Upcycling Classes

Upcycling is the process of transforming discarded materials, unwanted products, or discarded items into new materials or products of higher quality or environmental value, rather than simply recycling them.

Once the domain of craft enthusiasts and thrifters on a tight budget, upcyling has finally come into its own. However this was not always the case. From 1997 to 2014, Orsola de Castro was a lone voice upcycling pre-consumer textile waste for the fashion market (1). She went on to co-found Fashion Revolution, the largest fashion advocacy movement in the world (2, 3). Since 2022, jeans producer Diesel has been upcycling its own cotton offcuts in a United Nations backed project with the aim of minimising wastage in the fashion industry (4). In the last two years, Mulberry (5), Coach (Coachtopia) (6), Hermes (Hermes Petit H) (7) and Miu Miu (8) have worked on capsules made from their own repurposed textile waste. Textile artists such as Ilka White and Celia Pym have been inspiring crafting enthusiasts in how to repurpose textile materials.

My work with Calida Ellora Designs aims to breathe new life into resources that often end up in landfill. By transforming ‘waste’ materials into beautiful and useful objects, I hope to show in a very tangible way that a circular economy and a concern for the environment is not just the domain of crafters and environmentalists, but is rather a worthwhile pursuit for all of humankind.

Calida Ellora Designs is based on Wulworra-Jeung Country, Sydney 🌿