An upcycling project in textile and fashion design

Abstract

The mass production after the industrialisation and the fast changing fashion cycles in today’s world resulted in buying clothes and home textiles more than we need and discarding them before they complete their life cycles. This causes vast amounts of textile waste that creates environmental issues. Upcycling is the creative process of transforming clothing and textile waste by reusing deadstock or used fabric to create new garments and products. It holds importance in terms of sustainability, reducing waste and environmental pollution. During the process of upcycling, certainly the creativity and innovation are the key words because to reuse a product to a better value needs a creative mind, aesthetic consciousness, innovative look and knowledge and it is quite different from a normal design procedure. There is a delicate level of aesthetics which carries the reused materials to a higher value. The handling of the materials, knowing how to manipulate the waste material, the techniques available to apply to surfaces, the concept of two and three dimension on textiles and clothing, contributions of other branches of art such as sculpture and painting all help the designer to reach a higher aesthetic value in the upcycled product in this process. In the study; it was aimed to raise awareness, to attract attention to sustainable fashion and also to contribute to sustainable development as an upcycling design project realized with students in textile and fashion design education taken as an example.