To highlight the positive style and environmental potentials of reusing, Christina Dean, Founder of Redress, swore to wear nothing but discarded clothes for an entire year.

Over the past ten years, our consumption of fashion has increased by about 60 percent. This has resulted in increased environmental pollution and landfills full of textile waste that could easily have been reused or recycled. In the UK, more than 1000 tons of clothes are dumped in landfills every day. Seems like a waste (pun intended), no?

The environmental impact of landfilled clothes is detrimental, since not all clothes are biodegradable. This adds pressure to landfills and results in the emission of a climate-change-inducing cocktail of chemicals. Photo by Luke Casey

The 365 Challenge, which began on January 1st of this year, was designed by sustainable fashion NGO Redress to promote its ‘Redress it, don’t bin it’ concept. Founder Christina Dean is now five months into the challenge, and has chronicled her entire journey on Instagram.

The outfits were put together with 100 percent dumped, discarded or donated secondhand clothes, sourced with support from Friends of the Earth (HK). All were styled in collaboration with leading fashion personalities, who each got a month to rummage around used clothing bins with Dean.

Day 1. January 1, 2013 – styled by TaniaReinert of A Boy Named Sue

Day 4. January 4, 2013 – styled by TaniaReinert of A Boy Named Sue

Day 28. January 28, 2013 – styled by TaniaReinert of A Boy Named Sue

“I’m shocked at what we’ve salvaged from the clothing bins so far,” says Dean. “From bags to bras, we’ve found that the public are chucking out amazing branded, quality clothes, some still with their price tags on. With our fashion stylists’ creativity, we’re turning other people’s trash, from swimming costumes to ski-gear, into my stylish wearable wardrobe. With today’s fashion production and consumption spiraling out of control, we must educate and inspire the public to rethink the way we consume, wear and discard our valuable clothes.”

Day 51. February 20, 2013 – styled by Julie Shah

Day 57. February 26, 2013 – quality stitched and lined Armani trousers with Valentino linen jacket, styled by Julie Shah

Day 66. March 7, 2013 – Dean in black skirt swapped with Shanghai fashion designer Helen Lee

Day 71. March 12, 2013 – outfit with swapped tee, styled by Anupreet Bhui

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ay 82. March 23, 2013 – trousers swapped with Lucy Shea of Swishing, styled by Anupreet Bhui

Day 88. March 29, 2013 – styled by Anupreet Bhui

Tania Reinert, co-founder of online eco-boutique A Boy Named Sue, kicked off the year with January’s ