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CRITIQUE ON UP-CYCLING OF GARMENT
By: Aakanksha Rathi
MD/15/53
Semester 4
Submitted to NIFT in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
Degree of
Master of Design
(2015-2017)
POST GRADUATION DEPARTMENT OF DESIGN SPACE
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY, MUMBAI
(Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India)
Department of Design Space
Faculty Guide: Mrs. Rupa Agarwal
ACKNWOLEDGEMENT
It has indeed been a privilege to work under the enlightened guidance and supervision
of Ms. Rupa Agarwal her immense hold on the subject coupled with invaluable
suggestions on the same. Finally, I owe my heartiest thanks to my prestigious Institution
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Mumbai for providing me with such an
opportunity.
- Aakanksha Rathi
ABSTRACT
It is a complex, creative and consumerism dominated world of fashion and textile. To
gain sustainability one needs long lasting environmental and social quality through
design it should be holistic and multilayered. Up-cycling helps in reduced resource
consumption. It is an inter-related product lifecycle rolls around cultivation, production,
manufacturing, distribution, consumer laundering, re-use and then final disposal.
Garments are most frequently laundered textiles. The consumer care phase of lifecycle
is the most crucial phase of any product. There should be a sense of shared and holistic
responsibility for impact reduction. Changing consumer behavior and improving the
efficiency of laundry practices is one of the solutions to extend life of garment.
Introducing alternate fibers, green manufacturing and smart textile is another way.
Fashion and textile industry‘s future success will depend on reduction of environmental
and social burden across the entire lifecycle.
Up-cycling is a process in which used materials are converted into something of higher
value and/or quality in their second life. It has been increasingly recognized as one
promising means to reduce material and energy use, and to engender sustainable
production and consumption. For this reason and other foreseeable benefits the
concept of up-cycling has been used by many designers and brands. With Fast Fashion everyone can enjoy changing trends with low prices. However, these fast fashion
production and consumption cycles have resulted in a trail of destruction, including
increased textile waste.
It is believed that Fast fashion result into quick discarding of clothes and this
contributes to landfill. Up-cycling can give clothes a second life with a unique identity
and can altogether bring sustainability. But the fact is the life of an up-cycled garment is
very short which leads the up-cycled garment into landfill again. The afterlife given to
the garment is very short and this garment cannot be re-up-cycled. The designers
practicing up-cycling do up-cycling not to bring sustainable fashion but to cut down the
cost required in investment in raw materials, craftsmanship, tailoring and other
resources needed in manufacturing. Many designers make one garment collection in
the name of up-cycling and then stop doing it. This one collection brings them limelight
and paparazzi but could not bring customers and profit. Many brands also create the
false brand image as an up-cycling brand but actually practice down-cycling and re-
cycling.
Within the fashion design process there is often no consideration for the life cycle of a
garment, garment end-of-life strategies, or any sense of responsibility for the textile
waste generated through pattern making, manufacture or use. Up-cycling definitely
brings re-use method of sustainable fashion but does not touch aspects of life cycle of
the up-cycled garment. The pre- production and production textile waste includes
scraps of fabric, rejected fabrics which if up-cycled gives a life to these waste but in
case of post –production textile waste up-cycling gives second life to the used garment.
The life of the post-production up-cycling waste is much less than pre – production and
production waste. The life cycle of any up-cycled form depends on the form of the
product. If the up-cycling of the waste is done in the form of products other than
garments like cushion covers, tapestries, accessories than the problem of landfill can
actually be solved because life span of these products is much longer than the up-
cycled garments.
Designer can integrate sustainable design strategies during the fashion design process,
which can lead to a change in the way that fashion garments are produced, used and
discarded. Fashion design and production process requires a fundamental alignment
with life cycle thinking. The fashion designer needs to comprehensively understand
sustainable design strategies. Fashion designer should link sustainable design
strategies with the activities and phases of design and production.
Up-cycling definitely reduces new production and waste but does not save environment.
The environmental impacts of reuse have, however, received little attention the benefits
typically assumed rather than understood and consequently the overall effects remain
unclear. Many products‘ use-phase energy requirements are decreasing. The relative
importance of the embodied impacts from initial production is therefore growing and the
prominence of reuse as an abatement strategy is likely to increase in the future. Many
examples are found in the literature of beneficial reuse of standardized, unpowered
products and components, and repairing an item is always found to be less energy
intensive than new production. However, reusing a product does not guarantee an
environmental benefit. Attention must be paid to restoring and upgrading old product
efficiencies, minimizing over specification in the new application, and considering
whether more efficient, new products exist that would be more suitable.
The modern consumer lifestyle wants a new piece of garment every day. These
garments have very short life. As compared to other garment the one which carries an
emotional aspect or auspicious craftsmanship sustains a long life. Up-cycled garment
can also live a long life if combined with an emotional aspect.
Key Words: Up-cycling, sustainability, fast fashion, slow fashion, zero-waste,
carbon footprint, down-cycling, Sustainable consumers, sustainable
entrepreneurs, 3 R methods.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SI NO CONTENTS PAGE
NUMBER
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Chapter 2 Methodology
2.1 Aim
2.2 Objective
2.3 Significance of Research
2.4 Research Methodology
2.5 Target Population
2.6 Why sustainable Consumers?
2.7 Sampling
2.8 Sample Size
2.9 Limitation
2.10 Important terminologies used in research
4
4
4
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
Chapter 3 Review of Literature
3.1 Countries where textile waste goes to landfill
3.2 Why Slow Fashion is difficult?
3.3 Life of garment is dependent on Laundry
Practices
3.4 Why do Garments have a very short life as
compared to home décor products?
3.5 How changes in pattern of textile use can
bring sustainability?
3.6 Indian Scenario
3.7 Hierarchy of a Garment
3.8 Up-cycling in form of Craft Clusters
3.9 Down-Cycling
3.10 Trade and Supply of used garments
3.11 Recycling of Textile Waste
3.12 Second Hand Garment Markets
3.13 The Secret recyclers of India Waghri
Community
3.14 Role of the NGOs
8
8
10
11
11
12
13
13
18
18
20
26
28
30
Chapter 4 Primary Research
4.1 Insights from Interviews
4.2 Analysis
4.3 Field Visits
4.4 Analysis of Field Visits
31
43
45
46
Chapter 5 Problem Area 53
Chapter 6
Case Studies: Existing Solutions
6.1 Case Study 1: Punah Project – Generating
circular Economy
6.2 Solution Approach: Extending life of a
garment: Adding emotional value to a garment /
interactive approach
6.3 Emotional Approach to extend the life of a
garment
6.4 Case Studies: Worn Stories – By Emily
Spivack
6.5 Bridal lehengas by designer Kresha Bajaj
6.6 Upcycled By Pero
55
56
58
59
61
66
Chapter 7 Conclusions 70
Appendix-
Questionnaire
Collection of worn stories
Sketches
72
Bibliography 101
LIST OF FIGURES
S.No DESCRIPTION PAGE No.
Figure 1 Figure showing up-cycling of shoes 2
Figure 2 Over production due to fast fashion and cheap rates puts pressure
on resources and leads to production waste.
5
Figure 3 Consumer phase and repurposing of clothes 5
Figure 4 Patchwork from Saurashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan 14
Figure 5 Women making Kaudi blanket in Karnataka 15
Figure 6 Tanka Kaam of Rajasthan 16
Figure 7 Applique work of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Orissa 16
Figure 8 Patchwork of Jaiselmer 17
Figure 9 Contemporization of applique work and Patchwork 17
Figure 10 Graph Showing Leading Exporters of Used Clothing 19
Figure 11 Graph showing leading Importers of second hand clothes 20
Figure 12 Circular Supply chain of textile recycling 21
Figure 13 Rag Route showing Trade and supply of used clothes globally 23
Figure 14 Women busy in sorting of clothes at recycling industry, Panipat 25
Figure 15 Workers at Shoddy recycling industry, Panipat, Haryana 25
Figure 16 Waghari Community women at Anand market, Kopri, Mumbai 29
Figure 17 Up-cycled products of Green by Goonj 31
Figure 18 Sorting and Segregation of clothes at Goonj center, Mumbai 32
Figure 19 Up-cycled products by Cornucopia brand, Delhi 32
Figure 20 Up-cycling of textile waste by brand Chindi 33
Figure 21 Up-cycling and recycling of used shoes (GreenSoles, Navi Mumbai) 34
Figure 22 Cobblers making footwear out of discarded tyre at Padukas, Mumbai 35
Figure 23 Up-cycling procedure of brand Padukas, Mumbai 35
Figure 24 Up-cycling of plastic bags by team Aarohana Eco Social, Pune 36
Figure 25 Up-cycling of Sari by brand I was a Sari 37
Figure 26 Craftsman doing handwork at Ka- Sha, Pune 37
Figure 27 Up-cycled bags and wallets at Doodlage 38
Figure 28 Closing of loop by House of Wandering Silk, Delhi 39
Figure 29 Garment and footwear out of Button Masala technique 39
Figure 30 Furniture, jewelry and Convertible garments by Button Masala 40
Figure 31 Up-cycled home décor products by Rug Republic 41
Figure 32 Up-cycled collection by AM.IT at Lakme Fashion Week, 2015 41
Figure 33 Up-cycled stoles by Metaphor Racha 42
Figure 34 Zero Waste patterns used by SUO 42
Figure 35 Vendors selling textile scraps at Chindi market , Kurla, Mumbai 45
Figure 36 Clothes which are sold by Chindi market vendors to industries for
cleaning purpose
45
Figure 37 Vendors selling second hand clothes at Aanand Market, Kopri 46
Figure 38 Waghari community at Aanand market, Kopri 47
Figure 39 Washing of second hand garment at Chor Bazar, Mumbai 48
Figure 40 Use of dye, patch work for value addition to second hand clothes by
tailors
49
Figure 41 Tailors doing alterations/ repair to second hand garments 50
Figure 42 Tailors repairing second hand jeans 50
Figure 43 Waghari Community women at Chor Bazar 51
Figure 44 Production waste generated while cut and sew method by tailors 51
Figure 45 Cleaning wipes which are thrown by industries 53
Figure 46 Up-cycled products out of used gloves as part of Punah Project 53
Figure 47 Collection of worn stories by Emily Spivack 55
Figure 48 Lehenga depicting love story of Kresha Bajaj 61
Figure 49 The venue leela palace embroidered on Kresh‘s wedding lehenga 62
Figure 50 Picture of first date of the couple embroidered on lehenga 63
Figure 51 Joining hands representing first meeting in satsangg embroidered on
lehenga
64
Figure 52 Wedding lehenga depicting the iconic monuments the couple is from 65
Figure 53 Wedding sari of actress Samanth Prabhu with embroidered iconic
moments from couple‘s love story
65
Figure 54 Lehenga with embroidered love sonnets 66
Figure 55 Up-cycled shoes and jacket by UPCYCLED by Pero 67
Figure 56 Textile leftovers, beads, buttons, crochet flowers used for value
addition for up-cycling by Pero
68
Figure 57 Use of embroidery, patch work for value addition by Pero 69
1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Up-cycling is a process in which used materials are converted into something of higher
value and/or quality in their second life. It has been increasingly recognized as one
promising means to reduce material and energy use, and to engender sustainable
production and consumption. For this reason and other foreseeable benefits the
concept of up-cycling has been used by many designers and brands. With Fast Fashion everyone can enjoy changing trends with low prices. However, these fast fashion
production and consumption cycles have resulted in a trail of destruction, including
increased textile waste.
It is believed that Fast fashion result into quick discarding of clothes and this
contributes to landfill. Up-cycling can give clothes a second life with a unique identity
and can altogether bring sustainability. But the fact is the life of an up-cycled garment is
very short which leads the up-cycled garment into landfill again. The afterlife given to
the garment is very short and this garment cannot be re-up-cycled. The designers
practicing up-cycling do up-cycling not to bring sustainable fashion but to cut down the
cost required in investment in raw materials, craftsmanship, tailoring and other
resources needed in manufacturing. Many designers make one garment collection in
the name of up-cycling and then stop doing it. This one collection brings them limelight
and paparazzi but could not bring customers and profit. Many brands also create the
false brand image as an up-cycling brand but actually practice down-cycling and re-
cycling.
Within the fashion design process there is often no consideration for the life cycle of a
garment, garment end-of-life strategies, or any sense of responsibility for the textile
waste generated through pattern making, manufacture or use. Up-cycling definitely
brings re-use method of sustainable fashion but does not touch aspects of life cycle of
the up-cycled garment. The pre- production and production textile waste includes
scraps of fabric, rejected fabrics which if up-cycled gives a life to these waste but in
case of post –production textile waste up-cycling gives second life to the used garment.
The life of the post-production up-cycling waste is much less than pre – production and
2
production waste. The life cycle of any up-cycled form depends on the form of the
product. If the up-cycling of the waste is done in the form of products other than
garments like cushion covers, tapestries, accessories than the problem of landfill can
actually be solved because life span of these products is much longer than the up-
cycled garments.
Designer can integrate sustainable design strategies during the fashion design process,
which can lead to a change in the way that fashion garments are produced, used and
discarded. Fashion design and production process requires a fundamental alignment
with life cycle thinking. The fashion designer needs to comprehensively understand
sustainable design strategies. Fashion designer should link sustainable design
strategies with the activities and phases of design and production.
Figure 1. Up-cycling of a pair of Shoes
https://hipcycle.com/what-is-upcycling
3
http://www.freepressjournal.in/fpj-anniversary/reinvent-is-upcycling-the-new-fashion-
buzzword/892404
Up-cycling definitely reduces new production and waste but does not save environment.
The environmental impacts of reuse have, however, received little attention the benefits
typically assumed rather than understood and consequently the overall effects remain
unclear. Many products‘ use-phase energy requirements are decreasing. The relative
importance of the embodied impacts from initial production is therefore growing and the
prominence of reuse as an abatement strategy is likely to increase in the future. Many
examples are found in the literature of beneficial reuse of standardized, unpowered
products and components, and repairing an item is always found to be less energy
intensive than new production. However, reusing a product does not guarantee an
environmental benefit. Attention must be paid to restoring and upgrading old product
efficiencies, minimizing over specification in the new application, and considering
whether more efficient, new products exist that would be more suitable.
