Designers from adventure clothing company Patagonia are transforming old clothes damaged beyond repair into a new line of one-of-a-kind products.

The company has launched a new line of clothing called ReCrafted, which takes worn-out, damaged goods and transforms them into entirely new, bespoke pieces at a workshop in Los Angeles. Each product in the ReCrafted collection is made up of between three and six pieces of used clothing returned to Patagonia.

In a video that launched the new collection, Patagonia’s senior designer Kourtney Morgan said the ReCrafted line aimed to answer a question Patagonia has long struggled with.

"And the question was: What are we doing with all the products we are taking back that isn’t recyclable, that isn’t resale-able, and that isn’t repairable,” Morgan said. 

The ReCrafted line is not Patagonia’s first foray into end-of-life textiles, with the company making sustainability a key part of its core business identity. One of the company’s other initiatives is Worn Wear, a marketplace of refurbished second-hand products that launched in 2017.

The scheme offers high-quality goods at lower prices, all while extending the life of gear that should still be getting used. According to UK-based organisation WRAP, keeping clothing in use just nine extra months can reduce the related carbon, water and waste footprints by 20-30%.

 

Positive Action

• To find out more about Patagonia’s vision for sustainable clothing, take a look at their sustainability page.
• For more ideas on how to dispose of old textiles responsibly, visit RecyclingNearYou.

 

Subscribe to Positive Environment News
Positive Environment News has been compiled using publicly available information. Planet Ark does not take responsibility for the accuracy of the original information and encourages readers to check the references before using this information for their own purposes.