CIRCULAR FASHION EXPLAINED, THE WEAR EQUAL WAY

At Wear Equal we have always believed that fashion is activism, which is why we have been upcycling since we started. But, what is it that we do differently from other upcycling designers? To start with, we work with post production offcuts and not new fibres made from recycled materials.

Want to better understand the difference between upcycling & recycling? Read below!

Post Production Upcycling

Most people know upcycling as when old clothes are tailored to become new. A saree from one’s grandmother becomes a sharara, for example, or defected items that cannot be sold are re-stitched to become new pieces. This supports local trailers and keeps old fabric in circulation, making it a very sustainable fashion choice, which doesn’t require spending a lot.

But at Wear Equal we engage in post-production upcycling. We take organic cotton offcuts and turn them into underwear. This does not involve recycling the hygienic scrap into yarn, but just working with it as is. To get the correct patterns and ensure sanitization, everything is biowashed and sustainably dyed by our all-women team using our GOTS Certified organic dyes. Think of the times when the extra fabric you get while sewing a new dress is used to make a bag that matches the dress. That is similar to what we do. The benefits are simple- we ensure these scraps that would otherwise be landfilled are used, and our intimate-wear remains eco-friendly because no new materials are taken to make them.

Upcycling is NOT Recycling

While many feel what we do is recycling, as we showed, there is a difference. Recycling involves turning the fabric back to yarn, like they do with ocean plastic when turning that into a shirt, while upcycling is like making art out of the plastic bottle to keep it in use longer. The bottle isn’t turned back to the raw material and neither are our scraps. 

Our intimate-wear, such as bralettes and underwear are made from production offcuts and our lounge-wear are made using bigger pieces of rejects from the cutting board and end-roll pieces aka the leftover material from a large export order.

Post-use Recycling – Next Up At Wear-Equal!

Underwear needs to be changed every year or so, as health and hygiene experts say. Yet, our planet cannot assimilate that much fabric waste, which is where we step in. In the spirit of helping our conscious customers ensure that the entire life-cycle of our intimate-wear remains eco-friendly, we are here to take charge of the disposal as well!

You can now return your used underwear, after cleaning it, to Wear Equal.

Our team will then biowash and sanitize them, before recycling them. Yes, we at Wear Equal are stepping into recycling!

How does it work?

Simple. We turn the sanitized underwear back to cotton yarn, and then that can be used hygienically to stuff toys, bags, pillows, and more. This ensures that the underwear you had to discard earlier will still be used in some form, making the entire process much less-resource intensive than producing new stuffing.

We feel it is our duty to ensure our products do not end up in the wastestream once their utility is over but are instead repurposed, in the true spirit of circular fashion!

And while our recycled stuffing filled home decor and toys aren't available yet, they will soon be. So stay tuned ! Until then, our upcycled loungewear, underwear, and bralettes, are here to turn your wardrobe into an eco-feminist statement!!