Upcycling with Material Debris: Nurturing the Creative Process through Responsible Handling of Waste Materials

Abstract

By default, upcycling as a fashion methodology of deconstructing, re-assembling and removing material elements from existing garments, always produces material waste. This waste, with which one would traditionally disengage and place in the bin, is produced through various upcycling approaches—altering motifs, changing silhouettes or deconstructing forms. This waste can be incredibly micro in scale: dust, fibers, the smallest thread, or damaged bit which is produced from breaking down the structure of a garment. Framed more sensitively, this waste can be classified as process debris. Debris conventionally is not clearly understood as a material to reuse, or to value, or to place - as it is small in scale, fragmented, and allegedly beyond repair. This attitude would usually encourage a disengagement with the material, and it would be de historicized and rendered as waste. In the context of this study, the debris from reforming a historic archive has gained new significance. Analyzing and designing with it invites a larger discussion around notions of care, value and the preservation of certain materials. ‘Care’, in this case, emerged through my encounter with the material debris itself, and the way that unique encounter instigated a consideration of value and role.