Ugly Truth About Upcycling.
Kira Kimm is mad. The fast fashion, “fast fashion”, is what spoils her mood. The trained tailor thinks it’s bad that billions of people worldwide consume clothing as if she were worthless. The people lack an appreciation for the craft. Many don’t even know that every piece of clothing that they carry, probably had 40 people in their hands before. They have the idea There’s a machine somewhere spitting out T-shirts. That is this total overconsumption. People are flooded with opportunities to buy things want to have, and for little money. To set an example against the fast fashion trend, she founded the clothing company Soki 5 years ago.
“Upcycling” is the magic word here. New clothes are made from old clothes. Her bestsellers are boxer shorts made from bed linen. They cost 22.90 euros, so they are not a bargain. They shouldn’t be consciously either. Kira Kimm calls her fashion “slow fashion”. That means: That small numbers are made. That the collections are not 17 a year, but 2 or 4. And that things are designed to last, that the design is simpler, that one strives for a timeless design so that the customer benefits from the product for many years. The bed linen that is processed here mostly comes from donations.
Many people bring references that they no longer need, straight to the store. The warehouse is bursting at the seams. The Soki team will be busy for the next few years. Hi! Tim Hartmann also brings his old bed linen. He has a special request. I found an old dinosaur bedding from before here. And because my son likes dinosaurs so much, I thought to myself maybe you can make something beautiful out of it. Sure, we can for your son make a t-shirt with a breast pocket or short pants. That’s definitely cool. I totally support that. I like the sustainable idea behind it. Making something new out of the old and practically recycling it. Also certain items, e.g. boxer shorts. I have just given my old dinosaur bed linen with me. I think that’s great! The recovery of much larger quantities of old clothes one takes care of the city cleaners in Kassel.
600 tons of clothing are put into clothing containers every year collected in the urban area. Everything is recycled at the Soex company in Wolfen near Leipzig. There are still usable items of clothing separated from useless ones. Unfortunately, the number of unusable ones is steadily increasing. This is also related to the fast fashion trend. Because in order to be able to offer the goods as cheaply as possible, fashion companies are increasing the proportion of cheap polyester. It’s hard to recycle. These are clothes that then immediately become garbage again. You can’t carry it any further. They go into recycling. Our recycler then uses this to manufacture painters’ fleece, for example, or insulating material. Or this fiber is then used in the automotive industry. Almost new clothes of such inferior quality, that they have to be shredded.
A terrifying development that contradicts the desire for more sustainability. To counter this trend, the city cleaners have developed an idea. The work clothing worn by employees is collected and used in cooperation with schools. Eg to bags. This should help the student understand the value of the work. That an awareness arises that I can trigger something myself with my purchase decision. I can think about it: I choose a long-lasting product or something that quickly becomes trash again? It is important for us to convey that that thing has value and that things are valued and use it as long as possible. To create more awareness of the value of clothing, Kira Kimm also wants that in her Soki store. When she founded the label 5 years ago, were the topic of environmental protection and the desire for more sustainability not on everyone’s lips yet. The development of the last few years has helped her business idea. One notices above all through the Fridays for Future movement that more and more students are interested come to the sustainable lifestyle and purposefully with their parents. They want things because they want something like that and no longer this mainstream that was produced exploitative. However, Kira Kimm also knows that she still has a long way to go.
But at some point, she hopes, her slow fashion will become from recycled materials to the tempting cheap offers overtake the big fashion chains..