The modern consumer lifestyle wants a new piece of garment every day. These
garments have very short life. As compared to other garment the one which carries an
emotional aspect or auspicious craftsmanship sustains a long life. Up-cycled garment
can also live a long life if combined with an emotional aspect.
4
CHAPTER 2
METHODOLOGY
2.1 Aim:
To prove following Hypotheses:
Life of home décor /products/ accessories is longer than that of garments.
Up-cycling of any fabric in the form of garment is not a solution to solve the
problem of landfill because the life of the Up-cycled garment is very short.
Any garment which has an emotional aspect lasts longer.
In India the major component of textile waste is production waste and not post-
consumer waste
2.2 Objective:
To research the flaws/gaps in the existing research about Up-cycling
To study the need of up-cycling in Indian scenario
To prove the hypothesis and identify the methods for which can increase the
second life of any discarded garment
2.3 Significance of Research
Fast fashion offers garments at really cheap rate. Due to this wardrobes are overflowing
.Young generation discards the garments very quickly. This leads to landfill. Many
designers are using the method of up-cycling to solve this problem of landfill. These up-
cycled garments are one of its kinds and are mainly purchased by the people who want
to stand out in the crowd and want to create their unique identity. To maintain this
unique wardrobe identity this user again stop wearing this up-cycled garment after few
washes after a short period of time they discard it and this again goes to the landfill.
This piece of garment cannot be up-cycled again and live its third life. Barriers to up-
cycled fashion purchases included concerns about sanitation and an increase in price
over comparable garments.
5
Interest in the global production and consumption of new textiles and clothing is slowly
moving up the political agenda in the Global North, driven by general concerns of
environmental and social sustainability.
Figure 2: Over production due to fast fashion and cheap rates puts pressure on
resources and leads to production waste.
https://www.shutterstock.com/search/textile+industry
https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwi0sqrKx4XUAhWHr48KHe
O1AukQjxwIAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fchallenges.openideo.com%2Fchallenge%2Fbridgebuilder%2Fideas%2Fkhal
oom&psig=AFQjCNFBc2SymvrsB3iXmPHSxWVlJ8SNew&ust=1495613208246293
6
Figure 3: Consumer phase and repurposing of clothes
http://www.genuinegildan.com/media/filer_private/2011/12/07/life_cycle.png
http://static.inditex.com/annual_report_2013/graphs-en/fabricacion-de-articulos-responsables-large.png
https://image.slidesharecdn.com/businesssocietyfinalproject-the3rsinditexmarinateam8-150729184411-lva1-
app6892/95/redefining-textile-industrys-recycling-process-4-638.jpg?cb=1438196626
2.4 Research Methodology:
1. Secondary Research: Journals, Books, Thesis Newspaper articles, online articles
2. Primary Research is based on Qualitative research:
Field visit and Personal interviews / in-depth interviews
Telephonic interviews
Interviews Via e-mail
7
The responses will be analyzed to derive patterns ―ways of thinking‖ and for gaining
insight. This will be followed by data reduction and content analysis.
2.5 Target Population:
Sustainable/ Responsible Consumers
Sustainable/Green Entrepreneurs
2.6 Why sustainable Consumers?
Sustainable consumers can make the difference in changing consumption pattern of
others. They are the agents of change. They are the people who are prepared to make
lifestyle transition to sustainable consumption. They can provide insight to designers for
a perspective of design to move towards sustainable development.
2.7 Sampling:
Should be aware of the term sustainability.
Should incorporate some sustainable activity in their life.
Should be a decision maker in terms of shopping
Should be well educated
2.8 Sample Size: Sustainable consumers: 30, Green Entrepreneurs: 30
2.9 Limitation: This research is restricted to Mumbai.
2.10 Important Terminologies used in Research:
• Sustainable consumer: Sustainable consumers are the people who are
prepared to make lifestyle transitions to sustainable consumption.
• Sustainable /green entrepreneurs: Who are into green entrepreneurship, the
activity of consciously addressing an environmental/social problem/need with a
high level of risk, which has a net positive effect on the natural environment and
at the same time is financially sustainable.‖
8
• Down cycling: Breaking an item down into its component elements. Once the
constituent elements or materials are recovered, they are reused if possible but
usually as a lower-value product.
• Life cycle is the resource extraction, manufacture, distribution, use, disposal and
recycling of product.
• Post-consumer waste is waste collected after the consumer has disposed of it.
• Pre-consumer waste is manufacturing waste that has not reach the consumer.
• Recycled is when a waste material or product has been reused and turned into a
new usable material or product.
• Reduce, reuse, recycle are the so called 3R‘s that classify waste management,
according to their order of importance. Reduce your consumption and usage,
reuse items again and recycle materials.
• Supply chain is the resources and steps involved in moving a product from raw
material to consumer.
• Sustainability is a lasting system, process, that meets the current needs while
preserving for the future.
• Sustainable fashion is clothing that is produced with respect to the environment
and social impacts throughout its lifespan.
• Sustainable textile is a textile that is produced with minimal environmental
impact.
• Textile waste is a material that is deemed unusable for its original purpose by
the owner.
• Zero-waste is a design technique that eliminates textile waste at the design
stage.
9
CHAPTER 3
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
3.1 Countries where textile waste goes to landfill:
The total amount of clothing and textile waste arising per year in the UK is
approximately 2.35 million tons. This is equivalent to nearly 40kg per person per year, a
figure that includes waste from industry and domestic sources. Only around a quarter of
all waste textiles in the UK are reclaimed, with 13 per cent going to material recovery
and 13 per cent to incineration. The remainder (30kg per person per year) goes to
landfill, where textiles contribute to the overall environmental impact of these sites,
including production of methane emissions to air and pollution of groundwater through
toxic leachate .For the 25 per cent of UK clothing and textiles that are currently reused,
the reclamation process commonly involves collecting the used products either in textile
recycling banks or through a network of charity shops and door-to-door collection, then
transporting them to a recycling plant for sorting. The best quality items are resold as
nearly new garments in charity and second hand shops and a small proportion are
reworked into customized pieces (like at TRAID Remade, see below). The majority is
shipped to the Reuse, Recycling and Zero Waste used-clothing markets abroad, notably
in Eastern Europe and Africa where brokers sell it to traders who then sell it on at local
markets. In addition to reuse of complete garments, a small proportion of textiles are
recycled. They are used for wiping cloths, shredded for use as filling materials, such as
in mattresses, or broken down (either mechanically or chemically) and re-spun into a
new yarn. Approximately half of the clothing and textiles recovered are incinerated to
recover energy.
3.2 Difficulties in adopting Slow Fashion
There is very less scope of slow fashion as clothes are often shopped for habitually,
pressure to constantly reformulation of identity. It has been linked to psychological
10
insecurity and rising level of mental illness. People meet their pleasures, new
experience and status and identity formation through buying goods and mainly clothes.
People have an inexhaustible supply of desires, consumption particularly for new items.
Purchase of each new item provides us with novel experience that we have not so far
encountered. We will express newness through changing our garments. People buy
afresh to make visible our identity both as an individual and part of larger social group
within a particular place and time. Consumption is a search for satisfaction. People are
considered poor if they can‘t satisfy our need for identity, participation and creation
(Kate Fletcher, 2014)
Reducing consumption and spending more on longer-lasting clothing is of course a
strategy rarely articulated as a viable option for the mass market. We shop for clothes
addictively and are trapped by record levels of credit card debt. The pressure to
constantly reformulate identity instigated by changing fashion trends feeds insecurity
and rising levels of psychological illness.
We meet our desire for pleasure, new experiences, status and identity. Formation
through buying goods – many of them clothes. And because we have an inexhaustible
supply of desires, consumption – particularly of new items – continues to grow because
we see the purchase of each new item as providing us with novel experiences that we
have not so far encountered. Fashion, in its worst forms, feeds insecurity, peer
pressure, consumerism and homogeneity.
No matter how many clothes we consume, we can never truly satisfy our psychological
needs. Fashion clothes are used to signal who and what we are, to attract (or repel)
others and to put us in a particular frame of mind. Our emotional needs are complex,
subtle and inexhaustible; where we try to meet them through our clothes, they lead to
an escalation in how and what we buy. It follows therefore that understanding more
about the relationship between fashion and sustainability is contingent on a greater
understanding of needs. In other words, we can‘t radically cut consumption of clothing
until we begin to understand its significance as a satisfier of human needs. The
consumption of fashion is a way to signal wealth, identity and social status and
11
experience new things. Merely chanting ―slow fashion‖ is an insufficient and unrealistic
approach that ignores the aptness (wisdom) of sustainable development choice.
We are also poor if we cannot satisfy our need for identity, participation and creation –
three needs which can (at least in part) be met by fashion. Yet fashion clothes as we
experience them today are also the cause of multiple poverties.
Not all things are thrown away just because they are worn out, but rather, in most
cases, because people are bored with them. New clothes are bought primarily because
of a change in fashion and only very rarely to replace old, worn-out garments
Majority of environmental impact in lifecycle of garment arises from consumer use
phase. Mainly a user stops wearing a garment because of size, white color, color
bleeding, when garment becomes out of fashion or just for a change. This has become
a social paradigm of fashion and we resist changes in these paradigm. For existing
models, values, perception of habits of mind are themselves the root cause of problem
of unsustainability. Modifying laundry practices is not a guarantee of big sustainability
gains across the board. Ideas to change products or processes can be introduced more
quickly as they require a little change to establish behavior.
3.3 Life of garment is dependent on following factors:
Laundry Practices
12
There are a limited, but growing, number of studies that give detailed lifecycle
assessments (LCA) for textiles and clothing and these confirm the high relative impact
of the use phase for frequently laundered clothing. Modifying laundry practices is not a
guarantee of big sustainability gains across the board. If we measure the environmental
impact of cotton in terms of toxicity rather than energy use, then changing garment
washing and drying practices brings almost no improvement. Similarly, modifying
laundering behavior brings little benefit for products that are rarely washed. This
includes furnishings, carpets and some garments, typically those made from wool. Even
if we wash woolen items frequently, they tend to be laundered on low temperatures and
are line dried (as they are largely unsuitable for tumble drying), and so for these types of
products the biggest savings can be made by improving production efficiencies, not by
concentrating our efforts on use.
White goods manufacturers and detergent companies have been aware of the
sustainability impacts of their products for several decades and many have taken steps
to reduce these impacts. The key issues include energy, water and detergent use in
washing, and energy use in drying and ironing.
The average piece of clothing stays in a person‘s wardrobe for 3 years 5 months, is on
the body for 44 days during this time and is worn for between 2.4 and 3.1 days between
washing. Yet even though the typical garment is only washed and dried around 20 times
in its life, most of its environmental impact comes from laundering and not from growing,
processing and producing the fabric or disposing of it at the end of its life. The washing
and drying of polyester blouse, for example, uses around six times as much energy as
that needed to make it in the first place. Just by washing the blouse half as often, the
product‘s overall energy consumption can be cut by almost 50 per cent.
Any stains to the garment cause it to be regularly laundered or even discarded. As the
stains dry, their hue changes and the tonality of the stained color gains depth. Major
13
discrepancy between idealized notions of how long things ought to last and the starker
reality of what actually happens reflects a significant gap between the length of time
designers feel materials should last (‗all materials should be very durable‘) and the
average length of time the garment stays on trend (‗around six months‘).
3.4 Garments have a very short life as compared to home décor products
Clothes become out rated very quickly and this encourages the replacement of clothes
very quickly no matter how good the quality of the garment is. The craving of buying
new garments never gets satisfied. Average pieces of clothing stays in person‘s
wardrobe for 3-5 years is on the body for 44 days.(Worn between 2.4 – 3.1 days). Even
though typical garment is only washed and dried around 20 times in its life most of its
environmental impact arises from process of laundering and not growing of fibers. On
contrary rugs, mats, bags, carpets, table runners, covers and other items are used more
than 5-10 years in Indian society and they require less laundry as compared to
garments and are not as frequently changed with trends as compared to garments. In
case of frequently laundered garments like a cotton T-shirt use phase has the highest
impact and effect of reducing the energy used in washing, drying and ironing but for
carpets energy and environmental impact profile is weighted very differently. Furnishing,
carpets are used less and washed less. Majority of environmental impact in lifecycle of
garment arises from consumer use phase. Mainly a user stops wearing a garment
because of size, white color, color bleeding, when garment becomes out of fashion, or
just for a change. This has become a social paradigm of fashion and we resist changes
in these paradigm. For existing models, values, perception of habits of mind are
themselves the root cause of problem of unsustainability. Modifying laundry practices is
not a guarantee of big sustainability gains across the board. Ideas to change products
or processes can be introduced more quickly as they require a little change to establish
behavior. In up-cycling also the performance of final product is affected by consumer
behavior. (Kate Fletcher, 2014)
14
3.5 Changes in pattern of textile use can bring sustainability
In the case of the use phase, there are great differences in the way textiles and
garments are used. There are areas of the textile lifecycle that have most impact and
where change could bring biggest benefit. For example, in the case of a cotton T-shirt,
the use phase has the highest impact and the effect of reducing the energy used in
washing, drying and ironing the T-shirt dwarfs the possible effects of changing
production methods. But for carpets, the energy and environmental impact profile is
weighted very differently. Here the materials production phase is very important –
approximately 71 per cent of the total energy4 – and disposal is also high impact,
meaning that innovation is best directed at phases other than use.
The more radical innovations focus on consumption patterns and bring the biggest
benefits because they are based on cultural change and shifts in consumer
consciousness, although they are both difficult and time consuming to influence. In
contrast, changes to products or processes can be introduced more quickly as they
generally involve familiar technologies and require little change to established behavior,
but they bring smaller scale improvements. In the case of furnishings, designing to
enhance durability and a ‗slow‘ rhythm of use would probably bring resource benefits.
For clothing, however, the picture is more involved because of the relative importance of
laundering behavior in determining overall lifecycle impact and because not all types of
clothing are worn and washed in the same way.
