Style

Kelly Lu Rose is wearing the Alexia skirt ($210) with a Kate Spade Rhinestone top.

STYLE The Past Repurposed

CLT Fashion Fund revives the city’s textile heritage through sustainable fashion

BY VIRGINIA BROWN PHOTOGRAPHS BY RUSTY WILLIAMS

KELLY LU ROSE didn’t know about Charlotte’s rich textile manufacturing roots when she moved to Optimist Park in 2009. “Learning about historical aspects of the neighborhood,” she says, “it seemed my destiny to land here.”

The seamstress and founder of CLT Fashion Fund learned to sew from her mother when she was 10. “I always made my clothes,” she recalls. “I thought it was ‘rich’ that I could have my own custom clothes.” Her family moved to Charlotte in 1988 and, for an end-of-year project at South Mecklenburg High School, she created a fashion line and show. She took her passion and skills to Bauder College in Atlanta, where she earned a degree in fashion merchandising in 2003.

Last summer, her 14-year-old niece, Sh’Cia, now in ninth grade, decided to create an upcycled clothing line for a school project, and she turned to her aunt. Rose took her to fabric stores to teach her all she could.

Today Rose promotes sustainable fashion and “upcycling,” creating new, o en better uses of old products to honor our city’s past. “I feel like I was called to this area,” she says. “I feel the energy of those who came before me. It’s like they’re saying, ‘Don’t forget about us.’”

CLT Fashion Fund, an online retailer of hand- and machine-sewn, upcycled clothing, creates one-of-akind items by giving new life to discarded denim. “Everyone—man, woman, black, white, young, old—owns a pair of jeans, and I think we connect as a society with that,” Rose says. “It can unite us.”

She’s certainly on-trend. This year, the Academy Awards shone a light on recycled dresses, as Saoirse Ronan wore a custom Gucci dress with repurposed material from a gown she wore at another event. Actress Elizabeth Banks wore a red gown she’d donned at a 2004 Oscars party and, on Instagram, said she wanted to highlight the importance of sustainability in fashion and consumerism.

“We have to do something to reduce the negative impact of the industry,” Rose says. “It’s like the switch turned on, and the whole industry went into emergency mode. This is my way of being an activist.”

For her, activism starts with denim, one of the fashion industry’s largest polluters. Manufacturers use toxic chemicals and hundreds of gallons of water to dye and nish one pair of jeans, and more chemically altered washes to achieve the fashionable “distressed” look. Studies of dyeing and nishing facilities in Asia have found heavy metals like mercury and lead in the water supply.

CLT Fashion Fund sources denim remnants from local thri stores, Etsy, and Bellam Jeans in Greenville, S.C. Rose and her team of local seamstresses add embellishments to create new pieces from the scraps of others. Plus, she says, “denim has a rich heritage and is extremely durable.”

A classic A-line skirt, cream-colored with denim leaf appliques, starts at $210, while other items—a star-studded, patriotic mini and a dainty patchwork mini—range from $60 to $540. All pieces are available on Etsy. While her creations are more expensive than some everyday items from chain retailers, Rose believes customers, especially younger ones, want to support small businesses that do good.

CLT Fashion Fund plans to produce tote bags and bookmarks, among other smaller items, at lower prices. “We are in an emergency state of trying to connect,” Rose says. “Combining remnants is my way of connecting and blending society.”

(Left) A few skirts offered by CLT Fashion Fund. (Below, left to right) The Gabriella dainty patchwork skirt, $210; Star Embellished Denim skirt $65; and the Amelia leaf appliqué skirt, $210. (Bottom) Rose also offers an upcycling embellishment service. The pink dress was provided by a customer which was appliquéd in a velvety floral design. For details, visit cltfashionfund.com.

VIRGINIA BROWN is a native Charlottean and full-time writer whose work appears in Our State magazine, AAA Go magazine, SouthPark Magazine, and BBC News Magazine, among others. Reach her at vbwrites.com.