With landfills bursting at the seams, textile production and waste contributing to environmental challenges and plastics cluttering our oceans, it’s clear fashion has some work to do.
Committing to minimising waste and considerate consumption is one positive step we can all make.
Another, is choosing to support brands making positive steps to address current challenges.
We love recycling initiatives like Relove from Kowtow, Ruby Says Recycle and Reloved by Kate Sylvester as well as resale platforms like Designer Wardrobe, EBay, Trade Me and Depop, that encourage shoppers to ensure another life for their garments when they are done with them.
Another option is to seek out brands making garments using recycled materials. For some this means, reusing offcuts and pieces of fabric that would otherwise go to waste, and others it means creating innovative new materials from cotton, wool and collected plastic, often gathered from oceans and waterways.
Post-consumer plastic from these collections is shredded and extruded into fine yarn, which in turn is knitted, cut, and sewn into clothing.
It’s important to do your research as at this stage most brands only offer select pieces from the recycled fabrics, or pieces made with a portion of recycled fibres, among the rest of their ranges created from new materials.
Here are some of the recycling initiatives we love to see:
Patagonia
Patagonia is one of the most well-known brands using recycled cotton, wool and nylon among its ranges. The brand’s recycled cotton pieces are made from cotton scraps gathered from factory floors from its supply chain partners. The fibers are mechanically shredded and re-spun into new yarn. Patagonia says using recycled cotton instead of conventional virgin cotton reduces the percentage of CO₂ emissions per kilogram of cotton fiber by 82%.
Peony Swim
This Australian swimwear label uses predominantly ECONYL® regenerated nylon that comes entirely from waste. Since 2019, each and every one of its swimwear fabrics have been made from recycled content, including printed fabrics, custom textures and even linings.
Prada
Prada’s Re-Nylon collection is crafted by collecting waste plastic from oceans, fishing nets, landfills and textiles. Transformed into regenerated nylon yarn, it gains a new life in an ever-growing range of men’s and women’s accessories, jackets and clothing. A portion of the proceeds from each item goes to the Sea Beyond project for ocean conservation.
Maggie Marilyn
Kiwi brand Maggie Marilyn is known for its commitment to better fashion processes. It encourages the approach of ‘buy as you need, repair what you can and repurpose what you can’t.’ As part of that commitment it uses certified, ethical and eco-friendly fabrics including recycled fabrics in some pieces. In particular, its popular winter puffer coats and vests are made from 100% Recycled Polyester, including lining and insulation.
Citizens of Humanity
Denim experts Citizens of Humanity and sister brand Agolde are a great place to look for recycled denim pieces. Alongside its sustainable fabrics intended to lower the impact on the environment, including regenerative cotton and eco indigo dyes, it offers a range of recycled denim and recycled leather pieces.
Pangaia
A celebrity fave counting Bella Hadid, J Lo, Harry Styles, Justin Bieber and Lewis Hamilton as fans, sustainable fashion and loungewear brand Pangaia calls itself a ‘materials science company.’ It uses dyes made from fruit, wildflowers to fill puffer coats and peppermint to control odor, but its recycled fabric offerings, including divine recycled cashmere pieces are a particular highlight.
Anine Bing
While just one of the elements in a wider collection, Anine Bing has made the choice to use recycled leather in a selection of its sleek everyday pieces, as well as recycled nylon in selected swimwear.