3.6 Indian Scenario:
In India the discarded garment does not actually contribute to landfill but they are
actually passed to some other user to live their second life. This not compulsorily
requires the process of adding value to the garment until the garment is in wearable
condition. In India women still take away old clothes from the households in exchange
of a few utensils. This caste based occupation has marked its existence with their trade
web that incorporates commodity exchange, up-cycling the clothes, various levels of
transporting the old clothes. The old clothes are processed and marketed to various
rural pockets where first hand clothes stand unaffordable. The non-wearable fabric is up
15
cycled to its maximum usage by converting it in various forms like quilts, hand wipes for
factory workers, cushion covers etc. but not in the form of garments. This utensil
exchange practiced in the Chindi (rag) markets. These Bartanwalas and Chindiwalas
collect clothes in exchange of utensils. They manage to sell boxes, quarter-plates, even
the odd, stainless-steel dinner-set. For the last, they may charge 50 pieces of clothing.
Five typically fetches a two-kilo steel pan according to the kind of clothes and quality.
This aspect goes against the research which says discarded clothes contribute to
landfill. In a way it deals with post-consumer waste. In India Cloth is never simply
thrown away, and will be used up until it literally wears out.
If not chindiwalas/ bartanwalas it goes to some other member of the family or maid or is
used for cleaning purpose for dusting. A six-yard sari can become six one square yard
polishing cloths for the machine industry; dhotis are torn into three pieces, while shirts
become smaller dusters. These are then sold on to hardware shops, factories and the
machining industries.
The Delhi community of the Waghris uses new and old Gujarati embroidery to make
cushion covers, bedspreads and wall hangings made from scraps of embroidered
clothing for the export market. Benarasi brocades sari‘s zari borders and pallu in zari
are sold individually and the remaining, plainer silk scarves (chuni and headsquares),
used as lining material , sold for scrap (chindi, katran) to the local rag merchants.
Cushion covers and bedspreads are made up of a patchwork of these elements stitched
together on cotton.
Up-cycling is done in India by these people but they prefer converting the used fabric
into products other than garment.
Hierarchy of Use of clothes in India can be explained as - Garment is worn for Best and
then for everyday use and then for private use at home or passed to some other person
giving it a second life.
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3.7 Hierarchy of a Garment:
Hierarchy of use for clothes is well established on an individual level – first we wear a
garment only for ‗best‘, then for everyday use and eventually for private use at home.
Hand-downs that arrive in India are pulped to make everything from low- and mid-range
doormats and prayer rugs to blankets and bed linen. Leftover garments are cut into
square pieces to be sold as industrial wipers for the paints, chemicals and construction
industries, for both local and international buyers in Japan and Australia. Waste is used
to stuff pillows and mattresses. Up-cycling of old textiles specially Indian saris (which is
5.5 meters long piece of fabric) to cushion covers, bags, table covers, blankets by
quilting is a common practice at present in many places all over India.
In an average Indian household, an old shirt gets converted into a pillowcase. It then
morphs into a floor cover or a foot towel or even into a kitchen towel. My grandmother
used to speak of tearing the old shirt into pieces to be used as fuel for the chulha. Many
people give away old worn out saris, trousers and skirts each year to their house maid
or exchanges them for new steel utensils from the woman visiting her doorsteps once
every few months.
At home, techniques like replacing worn collars and cuffs, patching trousers and
jackets, unraveling old knitwear to reuse the yarn, cutting worn bed sheets into dusters
and darning holes were widely practiced.
3.8 Up-cycling in form of Craft Clusters:
International:
a) Boro: Japanese Folk Fabric:
Boro was born of forgotten values of ‗mottainai‘ or ‗too good to waste‘. Boro is the
clothing that was worn by peasants, merchants or artisans in Japan from Edo period up
to early Showa (17th – early 19th century).Clothes were crafted from cheaper materials,
but were no less beautiful than those worn by the upper classes. Literally translated as
17
rags or scraps of cloth, the term boro is also used to describe clothes and household
items which have been patched-up and repaired many times. Once clothing was made,
it would be maintained throughout the owner‘s lifetime, or perhaps even longer.
The beauty of boro fabric is the highly sophisticated sewing and weaving techniques
used by the women who made it. For peasant families, each garment would last long
enough to be passed down through generations. Daily use would require frequent
repair. Made up of scraps of old clothes over generations, the timeline of the family
could be traced along its seams. Boro is a practical, utilitarian and cheap fabric. Each
boro item is by its very definition, absolutely unique. Now, it is valued as art and has
become highly collectible. Boro uses everything and wastes nothing. Boro shows us the
value of time spent, not money. Unfortunately, it also highlights the wastefulness of
modern lifestyles.
b) Indian Crafts
Originally, the incentive to repair was economic; labor was cheap compared to the cost
of textile materials and garments, so fabrics were carefully maintained and repaired.
These were then sold under the category of handicraft. Post-consumer textiles wastes
are still up-cycled in small Indian clusters. Traditionally, fabric from old cotton saris are
made into layers and stitched together using run stitches, to give a unique design effect.
This product termed as ―Kantha‖ is used for infants and children as blankets and wraps
as it is soft and suitable for the Indian climatic conditions. Kantha work is famous in the
eastern states of India like Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and Orissa. The nomadic
Bakkarwal and Gujjar tribes of Jammu and Kashmir use acrylic yarn for embroidery on
the old woolen felt blankets and convert it in to a beautiful needle worked handmade
rugs. This is a part of their tradition and culture and a method to preserve the old
textiles. They also use old textiles to make caps, bags and other accessories with
beautiful hand embroidery. Similarly, the nomadic tribes in Rajasthan do patch work,
embroidery and mirror work to give a bright new look to their dresses. A number of
accessories are also created on recycled textiles with surface embellishment by this
18
community and marketed by different NGOs and traders for the domestic & international
market.
Patchwork from Saurashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan
Figure 4. Patchwork from Saurashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan
http://www.india-
crafts.com/textile/weaving_traditions/printing_tradition/embroidery_traditions/phulkari/ki
mkhab/kantha/chikankari/aribharat/applique/index.html
Kaudi blanket of Karnataka.
https://in.pinterest.com/pin/505740233139141555/
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Figure 5. Women making Kaudi blanket in Karnataka
https://in.pinterest.com/pin/505740233139141555/
https://varnatantu.wordpress.com/2014/07/17/upcycling-saris-into-quilted-blanket-cover/
Tanka-kaam of Rajasthan
Figure 6.Tanka Kaam of Rajasthan
http://gaatha.com/tanka-kaam/
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Applique and patchwork of Jaisalmer, Gujarat, Orissa
Figure 7. Applique work of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Orissa
http://www.craftmark.org/sites/default/files/P006%20Applique.pdf
21
Figure 8. Patchworks of Jaisalmer
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/patchwork-quilt-jaisalmer-india-107606111
Applique is one of the oldest and finest crafts of Gujarat. By using different patches of
fabric, beautiful forms of floral and animal designs are prepared for quilts, hangings,
modern household products and apparels. So by piecing cloth together as in quilts,
different patterns are made by applying cloth of different colors. Multicolored covering of
jigsaw pieces formed of geometrical shapes creating tensile texture and visual treat, is
the impression one gets while seeing an applique or patchwork. Colorful and vivid
shapes and forms of fabric patched together or on another surface create the most
attractive and vibrant textile products.
The art of decorating a textile product by applying fabric on fabric with the edges sewn
down by stitching can be termed as applique while patchwork is the art of sewing little
patches of geometric shaped fabric to form a textile pattern.
This craft is done in Saurashtra, Banaskantha, Patan and Kutch.
Figure 9. Contemporization of applique work and Patchwork
https://www.facebook.com/myvillage.rimzimdadu
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3.9 Down-Cycling
Down-cycling involves downgrading the quality of reclaimed materials immediately into
cheap, low-value end uses rather than maintaining them as a high-value product or
resource. This happens for example, when various fibres are mixed together to produce
a blend of lower quality that then goes into amorphous products such as insulation
panels or mattress stuffing, rather than being reused as high-value products such as
clothing.
3.10 Trade and Supply of used garments:
Many countries throw clothes after using it due to lack of resources. Many others do
export the used clothes to other nations for recycling. Many developing countries import
these used clothes and make utility products out of them which are later sold in other
countries.
A. Used wearable clothes enter the Indian retail market through two channels: Smuggling from special economic zones (SEZs).
Payment of a paltry penalty of Rs. 50 a kg at custom checkpoints. (Kandla, Falta)
57.6 million Garments enter the retail market every year through each licensee,
for resale through illegal channels from SEZs.
B. Used clothes are imported into India under two categories — wearable and
mutilated.
The import of wearable clothes requires a license from the government, with the
condition of 100 per cent re-export ( 30% of imports)
The government‘s approval isn‘t required to import mutilated clothes ( 60 % of
import)Yarn extracted from mutilated rags and woolens is used to make blankets,
sold at about Rs 80-100 each in the open market.
23
Figure 10. Graph Showing Leading Exporters of Used Clothing
http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/india-emerges-top-importer-of-
used-clothes-115100800540_1.html
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Figure 11. Graph showing leading Importers of second hand clothes
http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/india-emerges-top-importer-of-
used-clothes-115100800540_1.html
3.11 Recycling of Textile Waste:
In the UK in 2008 more than half of annual clothing purchases were simply thrown
away, and only a quarter collected for reuse and recycling (Morley et al. 2009).
Rag collectors and shoddy manufacturers have been recovering and recycling fibre for
hundreds of years. Individuals too have been reusing, repairing and reconditioning their
own household textiles and garments for generations. Unsurprisingly therefore, there
are a large number of designer- and producer-led initiatives focusing on textile waste
and its management, mainly through reuse and recycling.
25
The method of extracting fibre from fabric has stayed the same for the last 200 years
and involves mechanically tearing the fabric apart using carding machines. The process
breaks the fibres, producing much shortened lengths, which when spun tend to produce
a bulky, low-quality yarn.
Figure 12. Circular Supply chain of textile recycling
http://www.ecouterre.com/hm-kering-team-up-to-close-the-loop-on-textile-
recycling/kering-h-and-m-worn-again-2/
Post-consumer textile wastes are recycled in the industrial sector as well as in almost
every Indian household. In 2004, worn garment imports were placed under the
restricted list, meaning a commodity trader can bring in goods only a single time after
paying a penalty. The government had, however, relaxed the rule for some: 14
companies located in Gujarat‘s Kandla SEZ have licenses to import freely for sorting
and repairing clothes for exports to Africa. This has led traders to complain of
26
monopolistic practices and unfair advantage. SEZs are allowed to send 15% of the cost
insurance freight (CIF) value for sale in the local market.
SEZ operators have also been accused of importing fresh clothes as old ones. Used
garments pose health risks. The Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI)
claims goods worth Rs550 crore enter illegally every year through India‘s ports and
international airports.
The Textile Recycling Association, representing the Kandla sorting companies and
recyclers, however, maintains that only inferior clothes meant for use by the poor enter
the country. All shipments are fumigated by certified international agencies.
The Kandla SEZ, according to the association, imported goods worth Rs297 crore in the
last fiscal, contributing Rs315 crore to the country‘s foreign exchange through exports.
In this labour-intensive, big-volume, low-margin business, workers are needed to sort
and grade clothes; the SEZ employs 3,000 people every year.The business of textile
waste recycling is less known. But for decades, second-hand garments from the West
have created a thriving business in India, as cheap clothing for millions of the country‘s
poor. The trendier lots routinely resurface in urban flea markets such as Sarojini Nagar
in New Delhi and Linking Road in Mumbai, where fashionable college goers and their
mothers pluck bargains at dirt-cheap rates. But now a huge amount of discards from
well-heeled consumers in the US, Canada and South Korea are ending up in Panipat,
Asia‘s biggest textile recycling hub, to get a second life. Annual sales of the global used-
clothing industry are estimated to be $1 billion (around Rs4,740 crore) —half a per cent
of the $200 billion clothing industry, according to a 2005 study by Sally Baden and
Catherine Barber for international charity house Oxfam. It has grown 10-fold globally
since 1991. Recycled yarn keeps prices low. Around 30 units produce 500 tons of
recycled yarn a day out of cotton pants and T-shirts that is used to make mats.
Recycled cotton yarn is production-friendly. Besides, customers want good rates; they
are less quality-conscious.
In 2008, the Indian parliament imposed a ban on the import of international old clothes
seeing it as a potential threat to the country‘s export-driven clothes manufacturing
sector. However, this ban is only on non-mutilated clothes. Mutilated clothes have a
27
conditional entry into India‘s ports. The importers ensure the processing of the mutilated
clothes and the subsequent export as blankets, rugs, pillow stuffing. These waste
clothes thus get a second life in Asia‘s biggest recycling shoddy industries of Panipat.
The real catch in importing these international clothes lies in proving that they are
mutilated. Few investors at Kandla special economic zone of textile recycling
association have obtained licenses to import these old clothes and set up sorting plants.
They claim to provide the sorted worn garment directly to the Indian poor.
Often the containers departing from the Kandla port of Gujarat display mutilated clothes
outside and hide stacks of non-mutilated second-hand clothes inside. As a result, the
Clothing Manufacturers Association of India claims that goods worth Rupees 550 crore
illegally enter India every year through its ports and through international airports.
In the case of recycling of post-consumer wastes of wool and acrylic waste in India,
Panipat, in northern India, is the world‘s largest hub, producing reclaimed ―shoddy‖ wool
yarns and blankets out of used winter clothing. The raw material is sourced from the
international second hand clothing market of the developed countries like USA & UK.
Small industries produce yarns, blankets, felt products cotton durries, made-ups, throws
and mats. For example, Wilcox has estimated that up to 20% by volume of its turnover
is exported to India for recycling. The business of using recycled acrylic and woolen
threads for blanket manufacturing has annual revenues of INR 700- 1,000 crore in
Panipat alone, according to the All India Woolen and Shoddy Mills‘ Association. The
trade is not illegal, as the clothing is mutilated before it crosses the Indian ports.
a) Kishco Group, Mumbai:
India deals with import and export business related to recycled clothing to serve various
industries. Materials that are imported constitute residues of all types (cotton, acrylic,
wool, polyester, nylon etc.) from different stages of production in the textile industry like
fibre manufacturing , yarns spinning, fabric weaving/ knitting, new garment manufacture,
28
etc. Some of these materials are converted to fibers like poly waste yarn, poly-
regenerated fibers, etc. Used clothing comprising of wool, acrylic and cotton sweater
are converted into re-generated fiber by Kishco Group. The business of sorting and
grading of textile consumer waste imported from the developed countries happens in
the Kandla Special Economic Zone in Gujarat, 600 kilometers to the north of Kishco‘s
Mumbai base. It is one of the largest centers of India where sorting and grading of
textile wastes takes place. Some of the used clothing waste imported into India is also
used for wiping material. The supplies mainly come in from U.S.A. and Europe
b) Panipat Textile Industry:
Figure13. Rag Route showing Trade and supply of used clothes globally http://shirahime.ch/2013/01/panipat-stories-textile-recycling-hardcore/
29
Every year, about 1,44,000 tons of mutilated worn clothes and textiles that are trashed
by America, Europe and parts of Asia. They are imported to Indian dock, via containers,
at ports in Mumbai and Gujarat. Then they are purchased by Panipat's shoddy
manufacturers for recycling. Labels, zippers and buttons (resold at 25 paisa a kg) are
separated from the fabric. Fabric is then shredded. Discarded wool and acrylic clothing
from the West is converted into yarn in India. They are woven into blankets, blazers and
shawls. They are sold to the poor, to people affected by disaster, to the army, to school
children, and even to passengers on the railway.
