As we try to seek out a direction in the field of upcycling fashion that makes sense for Pawnstar, I have poured through the China fashion blogs, eco-fashion related websites, pinterest etc. to get an idea for what is already happening in this field. I thought I would share some of what I found related to designers and others in China that are using leftover factory fabrics waste, bamboo, discarded clothing, as well as recycled and sustainably sourced materials to create new fashions.
Click below to see some of the sites that I’ve found.
1. Tiffany Tan of the China Daily, who interviewed me several times, gives a good background in a piece from a few years ago.
2. From CNN Travel, an article that includes the seven top eco-friendly designers from Shanghai including Wobabybasics, Finch, NuoMi from Brown Rice Designs and an unexpected H&M.
3. A piece on the five best Chinese eco-designers from ecosalon and some interesting examples of brands outside of China upcycling designersÂ
4. Green Initiatives gives us the ten top eco-brands, which includes brands I’ve dealt with like Neemic and ffiXXed.
5. In upcycling in China: An Old Tradition Becomes a Trending Topic, Michael Sabelli explores this topic.
6. On Upcyclista.com an interview with the founder of Trash and Diamond Fang Fang. Â She talks about secondhand in China and her store in Shuangjing.
7. On Pinterest, some examples of upcycling at restaurants in Beijing.
Some designers groups and designers that we might consider looking at for collaboration include:
- Fake Natoo by Zhang Na, which uses discarded clothing to make a third of the garments for her label.
- Another interesting one is Dai Xinyin – Here’s an interview with her from ecodesignaward.com.
- Momo Wang is also interesting.
- Redress is an environmental NGO working to reduce waste in the fashion industry and it is behind the The EcoChic Design Award.  I could imagine Pawnstar collaborations workshops including clothing drives, pop-up shops and exhibitions.
- Ecoterre is a media outlet that we should target.
- We already know about Squirrelz, which has a lot about upcycling going on.
- Maybe I will look up Suvi Rautio, who runs Upcycle Beijing.
