 2030.
India And Fashion Waste
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So, how is this relevant to us, as Indians? Expected to reach a valuation of $190 billion by FY 2025-26, the textile and garment industry in India alone (valued at 108.5 billion in 2019-20), produced about 71.05 billion square meters of cloth in 2019. Given that an average of 25 per cent of fabric is usually lost during the cutting process of a garment, the amount of clothing waste produced in the country is a reason for worry. The above statistics make the country a huge part of the world’s fashion waste problem, considering India is one of the biggest manufacturers of textile and apparel in the world.
The Indian Solution
Let’s not forget, we are a country where reusing, recycling, donating, and handing down clothes is a rather natural, deep-rooted cultural phenomenon. Whether it’s your mother handing down clothes you have outgrown to a smaller sibling, or hearing “don’t waste” as a staple rule in a usual Indian household, the concept of reusing and making good of something waste is hardly a foreign concept.
Image Source: ekadesignstudio.in
This is reflective of what a lot of homegrown brands are working towards in the country. Earlier last year, designer Rina Singh’s Eka launched a line of clothing for men that was made using fabrics recycled from their accumulated inventory over the years. Using overdyes, chic prints, and patchwork, the fabrics were given a new lease of life as a line of understated yet stylish menswear, in line with the brand’s aesthetic.
Being an enormous textile producer, India has leftover and unused fabrics in abundance, especially in textile towns. Putting that to good use are brands like Urban Suburban and Rengé, both using surplus fabrics to be reimagined into stylish and casual designs.
Accessory Access
One of the most popular upcycling brands out there is Doodlage, a brand that has made upcycled apparel look “cool” in more ways than one. With its recent collaboration with Indian shoe brand Oceedee, the brand has now even ventured into the world of upcycled accessories, a sustainable product of Oceedee’s leather scraps and Doodlage’s upcycling design value.
Image Source: Instagram/oceedeeshoes
Using discarded acrylic products and waste wood sourced from industrial sites and workshops, accessory brand Curated Curiosities creates a range of vibrant and extremely unique jewellery. Also using upcycled leather is brand Kassa, well known for its unique jewellery pieces. Kassa recently launched a line of upcycled all-weather leather bags.
Image Source: Instagram/curatedcuriosities_
Curated Upcycling
Another brand called Punah: is going a step ahead to promote and encourage upcycling among consumers with their DIY Upcycling Kits. The kits are curated as per a customer’s preferences and the garment they’re looking to recycle, making the experience unique to all. The brand also does customised upcycling for customers, including dropping its own upcycled collections. Another brand that offers customised upcycling is the label Sanah Sharma, which encourages customers to contribute old clothes for re-done stylish clothing.
Love upcycling DIYs? Here is our take on it!
Floral Hues
Putting waste temple flowers to good use for natural dyeing is label Something Sustainable. Their latest collection features a conscious collection using handwoven khadi sourced from weavers in West Bengal. Just when you thought temple flowers couldn’t be of more use, we have Phool, a brand that uses these waste flowers to create a line of incense. The brand has recently also developed its very own “flower leather”, or “fleather”, using waste flowers.
Image Source: Instagram/somethingsustainable.in
Patched Up
Patchwork is widely used across Indian crafts as a means to embellish, repair as well as upcycle. Several brands are adopting this technique for a street-style yet modern aesthetic. One of them is Patch Over Patch that focuses on the technique for its quirky collections. Based out of Surat, India, the brand uses textile remnants by patching them together into classic silhouettes. Every single patch is unique and beautiful. Label WeAreLabeless not only creates beautifully patched, upcycled clothing, but also rehabilitates women from distressed areas to help create garments for their zero-waste cycle of ethical and conscious line. A quick pro tip? Their patched handbags are vibrant, unique and absolutely to die for, so make sure you check them out!
Image Source: Instagram/patchoverpatch
All Under One Roof
You know by now that the upcycling fashion market is one with growing possibilities. Taking that a step further is the online platform, Refash. The Indian platform curates upcycled apparel and accessories from various Indian brands, essentially bringing India’s waste solution under one roof. Started in 2018, the brand includes products that are made from post-industrial, pre-consumer and post-consumer waste. The platform also helps upcycling brands to get the word out there using their platform as well as collaborations. Their recent collaborative collection was with the accessory brand, Noupelle, which uses leather scraps to create jewellery and different accessories.
Image Source: Instagram/refash_