It's hard to imagine that the coarse grey woolen blankets issued to the rural poor could
conceal a shred of Chanel or a fibre from Fendi. Unknown to villagers, high fashion -
removed by several industrial processes, down an inverted value chain - sits heavily on
their shoulders.
Of all the ironies inherent in recycling, this is most piquant: discarded wool and acrylic
clothing from the West is converted into yarn in India and woven into blankets, blazers
and shawls that find their way to the poor, to people affected by disaster, to the army, to
school children, and even to passengers on the railway.
It's the working of what's called the 'shoddy' industry in Panipat. This historic city in
Haryana is in fact the global capital of textile fiber recycling. Every year, about 1, 44,000
tons of mutilated worn clothes and textiles that are trashed by America, Europe and
parts of Asia are imported to Indian docks, via containers, at ports in Mumbai and
Kandla, in Gujarat - are purchased by Panipat's shoddy manufacturers for recycling.
Signs of the trade are everywhere - trucks piled high with clothes lumber down gritty
gullies towards recycling units, beyond whose gates are passageways lined with textile
scraps and loose buttons. Further in are cavernous warehouses, where women sort the
clothes into color families of reds, browns, greens, etc. Labels, zippers and buttons
(resold at 25 paise a kg) are separated from the fabric, which is then shredded on
mounted scythes to collect strips of solid color. Three tons of fabric produces around 1.5
tons of yarn, which is woven back into shoddy fabric. The labor is divided: women sort
30
and strip, men work the shredding and carding machines. Impressively, textile recycling
put Panipat on the global map. Polyester, which makes a cheaper, lighter, more supple
blanket, is starting to edge 'shoddy' out of the textile stakes, leaving shoddy yarn
manufacturers with dormant carding machines, mountains of untouched clothes and a
depleting workforce.
Figure 14. Women busy in sorting of clothes at recycling industry, Panipat
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/deep-focus/Worlds-cast-off-capital-goes-from-riches-to-rags/articleshow/49612121.cms
There were around 600 to 700 shoddy yarn and textile manufacturers in Panipat up until
2012; now there are barely 150 units.
Around 30,000 to 40,000 kg of old clothes comes to factory every day. Many
organizations like the UN, non-profits, governments, the army, hospitals and even
prisons buy shoddy blankets. At the time of the 2001 Bhuj earthquake, around 10 lakh
blankets were picked up from Panipat. During the Nepal earthquake in 2015 four to five
lakh recycled blankets were sold. Some of these manufacturers have shut shoddy units
and started manufacturing polyester blankets. The odds are in favor of synthetic. A 1.5
X 2m polyester blanket weighs 300 grams and costs Rs 70; its shoddy counterpart
weighs 1.5 to 2 kg and costs Rs 100. Polyester lasts about 3-4 seasons; shoddy
probably two.
31
Figure 15. Workers at Shoddy recycling industry, Panipat, Haryana
http://www.livemint.com/Companies/x9tnCSRrdT3RSn3BXfRtON/Old-clothes-spin-a-new-yarn-in-India.html
Not surprising, during the 2013 Uttarakhand floods a disaster risk management team in
Delhi, dispatched polyester blankets to the hills. Polyester blankets are warmer, lighter
and easier to transport, which matters when you're covering inhospitable terrain.
New polyester mill has a daily production capacity of 7,000 kg. Many sole proprietors
believe the future, with polyester, is bright. In shoddy factory, women sit around scythes,
mechanically slice coats and trousers, jackets and shirts of almost all international
leading brands.In 2010, the production value of shoddy industries was around Rupees
90 crore a month. In 2015 it was reduced to Rs. 35 crore. The industry imported around
800 containers of mutilated clothes a month; now it's down to 300 (each weighing about
25 tons).According to the Bureau of International Recycling, headquartered in Belgium
the decline of Panipat as an industry will impact the recycling of worn clothing to a huge
extent. This will decrease the import of used clothes in India and export will be diverted
to other countries like Pakistan, China, Morocco, Kenya and Tanzania.
More than 30% of the world's manufactured clothing is recycled. Some of it is converted
into yarn, while the balance is utilized by the cleaning industry. If this industry were to
close it would be a very big problem globally as there would be more of this material
going into landfills, adding to the problem of pollution.
Now, Panipat's labor force - which used to number around 90,000 in its heyday - is also
retreating home to Bihar and UP or seeking jobs elsewhere in Panipat. While there will
32
be work in the new polyester factories, being far less labor-intensive, they'll absorb less
than a quarter of the shoddy workforce.
c) Jindal’s Recycling Plant, Dharam Pal Woollen Industries:
Rejected garments of every kind—furry caps, extra-large cardigans, and outlandish
overalls—arrive from across the world to Jindal‘s recycling plant in this textile town
90km north of New Delhi.
This company makes 10,000kg of yarn a day from 20 tons of used clothes that lie in an
open tin shed, ready to go into the shredder for extracting flossy fiber. This raw material
is then used to produce yarn for making blankets, school blazer fabric and red-and-
black checkered drapes popular among the Masai population of Tanzania and Kenya.
And out of the jumble may emerge a vintage piece of period value that special clothes
stores in the West die for, says Gurvinder Toor, who runs a recycling plant in Gujarat‘s
Kandla special economic zone (SEZ). Vintage clothes are sent back to the US and they
fetch a good price. Nothing is wasted by US Clothing India Pvt. Ltd which handles
75,000kg of old clothes a day.
Bathroom mats that use recycled cotton yarn is a Rs 2000 crore industry. The business
of using recycled acrylic and woolen threads for blanket manufacturing has annual
revenues of Rs700-1,000 crore in Panipat alone, says the All India Woolen and Shoddy
Mills‘ Association
3.12 Second Hand Garment Markets:
Few people seem to realize how much used clothing is profitably sold abroad, and
those that do know a little about the market are completely unaware of its value, scale,
and impact. The value of the global trade in secondhand garments has risen to US$2.97
billion in 2010, an increase of 13 percent from 2009 alone (Comatrade, 2011).
The old worn out shirt finds its way across states and nations to create a billion-dollar
industry of second-hand clothes. What is old and disposable for one becomes brand
33
new for another. Changing fashion trends and improved purchasing power has led to
the consumers purchasing clothes more than needed and discarding them much earlier.
This provides a greater volume of discarded clothes available for sale as secondhand
clothes. Used clothing is one of the most popular items sold in the flea markets all over
the world. Norris, (2010.137) in her study on recycling Indian clothing in New Delhi has
described the Chor Bazaar at the Red Fort in New Delhi as the most hidden-away
markets, overflowing with used and reused clothes that were also found across the City
1. Delhi’s Azad Market:
It is country‘s biggest wholesale old clothes market. Clothes are unpacked from arriving
bundles, mended and iron-pressed before they are resold. In this largely all-cash
unregulated trade, old jeans are bought for Rs25 per piece from importers and are sold
for Rs35. Traders say 90% of the goods arrive here from Kandla port, Gujarat.
2. Anand Market, Kopri, Thane:
In a bustling corner in Thane‘s Kopri area is Anand Market, where hawkers have been
gathering since the past four decades to sell second hand clothes. Here the hawkers
swear by the barter system. They procure the clothes by going door-to-door and offering
utensils in exchange for them.
They start their day by going door-to-door to ask for used clothes and provide utensils in
exchange for them. They first collect the clothes by going to people‘s homes in harsh
sunlight and then sell them in this open market.‖ The buyers are rarely individuals
shopping for personal use, but are wholesale traders. However, there are times when
they go back home without selling anything. The monsoon period is a challenging time
as they cannot sell in the open and have to struggle to keep the clothes dry.
The sold clothes subsequently find their way to different markets in the city that sell
second hand clothes. There are some others who prefer second hand clothes as they
come cheap. Many buyers buy the clothes from here as they get good clothes at a very
low price. The Kopri area of Thane bustles everyday with men and women from the
34
waghari community setting up a market by the roadside. Some sell old clothes, others
buying utensils from wholesale stores nearby and a few searching for clothes to take
back to their villages. Waghari community members collect clothes door to door in
Kandivali, Dombivli and Borivali areas. They make a profit of Rs100-200 per day. Many
of them come to Thane every evening to sell all they have collected throughout day.
3. Chor Bazar:
The main center in Mumbai for dealing in imported Western and Indian clothing is
located near Bhendi Bazaar at Mumbai Central. The well-known 'Chor Bazaar' in
Mumbai offers interesting shopping. It is not that the bazaar is patronized by the poor;
there are college students, office goers, tourists and people from all walks of life
belonging to all age groups who head to the place. An early morning visit on any day, to
the seven lanes starting from Do Taki junction, one will see a flood of brightly colored
clothes in all sizes. The business is brisk here much before the shops open for
business. The sale of these is visible all across the city in lots on footpaths, railway
bridges, road side and weekly bazaars. It is estimated that thousands of people earn a
living out of sale of used clothes. The clothes that are sold in Chor Bazaar come from
another Flea Market called the Waghri Bazaar. It is situated at the grounds of Lane No
13, Kamathipura, near Mumbai Central. This wholesale flea market opens up at 4 am
every Friday and closes by 8 am. Most of the sellers are Gujarati Hindus and most
buyers are Muslim dealers from Chor Bazaar.
4. Chindi Bazar:
In the wee hours of the night, the colorful labyrinth of lanes at the secluded periphery of
any city in India is home to a chindi bazaar. This is the nerve center of the second-hand
intra-recycling system that is unique to India and is known as the Waghri Chindi (rag)
trade.
35
3.13 Waghri Community:
The Waghris, a nomadic community of India, identifies itself with the word ‗chindi’ and
has been operating the informal old clothes recycling trade for a century-and-a-half now.
They traditionally barter old clothes for new utensils from various households of almost
all cities across India.
Waghri woman is usually draped in a Gujarati-styled sari walking across the urban
residential lanes, typically on a late afternoon, balancing a bundle of clothes on her
head and a stack of utensils on her shoulders. Waghri community women take away all
the old clothes in exchange of aluminum or steel vessels. They also call themselves
Kathiawadis, there are two groups - one which collects old clothes in exchange of
utensils and the other which buy these old clothes to further sell them in villages, usually
in the interiors of Gujarat. They come to cities once a month to buy clothes to sell them
in villages. They pick these clothes, wash them and iron them to make them as good as
new.
36
Figure 16. Waghari Community women at Anand market, Kopri, Mumbai(Source: Self
Clicked)
Around 500 of them travel from Gujarat, first halting at Chor Bazaar to look for cheap
clothes to recycle, and then come to Kopri. Though they find quite a lot of western
clothes, they still opt for traditional wear. Apart from Mumbai, the Vagharis visit Surat,
Rajkot and Ahmedabad in Gujarat to buy and sell old clothes.
Wagharis who are seeing a decline in this business are looking to educate the younger
generations so that they can get better jobs. Currently, the men have started to get
trained in skills for a stable job and their wives or daughters take over the cloth
business. Slowly, their community is encouraging children to continue schooling for
better prospects in life.
The chindiwalis (as they call themselves) meticulously bargain at doorsteps and
continue a five-to-six hour pheri or collection rounds on hot afternoons across city
spaces. These clothes are further sorted, stitched, darned, patched up and ironed. The
sorting spaces are either the narrow alleyways of their slums or are under railway
bridges, flyovers or footpaths.
They further sell their collection in the chindi markets often held at odd hours in the
city. A glance through the markets unveils traders (Waghri women and men) squatting
in long lines with their clothing collection and calling out to buyers who they refer to
as vyapari or middleman. The women haggle at the top of their voices to strike the best
buy. These vyaparis further travel to nearby towns and cities to sell the clothes in small
vending shops or pavement carts. The next set of customers spotted in these Waghri
markets are the construction workers, rickshaw pullers, and women and their children
from a nearby slum.
The Waghri women further travel to nearby villages and in their weekly markets sell the
clothes to the rural population that cannot afford first-hand clothes. A sari for Rs 30, a
shirt for Rs 40 and clothing for children for Rs 35 are some basic rates at which the
37
clothes are sold to the customers. The Waghri trade, created out of a thick mesh of
inter-state, intra-community linkages, gets replicated in each of India‘s cities. This
informal trade industry, based on the traditional barter system, brings affordable
second-hand clothing to India‘s rural and urban poor. Despite providing affordable
clothing to the poor, the Waghri community faces absolute dejection, constant struggle
to hold a fixed market in Indian cities and meager economic returns.
3.14 Role of the NGOs:
Goonj:
A non-profit organization that distributes old cloths is that the need for clothing has not
been filled in India. Out of the collections it receives, they use the cloths to make
reusable sanitary pads for rural women. There‘s a poverty level where people continue
to suffer during winter because they don‘t have enough to cover themselves.
The privileged across the globe – those who can afford first-hand clothes and discard
them after minimal usage or once they are no longer in fashion – believe that they have
been helping the poor by these donations. Goonj is working extensively to provide
clothing for Indian poor, reveals some alarming statistics of people suffering in the
winter solely because they do not have enough to cover themselves and of women who
still use old newspapers during menstruation.
Clothes that charities cannot sell locally are sold to commercial textile recyclers, who
also buy the clothing dropped into textile banks. The ostensible function of clothes
donated by NGOs can be non-fashion clothing material as their prime objective is to
protect skin, modesty and keep them warm.
