Celida Allen

I am a self-proclaimed “rubbish collector extraordinaire” who has up cycled pre-consumer textile waste in both the niche and mass markets for over 30 years For as long as I can remember I have been interested in the clothes people gave to charity shops or threw away. When I was about 10 my grandmother would send me unwanted clothing from thrift shops and I would practice sewing these together by hand along with fabric remnants I bought from the fabric shops. I carried this on throughout my teenage years, insisting on making lots of my own clothes (and even my 8th grade graduation dress!). Recently I read cradle-cradle – the term ‘upcycle’ was born, and I was hooked Today’s fashion industry is increasingly overproducing garments and textiles, “Upcycling is a design solution to an environmental problem,” “What is being thrown away into landfill is often beautiful and usable for designers who can approach such materials in a creative way.My personal desires have sparked an interest in welfare