At Salvage Renaissance, we believe that sustainability is the key to fashion. Anyone can see the effects of climate change, so we must find ways to create less waste to counteract the harm of the fast fashion industry. The way Salvage has done this is by upcycling old clothing to give it new life. Instead of buying cheaply-made clothing that will only last a few months, you can look through our collections of reinvented vintage clothing. We’ve made it as easy as possible for you to buy: all of our pieces are gender-neutral, and you don’t have to sift through racks of merchandise to find one item that you like.
Before we explain our sustainability process, we will share three fast facts about waste within the fashion industry.
- 87% of materials used to create new clothing end up in landfills or incinerators.
- Only 1% of clothing will end up being recycled or upcycled into new garments.
- The average American creates 100 pounds of textile waste per year.
These facts may seem daunting, but to us, these facts demonstrate how much possibility there is to reimagine the clothing we already have. Instead of letting old clothing sit in basements, second hand stores, and landfills, and only looking to buy brand-new clothing every season, we can creatively repurpose items to bring them into the twenty-first century. That way, we can increase the percentage of upcycled & recycled clothing and create less fashion waste. The fashion industry at large has started creating lines of brand-new, sustainably-made clothing, but it is equally important to prevent good-quality clothing from being thrown away.
Now, we will explain our own process of sustainability at Salvage Renaissance. Our process centers around repurposing already-worn vintage clothing for the modern day. We repair and clean all of our pieces, and for about 50% of our product, we upcycle them to match current trends. Google defines upcycling as “reus[ing] (discarded objects or material) in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original.” We create higher-quality products by hiring artists we love to add their creative flair to our clothing.
What are some examples of upcycling at Salvage Renaissance?
- Our Ukraine collection: we gathered a collection of T-shirts and long-sleeve shirts for Brooklyn artist Doobie Duke Sims to print hopeful, pro-Ukraine messages.
- Artist Melisa Saraceni hand-embroidered floral patterns onto a pair of Buckle jeans.
- Artist HNRY KRMR painted a collection of vintage military jackets.
Sustainability, to us, is all about using what we already have to make something even greater. There’s no need to create so much waste when there are so many great clothing items looking for new life!
Come back every Thursday to learn a bit more about sustainability at Salvage Renaissance and in the fashion industry.