38
CHAPTER 4
PRIMARY RESEARCH
4.1 Insights from Interviews:
a) Sussana Cherian, Goonj Mumbai
Life of rugs, mats, home décor products is more than that of garments as they require
less number of washes and maintenance. But in NGOs the garments are actually
passed on to the rural people who actually need that garment. Unlike urban people they
don‘t discard garments very early. People are enthusiastically coming to give their stuff
to Goonj because they know it is for a noble cause and the fact that it goes to the needy
people in rural areas. The garments they give are in a wearable condition. Second life of
the garment is also user dependent.
Figure 17. Up-cycled products of Green by Goonj
Source: Self Clicked
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Figure18. Sorting and Segregation of clothes at Goonj center, Mumbai
Source: Self Clicked
b) Manisha Desai,Co-Founder Cornucopia , Environmentalist
Figure 19. Up-cycled products by Cornucopia brand, Delhi
https://lbb.in/delhi/cornucopia-picks-old-clothes-turns-quilts-covers/
40
As far as longevity is concerned product have longer life as compared to garments as
they need less care, less number of washes, unlike garments they are not worn, they
don‘t have risk of wear and tear. People have accepted home décor stuff over
garments. Acceptance and demand makes ultimately brings Business sustainability.
c) Mehera Shaw,Co –founder, Mehra Shaw, Jaipur
Women are the leading buyers and can probably bring the best. One should think about
life cycle of the final product. Definitely home décor and other products have a longer
life. But garment production is required because it is more in demand and makes good
profit. Garment‘s life can be extended by quality design, sustainable fabric. Garment
should be worn well over time and reflects the story of its production.
d) Tanushree Shukla,Co-Founder, Chindi
Figure 20. Up-cycling of textile waste by brand Chindi
https://www.chindi.in/
Make whatever out of up-cycling we are at least not using new resources. Those who
make garments they mainly export because western world knows about sustainability
and they understand its need. Aesthetic value and price are given more value than any
other environmental reason. Until its customization level we don‘t want to deal with used
41
garments. It‘s the women who have the veto power to take all decisions when it comes
to shopping.
e) Shreyas Bhandari, Founder, Greensole
For garments women are the leading buyers but for products both men and women
have equal buying behavior. Whether its product or garment its life depends on user.
They specifically make it for needy Also their buyers are sustainability conscious
consumer. In any sustainable business also as entrepreneurs one has to cater the profit
making division.
Figure 21. Up-cycling and recycling of used shoes by GreenSoles, Navi Mumbai
http://www.greensole.in/
f) Jey Rege, Co-Founder, Padukas
Figure 22. Cobblers making footwear out of discarded tyre at Padukas, Mumbai
42
http://www.theweekendleader.com/Innovation/2098/green-cobblers.html
Washes decide the life of the garment. Garments have comparatively shorter life than
other textile products. By doing up-cycling or down-cycling at least we are saving raw
material. At some point one has to throw the garment even after down cycling. There is
a limit of down cycling also. For business purpose even the discarded waste should be
first hand to ensure quality, it should generate some profit .Not just sustainability
comfort and aesthetic value brings client
Figure 23. Up-cycling procedure of brand Padukas, Mumbai
http://www.theweekendleader.com/Innovation/2098/green-cobblers.html
43
g) Nandan Bhatt, Founder, Aarohana
A social entrepreneur should manage to create a win-win situation for all. A sustainable
business should look at both needs and impact assessment. Life of the up-cycled
products is more than that of garment as they need less maintenance.
Figure 24. Up-cycling of plastic bags by team Aarohana Eco Social, Pune
https://www.facebook.com/aarohanaecosocialdevelopments/
h) Stefano Funari, Founder, I was a Sari
There are resources available in form of waste but approaching the activity in a
traditional way was not going to create anything sustainable. In order ensure the brand
would not have to depend on grants the products should be sold at a premium. This can
possible by exporting the items. In the US, for instance, a scarf is sold for an average
price of $25. In India it would cost Rs700 or around $10.Selling in India, on the other
hand, has been challenging for the brand. One of the reasons is that most middle-class
Indians are averse to wearing used clothes unlike the West where vintage and thrift
stores are common. Export is required because selling sustainable products in India is
challenging as other countries are more aware about sustainability, they are willing to
pay, they have shown more acceptance, also Indian ,middle class averse to wearing
used clothes.
- Stefano Funari, Founder, I was a Sari
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Figure 25. Up-cycling of Sari by brand I was a Sari
http://realitygives.org/iwas_project.php
i) Karishma Shahani, Brand Owner Ka – Sha
Up-cycling saves raw material. For Indian market we make different collection because
they are really unaware about up-cycling. For Business sustainability it is important to
make Profit .For Indian clients we up-cycle their worn garments mostly life cycle is in the
consumers‘ hands.
45
Figure 26. Craftsman doing handwork at Ka- Sha, Pune
https://www.facebook.com/label.Ka.Sha/
j) Kirti Tula, Co-founder, Doodlage
Customers rarely buy products only to support a cause. At the end it should be
aesthetically appealing and attractive. But up-cycling post-consumer waste and its
acceptance in Indian market is still a long way to go. One can make furniture and soft
furnishings but using the same to create another garment to be worn by someone else
is a tough business in India to sell. Up-cycled garment can in a way promote slow
fashion. The life of the products is longer but the challenge is understanding the
business side of things.
Figure 27. Up-cycled bags and wallets at Doodlage
www.thealternative.in/.../doodlage-fashion-rehab-indias-first-upcycled-clothing-label
46
Figure 28. Up-cycled products and garments at Doodlage
http://www.thealternative.in/lifestyle/doodlage-fashion-rehab-indias-first-upcycled-clothing-label/
k) House of Wandering Silk
People dry clean silk fabrics as they are sensitive to water. It consumes a lot of energy
more than fabric damage; the big concern is color damage. The moment you realize
something has lost its vibrancy, you discard it. Brand should make such products which
don‘t need much care and thus can have longer life.
47
Figure 29. Closing of loop by House of Wandering Silk, Delhi
http://www.wanderingsilk.org/
l) Anuj Sharma, Owner, Button Masala
Figure 30. Garment and footwear out of Button Masala technique
https://www.facebook.com/buttonmasala/
Button masala is all about making products that can be recycled. The idea also being
that once worn, it can be undone and re-fashioned into something else. This technique
48
can be used to deal with any kind of waste (chindi/second hand clothes). Up-cycling is
only for our unsold collection. Sustainability is for me more than my clients as it saves
my resources. It should not be about sustainable material but sustainable practice
Figure: 31 Furniture, jewelry and Convertible garments by Button Masala
https://www.notjustalabel.com/designer/anuj-sharma
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m) Team Rug Republic, Rug Republic
Color is a not a restriction for up-cycled category. Celebration on color is an expression
of free individuality. A reincarnation of a vast variety of post primary use materials are
as vibrant and lively but at same time expensive.
Figure 32. Up-cyled home décor products by Rug Republic
https://www.therugrepublic.in/
n) Kevin Nigli, Designer Team, AM.IT
Making an up-cycling collection is tougher and more time-consuming than creating a
normal collection. Making garments out of fabric cut-pieces have length and width
restrictions. Getting the correct shape of the garment required a lot of effort. It needs
more time consumption and more labor which increases the price. So the buyers
become very specific which restricts us to do up-cycling as a special collection only
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Figure 33. Up-cycled collection by AM.IT at Lakme Fashion Week, 2015
http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Sunday-Hans/2017-02-12/Upcycling-in-Fashion/280087
o) Ravi Kiran, Co-founder Metaphor Racha
If we up-cycle something secondhand than it becomes very expensive. For home décor
products buyers have to consider the color palette always, it should go with their
interiors. Color scheme is not a restriction for our wardrobe but it comes into play for
home décor. Up-cycling of garments in form of garments should be in the form of
customization. It should be more like a DIY approach.
Figure 34. Up-cycled stoles by Metaphor Racha
https://in.pinterest.com/pin/536350636856185654/
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p) Anwar Khan, Co- founder and designer
Fusion of sustainability and commerciality is quite difficult. For sustainable fashion ―Zero
Waste‖ technique should be used in which fabric waste is eliminated at the design stage
itself. For many of us sustainability is more of a business opportunity along with social
and environmental responsibility. It‘s more like a sub label or special collection for
designers.
Figure 35. Zero Waste patterns used by SUO
https://www.seamwork.com/issues/2016/05/zero-waste-design
4.2 Analysis:
Life of textile Products like rugs , mats, etc. is more than that of garment
There is a relation between cleanliness and social and cultural values such as
success, acceptance and happiness.
It signifies respectability Life of any garment or product is dependent on
consumer care (Laundry, no. of washes)
Second hand Garments should be up-cycled in form of another garment at
individual level and not mass level
Every up-cycled garment or product should have an aesthetic value
Mostly large scale production waste is used because for business sustainability.
There should be a steady supply of waste fabric
The value of the product ―maker‖ is not really in consumer‘s mind
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What matters to buyers is aesthetic value
Up-cycling of a used garment at individual level is more of a DIY approach.
Efficiency of convertible and reversible garments is user dependent.
Up-cycling saves resources for new production also saves investment.
To bring change is in women‘s hands.
SWOT Analysis of Up-cycling of garments (Business Plan):
Strength:
Up-cycling of textiles and garments saves investment in sourcing of raw material and
resources as compared to the investment required in with manufacturing new items.
The application time is also comparable, which saves money and labor since there is no
need to purchase and apply additional products. Financial benefit is probably the main
motivation for most people who are into up-cycling. Entrepreneurs can buy textile waste
at low cost to create garments and sell them at extremely high prices, because of their
aesthetic and environmental value. Even if they don‘t up-cycle, they can earn a lot just
by selling their trash instead of paying someone to take it to a landfill
―Zero waste‖ is one of the latest practices in manufacture, deriving from the idea of
sending ―zero‖ amount of waste to landfill. These are all great news for the environment
as all branches of industry are making a special effort to lower the consumption of raw
materials.
Opportunities:
A growing demand for greener products
Demand for reduced water usage and lower carbon footprints.
As waste reduction becomes a growing problem across the nation and the world, Up-
cycling as business plan realizes that in this problem lays an opportunity for a solution.
Unwanted clothing will be transformed into wanted items for which customers are willing
to pay.
53
The market of environmentally conscious people is in need of new and innovative ways
of reducing waste.
Others, who may be as environmentally conscious, will enjoy the fashionable item
produced.
The needs for environmental sustainability and fashion are two drivers which encourage
up-cycling.
In the future it can extend its reach of sustainability to an audience that appreciates
both a green and fashionable lifestyle
Threats:
All the existing textile retail brands of clothing and textile offer fresh material and low
price range
Sustainable Competitors: Organic textile is a dominant market trend. It has created a
good market for itself in past years by offering its advantages over chemical
competitors. Recycled textile offers a valuable product, at low cost.
Weakness:
While making garment out of Chindi waste getting the correct shape of the
garment required a lot of effort. For production waste (Chindi Waste) fabric cut-
pieces have length and width restrictions.
In terms of sustainability the benefits of up-cycling are normally not felt quickly
and it does not fit in with business and profit cycles.
Making garment out of up-cycling consumes more time as compared to that
required in making a new garment.
The target population of any up-cycled brand is very limited.
It hard to control standards and quality. The need for low cost of the garments
needs to be balanced against producing good quality.
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4.3 Field Visits:
Chindi Bazar, Kurla:
They sell used clothes at 10-12 Rupees per cloth. They even sale laces taken out from
sari. Women use these clothes as sanitary pads. They are also used for Buffing. Imported used clothing that has been manufactured across the globe and cast off from
Western wardrobes (―Godi Ka Kapda‖).They are imported directly via Kandla Port in
Gujarat and ports in Mumbai and are traded through long networks of middlemen.
Figure 36. Vendors selling textile scraps at Chindi market , Kurla, Mumbai
Source: Self Clicked
They are sold as Industrial wipes to different industries in India. Bales each weighing 50
kgs., are packed in plastic bags and transported to the brokers. They are sold for 10
Rupees per kg. The brokers retail the shirts in small lots at Rupees 125 to Rupees150
per Kg. On an average there may be four shirts per kilogram.
55
Source: Self Clicked
Figure 37. Clothes which are sold by Chindi market vendors to industries for cleaning
purpose
Source: Self Clicked
56
Aanand Market, Kopri Thane
The wearable clothes are sold through agents. Alternatively they are sent to remote
villages to be sold. The torn and non-wearable clothes are sold by weight to rag
merchants called ―Chindhiwale‖.Left over clothes are further utilized by being sold as
industrial wipes.
57
Figure 38. Vendors selling second hand clothes at Aanand Market, Kopri
Source: Self Clicked
Figure 39. Waghari community at Aanand market, Kopri
Source: Self Clicked
3. Chor Bazar, Bhendi Bazar, Mumbai
They sell used and reused clothes (―June ka kapda‖) – collected by Waghri Community
from door to door all over the Mumbai.They also sale imported westen clothes. (―Godi
ka kapda‖).50% of total stuff is from Waghri Community. The shirts are washed,
58
bleached if necessary, rinsed and sun dried. At least 50 to 60 shirts are processed in
plastic drums at a time (400 to 500 shirts per day.)Ironing costs Rupees 1.25 per shirt
(Around 200 shirts are ironed per day.). Sorting, Mending, Removal of stains, Bleaching
Many garments are dyed , those of kids shirts are dyed in quirky tones of yellow, pink,
blue while few denims are dyed in Indigo and black. To enhance the look of jeans they
make it rugged, add colored fabric to it. Tailors do up-cycle the torn out clothes enhance
the design transform the pattern, do embroidery to hide stains. They add two layers of
clothes to form a stronger layer. On an average, Rupees 3 and a maximum of Rupes12
may be spent on finishing. These are purchased by people who may not have sufficient
means to shop in local stores and also by the street vendors from garment finishers.
The finishers sort the shirts according to color and design in checks or stripes. The
shirts are then checked for missing buttons, slipped stitches, torn parts, cuts, stains and
other damages which are rectified. Clothes sourced locally and those from imports offer
a continuous supply to meet the clothing needs. There is a huge demand for second-
hand imported shirts to India in particular.
59
Figure 40
• The shirts are washed, bleached if necessary, rinsed and sun dried.
• At least 50 to 60 shirts are processed in plastic drums at a time (400 to 500 shirts
per day.)
• Ironing costs Rupees 1.25 per shirt (Around 200 shirts are ironed per day.)
