( ENSPIRE Community Spotlight ) Project CeCe & State of Matter™ Offer Environmentally Conscious Garments
Upcycling fashion is a transformation of old garments and materials into new wearable clothes. This emerging trend has gained momentum because of the movement and the environmentally conscious society we’ve become. In the fashion industry, there is a greater opportunity to reduce waste materials, curb our carbon footprint, and be mindful of our consumption of clothes. Many fashion brands have adopted upcycling, from small-scale DIY projects to luxury industries, integrating it into their collections. Slowly but surely, the charm of one-of-a-kind personalized designs helps support local artisans and businesses alike and is a driving force behind sustainability. The downsides of our fashion environment include landfills filled with discarded clothing and the depletion of non-renewable resources. But the power of upcycling, to deconstruct and reconstruct garments, offering a glimpse of new textures, patterns, and silhouettes, is a great progressive form of environmentally friendly and fashion-forward. There are two company brands to highlight that are impacting how we see sustainability.
Project CeCe is a company that lists the unique ranges of 200+ ethical fashion stores and over 400 fair trade brands, resulting in over 40,000 products in one place. According to Project CeCe, only 1% of all clothing is produced under fair working conditions. And that a mere 0.6% of the price that you pay ends up in the pockets of the person who put so much effort into creating that garment. Their team conducts thorough research on brands that offer sustainable clothing stores and have environmentally friendly alternatives and standards. Their mission is and continues to be helping creatives in the world of fashion who are trying to build long-lasting clothes. They are one of the solutions for those who find it challenging to find vegan, fair-trade, and ethical fashion. Next, State of Matter™ is another prime example of a company whose mission is to produce clothing that is as close to 100% made from sustainable materials as possible. Resulting in unearthing fabric innovations that use recycled bottles, garments, and recycled fishing nets to make high-quality fibers.
Our society is all about the fast pace of fashion, keeping up with popular demand for recurring trends. However, the clothing industry relies on the exploitation of many people to achieve fast results, resulting in water waste, textile waste, and pollution of soil, rivers, and oceans. Project CeCe and State of Matter are striving for a guilt-free wardrobe without harming the Earth. One of the ideal features Project CeCe offers is an overview of the best sustainable clothing, along with transparency in labels and certificates. Each garment on their site is categorized by labels indicating whether it is vegan, fair trade, eco-friendly, locally produced, or a good cause. With their search forum, you can find all products that match your needs. Lastly, the most notable feature of their forum is that most of their clothes come from small, independent brands, meaning Project CeCe is all about supporting small businesses around the world.
Furthermore, State of Matter™ is making strides through its 360° Afterlife Program, which gives all garment materials a second chance at life. For example, if a customer no longer wants to keep the clothing they purchased from State of Matter, they can send it back and receive a 20% discount on their next purchase. During this program’s process, once they receive the garment, they can clean and embellish it, or recycle the fibers to make a new piece of clothing to sell on their site. The importance of a second chance, especially with clothing, lies in the creative freedom and environmentally progressive actions that enhance sustainability and continue the upcycling movement in fashion.
With companies such as State of Matter™and Project CeCe being at the forefront of sustainability and upcycling fashion, there is hope to curb our carbon footprint, have longer-lasting clothes, and help our environment and the world. Other examples of upcycling brands, according to State of Matter and Project CeCe, are Noorism, Rokit, KOMODO, Urbankissed, and The Driftwood Tales. Voices like these in the fashion industry result in recycling initiatives that will surely grow for the fashion future.
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