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“What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language.”

“Fashion should be a form of escapism, and not a form of imprisonment.”

PAGE 23 | Lifestyle UPCYCLED

FASHION

Sofia Madrid I Writer

The best fashion show is on the streets. Always has been, always will be.” said by New York Times’ reputable fashion photographer Bill Cunningham. Indeed, the variety of clothing combinations can be frequently seen outdoors, whether it be tacky, neat, or stylish, it all goes down on the streets. It is where you can openly express yourself and have the satisfying feeling of wearing your best outfit while flaunting it with confidence. That’s what makes fashion fun.

But with the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic, daily arrangements suddenly changed to a work-fromhome set up forcing people to stay at home. The unprecedented supply chain interruptions caused by COVID-19 caused stores to provisionally close down and for online purchasing to increase. With the risk of economic decline, numerous design studios, as well as ordinary people who lean towards practicality, opted for Upcycle fashion.

The practice of reusing existing materials, fabric, textiles, etc. to create new and crafty clothes is a good alternative for the current virtual set up as it allows people to be imaginative with their clothes without the actual need to go out. Design studios also use upcycling to pivot the current dilemma caused by the pandemic and shift their businesses to online platforms.

The Taytay garment industry is one of many that had a severe impact from COVID-19. About 60% of its economy is in garments and is considered no. 1 tourist attraction of the town. However, in a 2020 Business World article, Roderick F. Santos, officer-incharge of Taytay Tourism Council for Culture and Arts, said that P500 million could have been lost in sales during the stricter lockdown. In order to get back on track, Taytay garment industry started marking and selling face masks made from retaso.

“Our economy restarted because of upcycling, or retaso” Evans Joy Garcia, a member of the local garment producer’s board, said in an article from Business World dating back to 2020. “A few think that this material can’t be used again, but we use them to make face masks.” Garcia added.

Another fashion brand that supports upcycling is En Route Handcrafted Accessories. The brand empowers women in Davao to become artisan-entrepreneurs through sustainable fashion and has been using their platforms to round up support for COVID-19 reliefs efforts in Mindanao. Their upcycled bracelets and necklaces provide fresh life to secondhand t-shirts sourced from local thrift stores.

In addition to those brands, others who also advocates upcycling even before and on the pandemic are: Project (@ pro.jectph), Alyanna Ferrer (@ alyannaferrer), Indayog (@indayog), Riotaso (@riotasoclothing) and the KILUS Foundation. These brands opted and embraced upcycling for its sustainable nature. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the fashion industry is one of the major contributors of plastic microfibers in the ocean. About 80% of clothing waste goes to landfill or incinerate, and over 160 million tons of clothing are expected to clog landfills by 2050 if action is not taken. Upcycling is one good solution for this burden, as it not only reduces the amount of discarded materials being sent to landfill each year, it also requires less energy and water. Greenhouse gas emissions as well as pollution also decreases and most importantly, it lowers the need for new clothing production and supports sustainability.