60
Figure 40. Washing of second hand garment at Chor Bazar, Mumbai
Figure 41 Use of dye, patch work for value addition to second hand clothes by tailors
(Source: Self Clicked)
• Many garments are dyed, those of kids shirts are dyed in quirky tones of yellow, pink, blue While few denims are dyed in Indigo and black.
• To enhance the look of jeans they make it rugged, add colored fabric to it.
Figure 42. Tailors doing alterations/ repair to second hand garments
Source: Self Clicked
• Tailors do up-cycle the torn out clothes, enhance the design, transform the
pattern, do embroidery to hide stains
• They add two layers of clothes to form a stronger layer
• On an average, Rs. 3 and a maximum of Rs. 12 may be spent on finishing.
61
Figure 43. Tailors repairing second hand jeans
Source: Self Clicked
Figure 44. Waghari Community women at Chor Bazar
Source: Self Clicked
62
63
CHAPTER 5
PROBLEM AREA
A) Production Waste or Chindi Waste
Fashion industry is the second largest pollutant in the world. Out of all waste produced
the production waste is the major part which actually go to the landfill. It is estimated
that we make 400 billion meter square of textile annually, 60 billion meter square is
cutting room floor waste. All the textile scraps/ second hand clothes from Kurla - Chindi
Market goes to Industries for cleaning machines. (10 Rupees for 1kg clothes)Finally
industries throw these clothes to landfill.
Figure 45. Production waste generated while cut and sew method by tailors
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17543266.2013.837967?src=recsys&journ
alCode=tfdt20
B) Post-Consumer Textile waste discarded from Industries
Dumping of waste somewhere is done from ages but it was primarily organic and would
decompose leaving no trace. Today's industrial society deals with a much wider material
palette, that old mind-set is still there and garbage keeps piling up. 'Until it piles up, it's
sustainable' - that is the old notion.
64
Figure 46. Cleaning wipes which are thrown by industries
(Source: Self Clicked)
http://www.prnewswire.co.in/news-releases/godrej-unveils-the-punah-project-a-unique-
approach-to-industrial-waste-as-a-valuable-resource-594421081.html
65
CHAPTER 6
CASE STUDIES OF EXISTING SOLUTIONS
6.1 Case Study 1: Punah Project – Generating circular Economy
The punah project was done with the industrial waste stream of Godrej & Boyce, a
major Indian manufacturing conglomerate. It was done to make both business and
environmental sense the legitimizing of new raw materials as opposed to secondary
waste or by-product. At the stand, prototypes and iterations were presented, including
cotton gloves that had become a chair seat and varnish transformed into amber-like
tiles. Also on display was the mapping of 600 materials across all Godrej & Boyce sites:
a beautiful, bound inventory, containing both compelling photography and practical
information. They proceeded methodically in order to the set criteria so that it does not
conflict with the secondary waste economy in India, level of harm for the environment,
costs associated with down-cycling that Godrej has to cover, potential for the material to
cross-over as many as possible of the sub-businesses so that the related platform is
really relevant and triggers the widest involvement. In conclusion, PUNAH is a two-
sided approach to industrial waste. On the one hand they build a viable business
platform able to generate a relevant impact on Godrej. On the other, they encourage a
cultural-shift amongst end consumers, exposing them to the material streamline that
goes into everyday products - this would make consumers aware and demand more
from the ecosystem surrounding those products.
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Figure 47. Up-cycled products out of used gloves as part of Punah Project
http://www.prnewswire.co.in/news-releases/godrej-unveils-the-punah-project-a-unique-
approach-to-industrial-waste-as-a-valuable-resource-594421081.html
On surface level one can shift from garments to home décor production. Imported
clothes are sold to industries as wipes because that business makes profit otherwise
people dealing with it might have started some other business. Any sustainable
business plan is dependent on an unsustainable resource. Business Sustainability is
required for any Business plan.
- Shubhi Sachan
Design Specialist/Material
Futures, Punah Project
Lead, Godrej
6.2 Solution Approach: Extending life of a garment: Adding emotional value to a
garment / interactive approach:
Fashion should just not be something which should be turned into a commodity and
bought and sold. They should reflect value and generate a broad spectrum of fashion
activity. Human possess specific, identifiable needs that are the same regardless of
nation, religion or culture are physical needs like subsistence and protection and
psychological needs like understanding, affection, participation, creation, re-creation,
identity and freedom.(Kate Fletcher, 2014) It should not be just a commercial thing but it
should be a very emotional service that we provide to people. The emotional aspect can
bring attachment to garment so that people don‘t discard it. Thus up-cycling garments
can have a longer life if they get an emotional aspect within itself. Beauty of greatness
will be seen in garments that value of process, participation and social integration. For
eg: activity of friends knitting together will be valued as beautiful. A user can begin the
process of understanding garment at an emotional and intuitive level which can
67
ultimately provide longer life to a garment. Engaging the user with the garment can
actually give a responsible garment.
Celebrating fashion as a significant and magical part of culture (while divorcing it from
rampant material consumption) is an interactive approach where production of clothes is
based on values, skill, and carefully produced fibres. The success of flourishing fashion
ethic can be secured in the relationships it fosters. One can see beauty and greatness
in garments by value process, participation and social integration, in pieces that
advance relationships between people and the environment.
As recently as two generations ago and for centuries before that, textiles and garments
were regularly made and maintained by the wearer himself yet few people have those
same skills today. Ready-made garments appear to offer us the promise of something
better than we could make ourselves.
Interactive approach can develop as a result of a ‗long conversation‘ between designers
and users about the garment they want that is customization which is more like a
therapy session. This can also develop by individuals cutting, sewing and making their
garments themselves. These approaches are implicit in a shift from quantity to quality
that is central to sustainability. This method can improve user‘s satisfaction with material
consumption because when one is more confident about an activity he gains more
pleasure from it. Most of the people when list their favorite clothes, handmade items are
highly represented. It is suggested that having some control over the garments, either in
a practical way through making, or more conceptually through influencing the design,
brings people pleasure. Making exquisite hand-stitched products using age old
craftsmanship of local artisan strive to bring a contemporary context to traditional
techniques. Allowing user engagement in production of garment has become a
noticeable design trend, promoted by many new designers like Kresha Bajaj, Aneeth
Arora. Participatory design is about a shift in emphasis away from control. It allows
greater transparency of the design and production process. It generates interest in
transformative act of change that furnishes user with relationships and experiences
68
along with skill and products. This allows them to become better engaged with
themselves and the material world.
Participatory design is built on the idea that those who ultimately use a product are
entitled to have a voice in determining how it is designed and that the quality of design
increases if the stakeholders are included in the design process. The implication here is
that everyone is a designer and that design is no longer just the work of specialists.
Instead users (acting as designers) and designers themselves learn and create
together. This is a substantial change for many designers, as user involvement with the
design process or extended user-engagement with the product is rarely part of the brief.
If it happens at all, it tends to be something that happens in spite of the will of the
designer, rather than because of it. When design is no longer about surface styling and
more about promoting action, its aim is to increase the potential of the user and its focus
becomes social change. The wearer is no longer a passive audience, but rather a co-
creator and partner.
It is also unpredictable, something that is an implicit part of working with cooperative
processes. The garments or products produced may also look very different to those
designed today. It is likely that they won‘t conform to visual norms, perhaps be ‗clunky‘
and confusing (although they may of course be nicer too). As such these items may be
rejected by mainstream fashion as unworkable or unattractive. But the products are
concerned with the empowering act of user involvement and are a complement to, not a
replacement for, other types of design production. Participative designed garments are
rooted in a more ecologically and socially aware partnership model of aesthetics, which
can be contrasting sharply with the dominator model of aesthetics that controls the
visual agenda of art and design today. The relationship model can already be seen as
supporting a more participative process in other sectors.
Participatory design in fashion and textiles is concerned with a therapeutic alliance
between designer and user and attempts to empower individuals to become more
engaged with the design and production of their products. To make user involvement
69
possible, the design and production process itself has to be made more transparent.
This would aid a greater understanding of materials and of the culture they represent,
so that we act not only on a practical, physical level, cutting and sewing fibres and
garments, but also politically, ecologically and even economically. Participatory design
reconnects maker and user, commonly by reframing the user as maker. To make user
involvement practical for people it must be low-tech and inexpensive. This provides no
barrier in fashion and textiles as most user involvement necessitates hand work with
needle, thread and scissors or, at the most high tech, a domestic sewing machine.
While the goal of participatory design is to devolve the role of the creator and promote
action and participation in users, a key spin-off of many of these design processes is
that they can in a small, widely dispersed way lead to a reduction in what we buy and
discard. They do this by infusing a product with the user‘s touch, giving it a different and
hopefully richer product meaning that means that it will be worn and found pleasurable,
for longer. User engagement is used as a route to produce more customized and
unique products. The ground between fashion and textiles and participatory design
processes (that is, fabrics and garments designed and made with rather than for
people) is little explored and potentially abundant, perhaps because it is complex
ground in which to affect change.
Participatory design and individual and social action will probably define an important
component of sustainable fashion and textiles activity into the future. This can be done
by a book, video lessons showing series of DIY methods for remaking new pieces from
old garments just like ‗cook books‘ and produces collections of methods (not collections
of garments) where the aim is to teach basic skills to liberate the ‗chef‘ from the buying
of ready-made pre-packaged items. This method uses culturally rich symbolism as a
tool for wider expression and participation. The act of reformation of garments is political
in nature and describes the reforming of clothes is a way to reprogram the garments‘
meaning when their fashionable image has gone ‗dry‘ and then insert them back into the
fashion system, ‗acting in reverse consumerism‘.
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6.3 Emotional Approach to extend the life of a garment:
Approach which involves the ideas of essence celebration: celebration of the glorious
bits of fashion (a fast layer, dealing with newness, change and fashion symbolism) and
of really good making and material quality (a slow layer, dealing with resourcefulness
and optimization). It requires user to find ways to extend the value and use of the
garment while simultaneously learning how to express the fashion moment while
minimizing the impact of material consumption ways. The length of time for which a
garment lasts is influenced by culture, behavior and emotion as well as purely technical
or material factors. Without this broader appreciation, a strategy of making all fabrics
and garments last decades even if they are only worn once wastes resources.
Making a product last is very different to making along-lasting product. At the core of a
fabric or garment‘s lasting usefulness is the idea of appropriateness. Appropriateness
reflects the degree of ‗fit‘ that an object has with place, function, user, maker and
environment. Rather, finesse means resisting the force of speed through aesthetic and
sensitive behavior. Sustaining the use of a fabric or garment into the future requires
sensitivity to a number of factors that are not the usual concern of designers today. This
strategy involves knowing more about how long fabric last, about how products are
used, and about why products stop being used how the user was attached to that
garment.
The result should be the selection of materials appropriate to their expected lifetime‘s
task; the development of design strategies such as versatility and reparability to keep a
product relevant; the promotion of emotional bonds with a product which encourage
ongoing use; and an overall sensitivity to how fabrics and garments are actually used.
But it is not enough for a product to provoke an emotional response in the user on one
occasion; it must do this repeatedly. In effect a relationship must be developed between
user and object over an extended period of time. The garments should be specifically
designed to age with the user. Growing old with a fabric (perhaps upholstered on a
chair), witnessing it change over time and in response to the user‘s actions and
behavior, is fertile ground from which emotional attachment and long-term product use
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springs. Fabric should be pleated, tucked and shorn, to enhance (not resist) ageing and
to further emphasize unique and beautiful qualities that spring from user engagement.
Small additions can begin to trigger meaning and emotional connections.
This strategy can connect a person with a garment and reinforce a bond of ownership.
For example, signing a garment as you would a contract can also is seen as declaration
of responsibility and expression of long-term commitment.
This act can help bring to the surface the relationships one has with his clothes the
customer can add their feelings about their garment, why they no longer liked it and why
they had originally bought it. This allows people to think about their garment and
articulate their emotions and preferences about it. The values and meaning influenced
by a complex mix of factors can be triggered in simple ways. Learning to trigger
meaning in clothes could for example add reuse value and cachet to second-hand
pieces, possibly increasing the likelihood of a second life. Yet even if materials are not
the chief factor influencing an object‘s sustainability, they still play an important role.
Resources can be saved by matching quality of materials to utilization time so that
physical durability is extended only when it is needed. To do this effectively we need to
know more about the energy and resources that go into making fabrics maintained is
central to using ideas of speed to build a more sustainable industry.
This helps users to distinguish between pieces that are consumed as quick, immaterial
fashion ‗hits‘ and others which are bought for more functional, material reasons. For
those garments that are rarely washed and which are worn for years design strategies
supporting both physical and emotional durability are likely to bring most benefits.
6.4 Case Studies: Worn Stories – By Emily Spivack
In Worn Stories, Emily Spivack has collected over sixty of clothing-inspired narratives
from cultural figures and talented storytellers.
Clothes can be an ―evolving archive of experiences, adventures, and memories‖.
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They can be a powerful storytelling device. It can tell intensely personal, courageously
vulnerable sartorial memories into a colorful tapestry of the human experience. It can be
the lifelong quest to find the ideal, and as it turns out mythic, outfit that would capture
once personality perfectly and be therefore bought in multiples to be worn forever.
They narrate some wearable personal histories from the living archives of some of the
most interesting minds of our time. We weave our lives of stories, stories woven of
sentimental memories, which we can‘t help but attach to our physical environment.
- Emily Spivack Artist, Writer, Editor and Smithsonian's blogger
Figure Book ―Worn Stories‖ by Emily Spivack http://www.amazon.in/Worn-Stories-Emily-Spivack/dp/1616892765
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Figure 48. Collection of Worn Stories by Emily Spivack on her website and on Social media. http://www.papress.com/html/product.details.dna?isbn=9781616892760 https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/books/review/worn-stories-by-emily-spivack.html?_r=0 6.5 Bridal lehengas by designer Kresha Bajaj: ―Translating someone‘s personal story on to a garment is quite sensitive and can even
end up looking comical. When I consult with the bride on her likes and dislikes, it almost
feels like a therapy session,‖ laughs Bajaj. ―The end result, though, is always special.‖
Kresha Bajaj, Founder, Koesch
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Kresha Bajaj designed lehengas which were not just outfits. She designed wedding
couture that can be the piece of artwork that unfolds not just wearer‘s persona, but also
memories, relationship and meaningful experiences. She started Indian wedding trend
where the brides give a personal touch to their garment and are getting their love story,
the proposal scene, the initials, and couple‘s common interest uniquely stitched on
them. Through advanced embroidery techniques, thread and material the trained
craftsmen weave magic into the bride‘s outfit. They sew designs and patterns on the
garments depicting romance, the venue scene, and their memories and create a
fairytale lehenga that can be preserved like a snapshot.
