The relationship between fashion and environmentalism is not always amicable, to say the least; with styles continually changing, being fashion-conscious often means subscribing to a throwaway culture. At least two million tonnes of textiles – half of which are clothing – are disposed of every year in the UK, yet only 24 per cent of this is recycled. Granted, some garments are diverted from landfill via collection banks, kerbside collection, or donation to charity shops, and are then either sold in the UK or abroad, turned into wiping cloths for factories, or reprocessed so that the fibre can be reclaimed for use in new garments

Now, though, an additional use for recycled clothing is emerging in the form of ‘upcycling’, whereby the market value of recycled items is enhanced. Recent research by Defra has found that up to 10 per cent of recycled textiles are used to craft new articles, and this practice is becoming increasingly common in the fashion industry. Phillip Geller, director of textile recycling company I & G Cohen suggests that the rise of upcycling may be a consequence of the recession: “People are looking into getting more use, minimising waste and adding value.”

September’s Recycling and Waste Management Exhibition demonstrated the strengthened connection between fashion and environmentalism, with several designers showcasing their ‘upcycled’ clothing lines. One of the designers, Tracey Cliffe, transforms waste textiles that cannot be resold into new garments for her range, ‘Love Me Again’. Cliffe explains that she gets most of her clothing from a rag merchant, but adds: “I get stuff donated to me by neighbours as well. Sometimes I do go to charity shops, but I want to use clothes that can’t be sold as they are.”

Unlike fibre reclamation, which consumes energy due to the use of mechanical processing to shred and spin the fibres, reworking clothing has very little detrimental impact on the environment. Cliffe’s clothes, for instance, are entirely handmade (with the exception of the use of a sewing machine and overlocker). Indeed, fellow ‘upcycler’, Australia-based designer Nicola Sault, explains that with her ‘Grandma’s Altered State’ line: “The fabric has already been produced and you are actually pulling it out of the waste stream. We also make and cut all our garments locally, so there is no offshore production.”

So, upcycling has a lot going for it, and it is becoming more fashionable, but it has still largely failed to make many inroads into the high street. Purveyors of upcycled clothing have several challenges to overcome before they can infiltrate the identikit high-street stores and sell on a larger scale. Mass production is one such issue, as in upcycling virtually every end product is unique, and as Sault points out: “While you may be able to guarantee a style or a design, you’re not able to guarantee exactly what fabric those styles and designs are going to come in. Therefore the retailers are not quite sure what they are going to be getting.”

Additionally, reforming clothing costs significantly more than mass production. The larger high-street manufacturers can purchase material in bulk at a low price and cut several clothes from it at once, whereas Sault says that when remanufacturing clothes, “the cutting costs are a lot higher because each piece has to be individually cut”.But the high street isn’t entirely impossible to break into and some suggest high street shops themselves could offer upcyclers a helping hand. Leigh McAlea, from reformed clothing line TRAIDremade, part of the charity TRAID (Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development) says: “The challenge for the high street is to use its buying power positively to integrate ethically produced clothing fully into the supply chain as opposed to creating one-off ranges or products with ethical credentials.”

One retailer that has done just that and taken this form of eco-design to the masses is Urban Outfitters. Its ‘Urban Renewal’ line, which has been going for over 20 years now (!), features a variety of reformed clothes. Manager Dayna Haley admits that it hasn’t always been easy: “We face the same hurdles [as other designers of reformed clothing]. For the remade line, we focus on buying in bulk items that are more readily available in large quantities [such as men’s shirts, Levi’s denim and vintage t-shirts]. It is certainly a challenge to transform these often undesirable fabrications into current, modern and fashion-forward designs. The unpredictability factor (i.e. unfavourable quality or aesthetic of raw materials) we turn to our advantage by creatively utilising resources like fabric dyeing/distressing and application of vintage trims.”

For now, upcycling remains largely a niche market, but perhaps our lack of resources will force a new wave of ethical, independent boutiques into the mainstream, thereby fusing fashion with environmentalism and encouraging green consumerism.