Guide
Upcycling & Reconstruction Guide
Created by
Redress
Quick Access
Learn more fashion industry terminology from the Glossary.
Quick Access
Learn more fashion industry terminology from the Glossary.
What Is It?
Upcycling and reconstruction are design techniques tackling the textile and clothing waste issue at source by recovering and re-valuing both pre- and post-consumer materials.
Upcycling is the practice of transforming ‘waste materials’ into products of equal or higher value. Upcycling prolongs textiles’ life and turns them into new designs and products. At Redress we have further categorised ‘waste materials’ used for upcycling to be textiles that have never been made into any garment form or textiles from non-clothing products, such as textile swatches, cut-and-sew textiles, end-of-rolls, sampling yardage, damaged textiles, surplus yarn, etc.
While reconstruction, also known as remanufacturing, is a form of upcycling, the ‘waste materials’ it uses are not 2D textiles, but rather existing garments or accessories. The reconstruction technique involves first deconstructing garments and then reconstructing the ‘waste materials’ into new designs.
Both of these design techniques do not belong to the ‘RECYCLE’ circular strategy as the original ‘waste’ material or garment is not transformed back to its fibre state before being designed into a new product. They are part of the ‘MAKE & REMAKE’ circular strategy, with a focus on designing for Low Waste.
Why do it?
- The fashion industry is currently facing a huge textile waste crisis.
An estimated 92 million tons of textile waste are created annually from the fashion industry1 and this volume is projected to increase by about 60%.2 This issue is a result of poor raw materials management during the manufacturing stage, overproduction, and poor consumption habits (disposing of clothes too fast). It is important to understand that when textiles and clothing are wasted, we are also wasting all the resources that went into making them: from land use to chemicals, energy, human labour, and all the negative environmental impacts associated with their production.
Additionally, the piling up of textile waste all over the world is now raising bigger issues around the management of this waste stream. In some places, the waste management systems are getting overwhelmed, leading to illegal disposal in places such as in Accra, Ghana or the Atacama Desert in Chile. In other places like Hong Kong, land is scarce, landfills are getting full, and solutions are limited.
Where does the textile waste come from?
- Pre-consumer sources:
- Textiles and by-products from the manufacturing and production phase of textile products. Approximately 15% of textiles intended for clothing ends up on the cutting room floor.3
- Textile products that are intended for sale to the consumer, but remain unsold. An estimated 2.5 billion to 5 billion items of excess stock were produced by the fashion industry in 2023, worth between $70 billion and $140 billion in sales.4
- Post-consumer sources: Textiles and products that have been disposed of after consumption and use by consumers. It is estimated that more than half of fast fashion produced is disposed of in under a year.5
- Virgin raw material markets are increasingly volatile and unreliable.
The majority of textile fibres originate from natural sources: either grown in soil or extracted from non-renewable fossil fuels. However, with the climate crisis provoking extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, and typhoons, the agriculture and extraction of resources for textile raw materials is becoming challenging. This is leading to market volatility (where prices are not as stable as before) and might even lead to material shortages. This means relying on virgin materials will increasingly put supply chains at risk.
By upcycling and reconstructing textile and clothing ‘waste’ into new products, designers are in a unique position to:
- Tackle the waste issue at source: diverting waste from landfills, prolonging textiles’ life, and slowing down unnecessary textile production
- Lower the climate risks of the supply chain: reducing the demand on virgin natural resources, thereby curbing the fashion industry’s greenhouse gas emissions
How To Do It?
- First, decide
Upcycling and reconstruction is often incorrectly considered to be an exclusive design approach, since the designs are often not easily reproducible owing to the variable supply of working materials.
So first, based on your material supply, decide if you want to make:
- Reproducible designs using a systematic approach, or
- Exclusive unique designs which might require more labour and time, and most likely not be scalable or replicable.
This decision will impact your design and choice of waste materials, because upcycling and reconstruction can take many different directions depending on the textiles and design used.
- Source
The key to this technique is to start with sourcing the materials. Your choice of textiles will greatly impact the design you are able to make. The availability, quality, size or shape of the materials usually varies. Use them as your main source of design inspiration.
Upcycling and reconstruction also have economic perks because it is often cheaper to source ‘waste’ materials rather than virgin ones.
Consider your own waste streams or those of the wider textile industry, and look for quality textiles and garments regardless of the size, shape, or style. Stains or holes in the textiles and garments do not have to be deterring, as they can often be washed and repaired.
- When upcycling, you need to source cut-and-sew waste, end-of-rolls, sample yardages, damaged textiles, or surplus yarns. You can also consider using online marketplaces that sell surplus materials. Using end-of-rolls or surplus yarns allows you to work with larger textile pieces and make more reproducible designs, while using cut-and-sew waste or short leftover yarns will inspire you to create unique products.
- When reconstructing, you need to source clothing samples or unsold clothing waste. Sourcing clothing that is still fit for resale (such as buying secondhand clothes) should be avoided, unless your designs can add greater value to the original garment.
- Design and make
Expert Tips
“It’s really important to have the design as the pinnacle because if you don’t have the design, no one’s going to want it. Designs should be informed by the use of upcycled materials, not restrained by it.”
Co-founder of Reverse Resources
Janko Lam, Hong Kong winner of the Redress Design Award 2011 (formerly the EcoChic Design Award), uses surplus factory textile stock to create cheongsam upcycled collections. Credit: Classics Anew
If you are upcycling from textile ‘waste’, look at your textiles and experiment! When dealing with a large piece of textile, such as an end-of-roll, simply work with the dimensions of the textile. When the textile comes in smaller uneven pieces such as cut-and-sew waste, puzzle them together and let the textiles form your pattern, or layer the textiles to create volume. If you want to make reproducible designs, use colour blocking and patterns that can work with various types of textile combinations.
Re:Style Collection, an initiative launched by Hyundai Motor Company, encourages designers to upcycle discarded materials from the car manufacturing process into creative fashion pieces. The theme for the 2021 collection was ‘One Mile Wear’. Credit: Hyundai, Re:Style Collection
If you are reconstructing garments or accessories, look closely at the original features. Let them inspire you: What is the garment’s best feature? How can you get the most out of it? Can certain details be reused? Can you create a new textile from it? Start deconstructing, shredding, quilting, patchworking, and draping. If you want to make reproducible designs, find common features from the type of the original garment that can be used in a systematic way.
Finally, when making the final garments from your textile ‘waste’ – which often comes in irregular shapes with uneven edges, ensure good quality workmanship to avoid your finished design looking ripped or broken.
Hong Kong vintage shop Midwest Vintage Store created their own remake brand, First Edition Design, which reconstructs vintage clothing to create unique outfits for vintage lovers. Credit: Midwest Vintage Store
Hong Kong brand Fashion Clinic specialises in redesigning and upcycling surplus garments and material through reconstruction. Credit: Fashion Clinic
Expert Tips
- Always know what is on offer before you start designing
- Follow your own waste stream
- No scrap is too small
- Ugly can be beautiful too
- Finishing is the key to good design
Co-founder of Estethica and Co-founder of Fashion Revolution
Footnotes
1 Global Fashion Agenda and The Boston Consulting Group (2017), Pulse of the Fashion Industry
2 Global Fashion Agenda and The Boston Consulting Group (2017), Pulse of the Fashion Industry – data projected for the years 2015 to 2030
3 Timo Rissanen (2005), ‘From 15% to 0: Investigating the creation of fashion without the creation of fabric waste
4 McKinsey & Company & Business of Fashion, 2024, The State of Fashion 2025
5 McKinsey & Company, Style that’s sustainable: A new fast fashion formula (2016)