Figure 49. Lehenga depicting love story of Kresha Bajaj
http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2016/06/27/this-indian-bride-showcas_n_10653894.html
Kresha‘s sentimental tailor-made lehenga narrated her entire world of love with a record
of her special moments and ‗past feelings‘ sewed up on the garment. Her relationship,
courtship, the scene of her first meeting, the venue (Udaipur palace) and the memories
with her better half; each and every story was beautifully depicted through
different kalis (panel) of the lehenga. Post marriage now her lehenga not just sits in her
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closet, but stands as a special piece of artwork and beautiful memoir. Her genius outfit
depicts a lot many things like the newlyweds‘ names in a repeated format done in zari,
the image of clinking glasses, and the hem with jumping dolphins which represented the
couple‘s project on dolphins‘ captivity.
Figure 50. The venue leela palace embroidered on Kresh‘s wedding lehenga
https://www.weddingsutra.com/real-weddings/stylish-brides/kresha-bajaj
Figure 51. Picture of first date of the couple embroidered on lehenga
https://www.weddingsutra.com/real-weddings/stylish-brides/kresha-bajaj
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Most bridal dresses are destined to be relegated to some corner of the closet after they
serve their purpose on the day of the wedding. For the brides who don‘t want to get sick
of looking at my wedding outfit this option was like a savior because nicest thing one
can never get bored of looking at is their love story.
Kresha‘s client Sonam Nanwani who wanted to go down the memory lane the same
way as Kresha contacted her and requested her to turn her wedding trousseau into an
artifact of the life she has lived with her fiancé. She got her outfit symbolically linked to
her personal history. The lehenga reflected the different monuments and moments
Sonam had experienced in her relationship. Sonam also got the satsang-her first
meeting place with her would-be hemmed on her outfit through two joining hands- like in
a prayer and diyas around. She also got one of the many letters written to her by her
hubby transposed on the entire length of dupatta. The name of the couple was weaved
vertically through the lehenga also created a sense of intimacy.
Her client Ridhi Ved wanted a remarkable cross-cultural lehenga that could tell the story
of a quintessential bride. The bride who was from Mumbai and her groom-to-be was
from London got the cities‘ elements beautifully skilled on her lehenga. The London
Eye, Sea Link, the proposal that happened at Venice was all etched forever as
memories on the hem. She also had the ice-skating scene recreated on the lehenga by
designer Kre Adding love story of the couple to their fashion couture made them a lot
more than just the outfits. Specific details stitched on the fabric sound extraordinary and
exciting. The brides chose to keep it fun by recreating the bits and pieces of their love
story on their wedding attires. The emotional approach of creating clothes that can
speak louder than words by illustrating a dramatic moment of wearer‘s life is also the
craziest way possible to depict couple‘s love story. The exceptional embroidered
technique can turn an outfit into a storyteller. In this way outfit becomes one of its kind
by never replicating an exact design. Working with individuals generates ideal silhouette
and color palette and then designs bespoke clothing that has a wonderful edge making
the clothes fun and memorable.
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Figure 52. Joining hands representing first meeting of couple at satsang embroidered on lehenga
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/fashion-and-beauty/250616/designer-weaves-her-love-story-into-her-bridal-lehenga.html
Figure 53. Wedding lehenga depicting iconic monuments of the cities the couple is from
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http://www.vogue.in/content/this-fairytale-wedding-lehenga-actually-details-the-couples-love-story/#s-cust0
http://www.hindustantimes.com/brunch/love-story-lehengas-what-if-your-wedding-lehenga-narrated-your-love-story/story-cm6zA5xkmb03R46lRMblkO.html
Figure 54. Wedding sari of actress Samanth Prabha embroidered with some iconic
http://www.vogue.in/content/this-fairytale-wedding-lehenga-actually-details-the-couples-love-story/#s-cust0
Tracing moments of couple‘s love story:
This method helps those who don‘t like not being able to use the same garment multiple
times on multiple occasions. Brides do acknowledge that their wedding lehenga would
be something they are going to wear only once. By this approach they can turn it into a
future piece of art that they can frame in the house later.
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Figure 55. Lehenga with embroidered love sonnets
http://www.hindustantimes.com/brunch/love-story-lehengas-what-if-your-wedding-lehenga-narrated-your-love-story/story-cm6zA5xkmb03R46lRMblkO.html
These classic lehengas‘s pattern has to be made in panels or kalis. For surface
embellishment beautiful mix of traditional materials like saadi, nakshi, kardana, salli,
tikki, zari, pearls, zardosi and aari embroidery techniques can be used. From collecting
landmark milestones of a story, documenting them, assigning pictorial depictions to
them, translating them on the actual garment to making it all look tasteful and elegant is
an amazingly creative task.
6.6 Upcycled By Pero:
The label has setup an email address for applicants to send in their stories that explain
why the piece of clothing is special to them. If the story makes a connection with the
brand, they will gladly help you up-cycle the piece. The tradition of hand-me-down
signifies a deep emotional connect. The brand does the process of value Addition in
form of craftsmanship. This includes secret embroidered messages, appliqué hearts,
crochet flowers, Trims, Buttons, Pins, Embroidered patch, and patch work on heirloom
saris, lace and chikankari.
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Figure 56. Up-cycled shoes and jacket by UPCYCLED by Pero
http://www.vogue.in/content/upcycle-your-favourite-piece-clothing-with-pero/#upcycled-
jeans-from-the-ss15-show
―UPCYCLE by Pero‖ started from Aneeth Arora‘s patched old jacket Ralph Lauren
Jacket which she loved by adding more patches, details to it each time it was damaged.
First, a few pins were tacked on, then a trim from her first collection, an embroidered
patch from the second, a button or two from the third. And before she knew it, her
favorite denim jacket became her first up-cycled garment. After that Aneeth‘s
photographer and client Dayanita Singh got her old black coat up-cycled into a fresh
new jacket with buttons and details and luxurious hand woven textiles on the back that
made it wearable inside out. Brand has up-cycled old white shirt, boyfriend jacket, jeans
from 10 years ago that one is still emotionally tethered to and resurrected the pieces
into garments that one can wear today. Soon people felt in love with the personal
narrative that Arora‘s jacket had and that‘s how the sub-label started.
Up-cycling is now an integral part of each collection, furthering the idea of slow fashion.
Taking fashion classics to the next level, Péro has begun to play storyteller as it stitches
into the vintage a bit of itself. Initially open to friends of the brand, the service is now for
anyone who can make a case for themselves. The label has setup an email address for
applicants to send in their stories that explain why the piece of clothing is special to
them. If the story makes a connection with the brand, they will gladly help you up-cycle
the piece. It is done only at customized level.
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Figure 57. Textile leftovers, beads, buttons, crochet flowers used for value addition for
up-cycling by Pero
http://www.freepressjournal.in/fpj-anniversary/reinvent-is-upcycling-the-new-fashion-
buzzword/892404
Pero by its emotional approach allows one to hold back to wearer‘s treasured
possessions. It‘s like a service that recruits well-loved garments in need of care and
restores them to full health. There are some pieces of clothing that one falls in love with,
even with the way they age and fade but one might want to upgrade it, make it
wearable, even special again. The process is like making renovations in home one has
lived in for many years. The only two components they are using for up-cycling are love
and stories. It‘s based on up-cycling the garment that has been carefully preserved or
something with history. The love part of her love and stories are not restricted to
clothes, they have also up-cycled old pair of shoes. The client participates in choosing
color palette, style, etc.
She used artisanal crafts like embroidery, patchwork and appliqué to up-cycle vintage
garments. She used patch work, lace and chikankari to up-cycle heirloom saris. She
adds leftover cloth and trimmings from old collections onto the pieces. She uses
Japanese Boro techniques of mended and patched fabric swatches. It is like a memory
project and also a way to conserve and protect fashion from unnecessary wastage.
Aneeth drifts off into a patchwork of her own, pulling scraps of cloths from memory like a
secret love note embroidered on the inside of a jacket for a client‘s boyfriend‘s birthday.
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The secret embroidered messages and applique hearts adds special value to the label‘s
aesthetic.
These up-cycled collections always contain a surprise on the inside, the sleeves that roll
up to reveal pretty fabric. The checkered fabric dresses can be reversed with client‘s
initials embroidered at the hem.
Péro does not change the original label of the pieces and claim ownership of the original
structure as they are just adding layers to the garment. Unlike a formal and conventional
design process, it is an unconventional teamwork by label favored by the owner.
Despite the extensive conceptualization and planning that often goes into each Pero
UPCYCLE piece, Aneeth retains the garment‘s original label, but also adds her own. It
turns into a kind of collaboration.
Figure 58. Use of embroidery, patch work for value addition by Pero https://www.facebook.com/ilovepero/
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CHAPTER 7
SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION
Flaws in up-cycling are as follows:
Up-cycling of garments can be done only at individual level and not at mass
level.
It takes lots of time and labor to up-cycle just one garment.
Up-cycling handles only limited amount of textile waste (Both production waste
and industrial waste)
Sometimes the fabric quality of the discarded garment is so low that the value
added in the process of up-cycling cannot give strength to the final garment
More time consumption and more labor increase the price. Thus the final
garment becomes very expensive.
To handle waste at mass level recycling is more efficient method then up-cycling.
For production waste (Chindi Waste) fabric cut-pieces have length and width
restrictions.
While making garment out of Chindi waste getting the correct shape of the
garment required a lot of effort
Making an up-cycling collection is tougher and more time-consuming than
creating a normal collection.
Repair and reconditioning of textiles and garments also saves resources
compared with manufacturing new items, although resource savings are less
than for reuse because some labor and materials are usually needed to retrieve,
fix and upgrade the products.
The financial incentive to repair has largely disappeared, mainly because the
price of new garments and textiles has fallen dramatically relative to the cost of
labor. Repairing garments at home- if it takes place at all – is now motivated less
by economics and more by ethical factors or lifestyle choices like down-shifting or
voluntary simplicity.
It is not enough to specify materials that can be up-cycled, for without a market
for the up-cycle, a high-value second life is unlikely.
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Markets for up-cycled textiles are effected by the fad color, low fiber type, fiber
quality and the purity of the old textiles/garments themselves.
Up-cycling of textile waste in form of garment is not a strategy for success over
the long term, because it does not reach deep enough. It works within the same
system that caused the problems in the first place, merely slowing it down with
moral proscriptions and punitive measures. It presents little more than an illusion
of change because they focus on optimizing one small part of the system, rather
than the whole.
Up-cycled garments are rooted in a more ecologically and socially aware
partnership model of aesthetics, which can be contrasting sharply with the
dominator model of aesthetics that controls the visual agenda of art and design
today.
In terms of sustainability the benefits of up-cycling are normally not felt quickly
and it does not fit in with business and profit cycles.
While up-cycling lightweight fabrics one may end up wasting resources at the
end of final product.
The garments produced by up-cycling may also look very different to those
designed today. It is likely that they won‘t conform to visual norms, perhaps be
clunky and confusing. As such these items may be rejected by mainstream
fashion as unworkable or unattractive.
Many People face quite a few issues regarding cleanliness and sanitation while
using old garments. One of the strongest resistance factors for up-cycled fashion
was the concern for germs, insects and disease.
The value addition process of up-cycling which involves high end craftsmanship
is particularly suited to the high-end market. The traditional crafts techniques use
quality materials and highly skilled craftsman which becomes very expensive.
These techniques naturally chime with many sustainability values pursuing
strategy but are really expensive, exclusive and unrealistic. It demands massively
outstrip supply and the final garments can only be perceived and preserved by
the rich and not by any other economic class.
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Doing up-cycling as sub-label brands get restricted by time and resources, the
label get lots of pressure to come up with a way to keep the up-cycling service
alive without taking the focus from the main collections.
One cannot change the original label of the pieces and claim ownership of the
original structure as they are just adding layers to the garment. Despite the
extensive conceptualizing and planning that often goes into each up-cycle
piece one has to retain the garment‘s original label even if the designer
adds their own label.
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APPENDIX
Questionnaire:
Personal Interviews were based on following questions:
Q. 1 What do you think has a longer life Product or Garments? Why?
Q. 2 How frequently you wash your clothes?
Q. 3 How frequently you wash your rugs, carpets, etc.?
Q. 4 Do you throw your clothes after its life is over?
Q. 5 Do you have any garment to which you are emotionally attached?
Q. 6 What do you do with your clothes after you stop wearing it?
Q. 7 Who according to you is takes more participation in shopping (Men or Women)?
Q. 8 What are the challenges you face as sustainable entrepreneurs?
Q. 9 Which type of waste are you dealing with?
Q. 10 What is your target population?
Q. 11 Do you face any kind of competitions with other brands?
Q. 12 What is most important to be into sustainable business?
Questionnaire for sustainable consumers:
Q 1) Are you aware of the term sustainability?
Q 2) What words come to your mind when you think of sustainability?
Q 3) Do you integrate any of these in your lifestyle?
Q 4) Which product you own you think is the most durable, long lasting and organic?
Q 5) What is the good thing about the product?
Q 6) What do you do with your old stuff/garments?
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Q 7) Are you aware of the term up-cycling?
Q 8) Are you aware of the terms like slow fashion and fast fashion?
Q 9) Do you think you can accept slow fashion?
Q 10) What factors lead you to shop for more and more garments?
Q 11) What words comes to your mind when you think about up-cycling?
Q 12) Have you ever bought any of the up-cycled products?
Q 13) What is more valuable to you when it comes to shopping a garment?
Q 14) How many times do you wear a garment?
Worn Stories:
Collection of stories about how people are attached to their garments done as part of
primary research:
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1) Few years back when I was studying Fashion Designing I used to love fabrics. One
day my mom showed her bridal outfits to her which she wore on her engagement and
wedding. They had become fad and dull with time but still they looked beautiful. And I
fell in love with those pieces of fabric which had impressions of my mom. But I didn‘t
mention that to mom how much I loved it. I thought mom would never give it away to
anyone except me. Years went after. Every year I asked mom to show those garments
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again. I touched them, understood the dyeing and embroidery techniques and every
time I saw them I loved them.
