Cut from a different cloth

The Canberra Times: The frocks are made from pinstriped jackets and floral bed linen. There are trenchcoats patchworked out of safari suits, jackets from vintage corduroy and the panelled denim skirts are sewn from at least three pairs of jeans. These mixed-up designer clothes are known as “refashioned originals” – which is a polite way of saying they are made from landfill.
The rise of fashion with a conscience has led to designers hunting for solutions in organic and sustainable fabrics, but this trendy gear is cut from a different cloth – of the type found in charity bins. More than 60,000 jumpers and many more T-shirts, coats, windcheaters and old sheets were rescued to make the latest collection from Canada, where the label Preloved was established a decade ago by a retired catwalk model as a creative twist on op-shop hunting.
Julia Grieve’s motivation was fashion first, but her unwitting success at emancipating landfill has made her a poster girl for green design across the United States, Britain and Japan.
The market is competitive, with the bigger charities given the first opportunity to buy clothes by the kilo. In the past, the remainder was sent to landfill. But enter the fashionistas, who pick over the last of the treasure, which they lug back to the workshop, cut into pieces, then assemble – navy stripes beside purple polka dots beside plaid – into a groovy new outfit.
Cut from a different cloth [The Canberra Times]