Once Upon a Time I was ‘Waste’: The Value of Upcycling
We are in a value crisis. Detailed in BAMM's Value report, data shows that prices are going up while perceived quality is going down. Upcycling has turned into a growing trend to hack value within this crisis. With Alterist, an upcycling designer platform, value finds alternate ways to define itself. This article looks into the current rise of upcycling within fashion to understand the dynamics around buying repurposed luxury and the way it brings value back into the equation, by connecting greater social cache to the purchase.
Alternative - activist - Alterist
BAMM visited Alterist to understand how upcycled design can provide value by celebrating uniqueness through an environmentally conscious design community. All while turning waste into art. The Camden based gallery that is currently hosting Alterist is filled with upcycled designer clothes made of a wide array of discarded materials - life jackets, tents, plastic bags, even old puppet teeth.
Martina Sorghi, co-founder of Alterist, tells the story of how this platform came into life. Starting as an online upcycled fashion platform, Martina’s work with her co-founder, Hannah, grew beyond online retailing, flowing into the streets of high-fashion London. Their main mission is to reduce waste and bring awareness to discarded resources.
They bring together designers who embrace the production of environmentally conscious, affordable, and ultimately unique fashion pieces. With that, the brand celebrates the mosaic of designers who mix all sorts of materials together to create one-of-a-kind clothing.
“You can make a garment just out of normal fabrics, but if you upcycle, it gives a totally different look to it. So it comes into the design aspect as well.” - Kaci, designer
Luxury Value Shift
We are in an era where luxury fashion is in decline and big fashion brands are experiencing a decrease in sales. McKinsey recently released “The State of Fashion 2025”, highlighting how consumers were affected by inflation, becoming more cautious about the prices of goods. And for the first time since 2010 (excluding COVID), all profit made in the fashion industry will be driven by the non-luxury segment.
This is not a surprising shift, as BAMM's report shows. Consumers are facing a value crisis, with costs going up and perceived quality going down. And it’s being proven that the luxury category is facing this issue more than most. Consequently, style hungry consumers have gravitated to the things that they believe could bring better value.
The Social Cache of Upcycling
Here, uniqueness and being sustainably conscious turn into a social cache, bringing a community of likeminded individuals together, where quality is evaluated within the offer of bespoke craftsmanship. An upcycled designer clothing item is one of a kind and helps its consumers to stand out from the crowd. What was of zero value becomes a unique commodity. It is a social cache, a proof that it is a conscious purchase, bringing people with shared values together in one community.
The value in the final look can vary by the nature of the item and material used. It could be the uniqueness of the garment, or the creativity of the designer in bringing the discarded materials together. This scarcity and unique creativity becomes the inspiration. Here, someone’s rubbish turns into someone else’s loot, and limitations become outlines of the next inspiration.
“Why I started to make clothes in the first place is to make the clothes that I couldn't afford anyway.” - Daniel, designer
Quality, Redefined
“I start from zero, and I bring that up by turning that plastic bag into something that has a higher value.” - Chiara, designer
Alterist centres itself with the narrative from the designers - a story more powerful than those from store-bought first hand items. The platform fosters a sense of community, inviting designers to interact with customers and to share their visions. The story of one garment doesn’t even start from the person who made it, but carries traces of its past life, for example, a Sainsbury’s bag knitted into a small pouch or a distressed denim with a tag on turned into a jacket. Quality here is defined by the choice of selecting the ‘ethical’ option whilst cherishing the craftsmanship and the value of re-making something. It celebrates creativity and community, with an emphasis on repurposing what used to be ‘waste’.
“Whether we want it or not, we all wear clothes, so we all depend on and take part in it.” - Martina, co-founder
Alterist has managed to grow as a platform. It is part of the changing narrative of value within luxury fashion and how upcycling is changing the rules of the game. Value is now focused on the uniqueness of each piece and the social cache it provides through its sustainable credentials. It’s fuelled by the quality associations connected to a community of designers, applying careful craft to the art.
Words by Eylul Bombaci & photography by George Ramsay