Up-cycling is one of the most (if not the most), sustainable approaches that fashion designers and brands can take in their craft or processes. I speak to the artist, and model Beslan about his first sewn and crafted collection of one-off hats, designed solely by him out of unwanted textiles. We also shot together featuring Chrysanthoux pieces <3

Beslan, is a multi-media artist, having recently collaborated with emerging CSM designer Yaku Stapleton in a capsule collection for SSENSE. Also a model, Beslan’s latest feature was in Martine Rose’s debut collaboration with Clarks entitled ‘Coming Up Roses’.

Beslan learnt sewing through upcycling his unwanted clothes and pieces that he found in a charity shop. This led to him releasing his up-cycled hat collection titled ‘T.HAT’.

The ‘T.HAT’ project is Belsan’s first collection consisting of one-off hats, each with a unique colour, material, texture, and pattern- a result of bringing new unique life to once worn-out garments.

WASTE & FAST FASHION

Up-cycling has recently received a lot of support and recognition, and this is because of the environmental issues that the process addresses.

As we become aware of how much there is already available to us in the world, we also realise how much of that has gone and continues to go to waste.

To put it into perspective, Clothes Aid has said that £140 million worth of used but still wearable clothing goes to landfill in the UK each year (this is roughly 350,000 tonnes).

There are many reasons why landfills are so harmful to our planet.

Firstly, many of the clothes that end up in landfills are made out of synthetic fibres like polyester, nylon, and acrylic- -which take hundreds of years to-

Photography for 'T.HAT' Collection by @elliegggggggg via Instagram 

biodegrade. It is also estimated that 35% of all microplastics that are in the ocean (microplastics are tiny pieces of non-biodegradable plastic) come from these synthetic textiles.

So if there are already 350,000 tonnes of perfectly durable or recyclable garment and textile waste, whose responsibility is it to look into solutions within circular fashion? Why aren’t we exploring ways to work with fabric waste more?

“That’s what makes me now actually up-cycle, the fact that I can get good material from old stuff- if I buy a meter of new fabric, I might use half of that, but I will use the majority or all of the piece I up-cycle, there would be so much less waste”, says Beslan.

THE PROCESS ITSELF

The process goes beyond saving an unwanted garment and promoting circular fashion
because repurposing waste is a creative process in itself.

Learning to work with the material or garment rather than vice versa, is what generates special, one-of-a-kind, and newly purposed pieces that are environmentally friendly too.

“Up-cycling can 100% inspire more unique pieces, for the hat collection I was working on, all the hats were one-offs. I saved the design, but each material was limited. Up- cycling helped me be more creative as my mindset was more- ‘let’s see what I can make out of this'. In Up-cycling, you’re adapting to the material rather than it adapting to what you want to do, it’s a different creative process."

Exploring different textures and how different garments are constructed together can also be beneficial particularly for new fashion designers and for anyone who wants to learn to sew.

“I think it is easier to learn sewing by up- cycling, especially to experiment with different materials. I learned sewing by just practicing by myself. I watched tutorials on how to set up the machine, and from there it was trial and error” says Beslan.

Up-cycling is extremely accessible, because of the internet, you can learn by yourself to up- cycle at home from countless YouTube video tutorials and websites, and all you need to start is an unwanted garment from your wardrobe.

“I didn’t have much experience with sewing, I didn’t really know where to buy fabric, and I also wanted to practice, I thought I would use whatever I have now or whatever I find in a charity shop. I realized that you can get really good material from an old t-shirt, skirt, jacket, trousers, or curtain” says Beslan. 

@elliegggggggg