EXCLUSIVE: The Or Foundation Launches Upcycled Collection From Ghanian Designers on Vestiaire Collective
PARIS — Environmental organization The Or Foundation is launching a collection on resale platform Vestiaire Collective featuring a dozen indie designers from Ghana.
The one-of-a-kind items, which include handbags, pants, jackets and sweatshirts, are upcycled from clothing and materials sourced from Accra’s Kantamanto Market, the largest secondhand clothing market in the world, which takes in roughly 15 million pieces of discarded clothing from the Global North a week.
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The foundation is working to develop solutions to fashion’s waste crisis and is positioning the sale to raise awareness of the problem of clothing waste on Black Friday.
“Our hope is that this collaboration inspires people to take a look into their closets and reconsider the value of their clothing. What can be repaired or transformed through over-dye, tailoring, or upcycling?” said The Or Foundation cofounder and executive director Liz Ricketts.
Vestiaire Collective chief executive officer Fanny Moizant traveled to Ghana with The Or Foundation to see firsthand the impact of the clothing waste. She previously told WWD the trip was pivotal to the company implementing its fast fashion ban. It’s the pair’s first partner sale.
“As a fellow organization that champions the resale community, we’re proud to partner with Vestiaire Collective to share and uplift the vibrant upcycling culture of Kantamanto with the world, and showcase the artistry of reuse and repair,” added Ricketts.
The Or Foundation, based in Accra, provides training and business development support to Kantamanto-based upcyclers and tailors to promote entrepreneurship and circular fashion.
The designers featured in the capsule include Dinnani, which has created colorful hobo bags out of T-shirts; Alpha Tribe Costume, which created tapestry jackets; CBI Desk, which created patchwork denim jackets with embroidery detail; Rows Ambitions, which upcycled sweatshirts into a cow print on denim, and 1304 Thrift Street, which upcycled varsity jackets, trenchcoats and sweatshirts with jacquard, patchwork, silkscreen and hand-painted art, among others.
All the items were made from clothing and materials sourced from the Kantamanto Market.
Proceeds will be shared among the featured designers and through The Or Foundation’s Secondhand Solidarity Fund, which distributes funds to retailers and upcyclers in the community, including support for safety and fire equipment.
The Vestiaire Collective collaboration follows the foundation’s #SpeakVolumes campaign, which calls on fashion brands to disclose their annual production volumes. The group staged a takeover in New York City’s Times Square earlier this year to call attention to the problem of clothing overproduction.
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