One Diwali my mom gave that outfit to our maid as it is Diwali ritual in Jaipur that we
give sweets and fabrics to people who serve us. When I got to know this I was
anguished with mother, I cried like anything, I pleaded my mom to get that back. When
my mom watched me in pain she felt really sad but was also happy that her daughter
loves her used garments more than ever she did.
So next day my mom called that maid and her to get that salwar –kameez back. But the
maid lied to mom, she said she don‘t remember it having. So mom tried to bribe her
saying that she would give her a brand new sweater. But that maid wasn‘t ready to say
that she would get that salwaar kammez. My mom was in a dilemma how to make me
understand the situation worriedly said to me ―Nobody can take anything which belongs
to you‖. The next day that maid got that old salwaar kameez as she wished to have a
new sweater. As promised my mom gave her the new sweater.
When I came back from school I was so happy to get that salwar kameez back. I took a
promise from my mom that she would never give her clothing piece to anybody other
than me. I am the right full owner of her each piece of cloth.
Yeah! She still keeps that promise.
- Kirti Singh
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2) When I was in 7th class my cute little brother was born, he was one of the special gifts
god could ever give me so from him first toy to his first garment, all are very special to
me. Since he was small he is wearing designer dresses but one t-shirt made by my
grandmother is his favorite. He can never hand it down to anyone. No matter that t-shirt
doesn‘t fits him anymore.
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3) My Nani had a sari when she got married which her mother gave to her and then she
handed it down to my mom and finally my mom gave it to me for my wedding. Since it
has become a part of our family tradition it is really special to me.
- Yashika Chowdhury
4) My Teal Blue Shirt
It was 2003 or 04, I was on a trip to Chennai with my friend‘s family to support in their
medical need. It was less medical and more fun trip for me and my friend. We were
exploring the city, language was a big barrier. We wanted to go somewhere but buses
were porting us somewhere else. Suddenly we reached to a shopping mall which was
probably our first experience of urban market, we were amazed. However I found a teal
blue shirt with lustrous finish. My eyes were locked there. It was too expensive as per
my 1500 Rs. monthly stipend. So I had to leave my heart there.
It was haunting me till my last day of the trip and I kept on going to see the shirt every
day. Getting enough courage getting a huge loan from his mother I went to buy that
shirt. Knowing that I was going to skip my breakfast for next 3 months to repay I bought
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my dream shirt. It was amazingly nice feeling to buy a new shirt for myself for first time. I
was so happy.
After two days I reached my hostel, I was so tired. I just threw my luggage and slept
next afternoon I woke up with an irritating sound. I looked at my luggage big fat rat
hurriedly vanished behind my bookshelf. I ignored it and went to freshen up; I took bath,
and planned in detail to see my girlfriend after a couple of weeks with a stunning look
wearing my new shirt. I thought she would be speechless; I was in seventh heaven and
came out of the bathroom. My eyes got stuck to an uneven hole in my bag. Oh shit the
rat cut through my bag. I hurriedly opened my bag assuming that my darling shirt is
safe, I took that out.
Oh! I was motionless, the shirt was in my hand, but the right sleeve was missing, the rat
must have a wonderful dinner throughout last night.
Later I made that shirt a half sleeve with a very bad fitting by a crazy tailor; I still love to
wear it.
- Bilashendu Shil
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It‘s a pashmina shawl my nani gave to my mom few years back, its 50 years old and
super special to her, she loves the work done on it, I wear it occasionally in winters, and
whenever she wears the shawl we get to hear stories about our great maternal grand
mother
- Anjali Namdhari
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This tooch kambhal bought 100 years ago in Pakistan by mom‘s grandmother, which
was handed on to my nani then my mom. Mom now thinks that we aren‘t responsible
enough to take care and understand the value of these articles so yeah we won‘t get
them.
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This Pashmina coat was gifted by some angrez to my grandparents at that time my
grandparents were royals. My Nani gave it to my mom. My nani still gives her all the
valuable ancient stuff.
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- Anjali Namdhari
During M.Tech all my hostel friends gifted me a beautiful dress ordered from Canada. I
loved it. They gave it to me a day prior so that I can alter it according to my size. I took it
for alteration with one of my friend to Lajpat Nagar we left for shopping after leaving it
for alteration and then collected it and got back to the hostel. They asked me to try the
dress to check the alterations and then what happened next left everyone in shock,
dress was not in the poly. I got tears in my eyes, everyone searched in the room, but we
didn‘t find it. We were not allowed to go outside the hostel to search for the dress
because of the time limit. I was not in a mood to celebrate my birthday. Everyone was
trying to cheer me up but nothing could make me forget thee mistake I did. I went to that
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alteration shop again the next day to enquire for the same. After seeing me uncle said I
knew you will come back. He told me that I dropped the dress outside the shop and a
man passing by picked it up and gave it to him. He came outside to search for us, but
he couldn‘t find us, so he kept it with him. I was really happy to see it again. Now that
dress is really close to my heart. It makes me remind of my friends who did everything
to make me smile.
- Tanushree Doi
Whenever we are away from each other we put our perfumes on it and give to each
other. So that whenever we are missing each other we can smell it and feel that we are
still together.
- Anupriya Rajput
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When my princess was 9 year old I bought the pink woolens for her and It was the first
time when she started walking. That scene is still in my eyes, in my thoughts I would
never forget it for lifetime. I don‘t like giving it to anyone, I always want to keep them
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with me, as one day my daughter will grow up and get married and she will leave this
house but these clothes will always remind me of her first baby steps of her life.
- Raksha Sharma
I am proud of myself for all years I have devoted loving and supporting Selena Gomez
genuinely Selena because I have always looked up to her and she has always been
inspiration to me. I have been a selenator since I was 13 and I am 23 now so it has
been 8 years. I still remember the first day I saw her on Wizards of the Waverly Place
and she immediately became my role model. My inspiration.
She had never been here. It is my dream to see her once, hug her once. Now this
Selena tee is makes me feel like I am closer to her. I can hug this tee to myself and feel
better every time. Knowing that this tee has a signature of her it makes me feel as if I
have met her. I feel I inspire people by wearing it and walking across the streets with a
positive smile and feeling proud inside, and yeah she is my idol.
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This t-shirt was worth Rs. 4,000 but for me it is priceless. She is more than just a
celebrity, an inspiration, an idol. Keeping her in my heart I wish and try to achieve every
milestone and dream of my life. Wearing her T-Shirt makes me feel proud of what she is
and it keeps me boosted, I keep on trying to be successful like her and it gives me
immense happiness to know that world is blessed with such a beautiful person and soul
like her.
I can spread a message in my college, town and bring positivity. I can stop people
getting labeled and judged. I can do that without this t-shirt too, but with this tee it will be
1000 times stronger.
- Mitali Sharma
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Sketch 1.
Sketch 2.
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Me and My Messi Jacket:
I have always been a diehard fan of Argentina football team and their legend football
players – Diego Maradona, Leonel Messi. I was a big fan of maradona then and a fan of
messi now. So I always look forward to keep the omnipresence with me because I know
it is nearly impossible to meet him in person.
So once I went I went to a mall, I had some 2,000 in my wallet and at same time I saw
this jacket in ADIDAS store, It was worth Rs 3,000 and I felt I should buy this and I felt
like I might not get the same one if I don‘t buy it now. So I borrowed 1,000 from my
friend and I bought it. I cannot pass it on or gift it to anyone. If I don‘t wear it I feel
something is missing in my routine. I wear it every day at least for some time. I see that
omnipresence and my respect for Messi in this jacket. This jacket is really special to me.
- Duppalli Sai Krishana
106
It was my final year of M.Tech. I got placed in IBM, Bangalore. My childhood‘s best
friend was also there in Delhi only. We used to meet a lot, almost thrice a week. But it
was time for Good Bye now. I had to move to my home town till I got my joining and he
dad to move to US for further studies. Last few days were full of mixed emotions. It was
hard to digest that everything was coming to an end. It will never be same again; we
were not going to meet this frequently. I didn‘t realize but it was just not friendship, but
more than that. Finally the day came, I was leaving for my home town and he had his
flight on the same night. He came to wave me bye. And then something happened
which was never expected, he proposed me for marriage. I was lost in the moment; I
don‘t know what happened the next. I was just starring him. I wanted that moment to get
freeze. Before going he gave his favorite t-shirt. That t-shirt holds a special place in my
heart. I used to always wear it whenever I miss him.
107
When I shifted to Bangalore I used to wear that t-shirt almost regular. One day I washed
the t-shirt and took it to terrace for getting dry. When I came back from office, it wasn‘t
there. I was heartbroken. It was the only thing which used to make me happy in
Bangalore. I tried a lot to find, I asked everyone in PG for it, but didn‘t find it. I lost all
hopes of finding it back. My boyfriend said that he will get me a similar t-shirt, but I
wanted that t-shirt only. I had feelings attached to it. Regularly I used to go to terrace
now, just to find it thinking that may be one who stole it, put it to get dry. I used to pray a
lot to get it back and then one day I saw that t-shirt lying down on terrace floor, al dirty. I
didn‘t know how it reached again on terrace. I washed it and let it dry in room only. I
really can‘t express how I felt when I get it back. It is really special to me, and I cannot
give it to anybody ever.
When I was a kid during night I never wanted to sleep alone. I used to tell my mother to
sleep with me but she had all household work to do so she used to keep her stole by my
side and used to say ―Now you think that I am here with you‖. So I used to always sleep
with my mother‘s stole. Now I am 19 years old and I still have her stole.
108
It is my favorite skirt which I bought when I was 9th standard. I wore it during Christmas
party in my school. I still have it because it is all handcrafted and has got a bling and it is
very special to me because I feel it is a rare piece and I won‘t get it anywhere else. So
my school memories are attached to it and it makes me very nostalgic when I look back
at it.
- Priya Mahajan
109
It was the time when I started loving basketball as much as I love my family. Now this
sport has become like a family member. Now this sport has become like a family
member. I went for daily practice; I got my game improved very much. I was the first
one to enter and last one to leave the court. I was on the top of my basketball game
career. It was in the year 2014, when I was in the beast mode. At that time Rawatbhata
organized an open championship tournament. I was in one of the weakest team, but
that was my first tournament officially on such a big level. I wanted to prove everyone
that the time I spend on court didn‘t get wasted.
So finally tournament started and as expected we lost our first game by big difference. I
was very much disappointed. I couldn‘t sleep that night. Next morning I woke up early
and went for a walk. I started running; I was running very hard in the colony. There was
a fire inside me this time; there was zeal to win. Then I saw some failure and
motivational videos on Youtube. Then I learned from the legend of basketball - Michael
110
Jordan ―I keep on falling and failing again and again that is why I succeeded‖ Then
something inside me changed suddenly.
Next evening of Day 2 of our tournament started. I gathered my whole team. I was the
captain, I motivated my team and asked them don‘t panic, we are going to win. As
expected we won. There was happiness all around. My team was cheering me. And
then we kept on winning the matches and we won the finals by beating the last time
champion team. I was awarded the man of the meet. I was so happy and then that
special guest of honor gifted me this jersey. It had my name written on it. That guest of
honor observed me in the entire tournament and got my name printed on that jersey
already. And he told me even if I lost that final match he would still gift that jersey to me.
- Gaurav Kelwa
Sketch 3
111
Sketch 4
Whenever my grandmother took her old Kameez out of that old trunk she completely
used to get lost in her marriage thoughts when her father gifted that kameez to her. It
reminded her of all Rasams and Riwaz she had during her marriage. One day she said I
should give this to our maid, at least she can use it. But I interrupted her and asked her
to give it to me. She was a bit shocked and overwhelmed, we generally asked our
parents for new clothes only. She said to me that it is really old, its color has faded, and
it has got torn from many places, it has got really old motifs, has got old design. I said I
will manage everything, it is really beautiful and I want to keep it. Since then I am having
that Salwaar- Kameez.
- Anisha Arora
112
My t-shirt says, ―ABSOLUT BANGALORE‖. It is very old, I still wear it and I will never
ever throw it or pass it on to someone as my cousin sister bought it for me. We don‘t
talk anymore. So it is now more special to me. Well, this cousin sister of mine bought it
for me one evening when she had come to meet us. Since childhood this cousin sister
and her elder sister, both cousins have been my favorite cousins. Favorite means I used
to worship them. But because of several problems we have not been able to talk or
communicate with each other anymore. It hurts a lot to not have her in my life. So this is
like the last thing that she bought for me just because I liked it. It had a sarcastic
undertone to it: the writing on the t-shirt. Whenever I wear that t-shirt it makes me feel
like she is still in my life and I am still loved and remembered by her. It is like the last
strand of connection that I dearly hold on to. It makes me believe in something that does
not exist anymore, hanging on to this t-shirt makes it real for me. It makes me feel like
may be nothing has changed. Even today this tee holds the same value and feelings
which my cousin had while gifting it to me. I will never let it go. Ever.
- Trina Biswas
113
I got my first pair of black jeans when I was in 7th class. Before that I never wore black
jeans. I always used to wear blue jeans. They were super comfortable. I started wearing
it with almost everything. After some time it started getting faded. I still wore it, even
though they faded. After sometime it got torn off from the area of knee. At that time torn
jeans was in fashion, so I got torn it out nicely from that knee area and I still wore it.
Then it got faded even more so I kept it in my cupboard. When I went to my under grate
I cut them and made shorts out of it. The leftover fabric after cutting I used it for one of
my assignments for surface ornamentation, and I made cushion cover out of it. I still
wear those shorts.
- Anahita Bindra
It used to be my mom‘s most favorite sari. It was special to her as it was gifted to her by
my dad oh their first anniversary. After sudden demise of my mom I used to look at her
garments and I specially loved this one. It got torn out from many places. I could not use
it as a sari again. So I made a long skirt out of it. Whenever I wear it I feel the warmth
of her.
- Somya Gupta
I have woolen socks which I got when my nani passed away. I have kept safely with me
as I wear them I feel the warmth of her.
114
- Saumya Aggrawal
Story of my lucky tie
- Nitish Kumar
115
My wedding day, my wedding lehenga is really special to me.
- Pramilla Singh
116
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