Explainer: Beautiful, low-waste wrapping
Our tips for planet-conscious gift wrapping.
Tag: upcycle
Fashion festival in Uganda looks to the earth for answers
Kwetu Kwanza highlights a new wave of designers turning waste, bark, banana fibre, and forgotten textiles into fashion
Q&A: Meet Redress Design Award 2025 finalist Casbeth Tshegofatso Marobane
South African designer Casbeth Tshegofatso Marobane is one of 10 finalists in the 2025 Redress Design Award. The competition celebrates designers who apply circular design principles by transforming waste textiles into garments. Casbeth holds a BA in Fashion Design from...
Your go-to guide to thrift stores in South Africa
Thrifting can be a wonderful way of shopping sustainably and affordably while finding one-of-a-kind gems. However, as the popularity of thrifting rises, so too do the prices of these once-cheap clothes, as well as unsustainable market practices. Because of the...
Sage & Sunday’s holistic approach to garment making
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”] [et_pb_row admin_label=”row”] [et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]Sage & Sunday embraces an ‘ultra-transparency’ approach, evident from the design of its flagship store in Woodstock, Cape Town. A wooden slatted wall separates the retail space from the workshop, offering a view into...
The Slow Fashion Festival revives the art of mending and mindful fashion
In a world where there is increasing climate change, overconsumption and environmental degradation, Twyg’s Slow Fashion Festival encourages attendees to swap and mend clothes to keep them in circulation for longer. Our thoughtfully curated festival fosters a culture of caring...
Q&A: Harmonie Mbunga celebrates African cloth and culture with UDO & HARMONY
Founded by Harmonie Mbunga, luxury fashion brand UDO & HARMONY celebrates African cloth and cultures through refined contemporary design. On her website, Harmonie says, “Our history matters. Our heritage belongs on the world stage, requires a seat at any table...
3 Tips for upcycling from zero-waste designer LaaniRaani
Upcycling is the practice of giving a garment that could go to waste a new lease on life. This could mean deconstructing it entirely and creating something new, or just adding a few embellishments here and there. It is a...
How a local Facebook group became a global network for clothing upcycling
Healing the fashion system, and our relationships with clothing, is often rooted in a strong sense of community. For many, Facebook groups are an accessible way to seek out like-minded slow living enthusiasts. The Up-Cycled Cloth Collective is a good...
Q&A: Jesmine Davids shares the making of Rebirth SA’s AW23 collection
Rebirth SA is a Johannesburg-based clothing brand established by founder and creative director Jesmine Davids, in 2018. “The brand is inspired by the streets for the streets practicing sustainable methods as a design identity,” says Jesmine. Rebirth SA’s sustainable fashion...
3 Upcycling initiatives reimagining plastic and textile waste
Waste is a symptom of a consumerist, linear economic system that thrives on extracting natural resources to create more stuff than is necessary. As a remedy, the circular economy is widely viewed as a pathway towards a more sustainable future....
5 Ways to responsibly rehome clothes you no longer wear
The circular fashion movement is a response to environmental, social and economic impacts of the fashion industry’s waste crisis. We now know that hundreds of thousands of tonnes of clothing end up in landfill, are burnt or are jettisoned by...
Students showcase a week-long upcycling fashion project
For Fashion Revolution Week (18-24 April 2022), students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology paused their curriculum to create an upcycled fashion collection. They were grouped together in teams of 10 to 13 students and each team created two...
Q&A with Bhungane Mehlomakhulu. You’ve seen the image. Now meet the maker.
Originally from Sebokeng zone 14 in Gauteng, 23-year-old Bhungane Mehlomakhulu is both a fashion designer and a professional ballet dancer – he dances by day and sews by night. “I’m like Hannah Montana,” says Bhungane. To find out more about...
Vanessa Nsona is designing a circular future for Malawi
Vanessa Nsona collects waste, tinkers and toys, prototypes and makes new products. Circular thinking is central to her work in Malawi. “I have always thought of waste as treasure,” she says. I spent a day with Vanessa, visiting her workshop,...