AFP -“The fashion world likes everything to be slick, but I’m a bit like Dr Frankenstein, experimenting all the time with little bits and bobs,” said the young Swiss designer Kevin Germanier during a fashion show.
That glittering outfit was made from reels and reels of recycled video tape from his childhood, along with hundreds of Germanier’s favourite plaything – pearls.
Like many of his generation, Germanier has made upcycling – using offcuts, unused or unsold cloth – as much from conviction as financial necessity.
It all started for him when he was doing an internship in Hong Kong, with bags of pearls “that were too close to the window and had discoloured in the sun”, he recalled.
“Upcycling is not about going to a vintage shop and doing something with a T-shirt, it’s really about creating something from rubbish,” he said.
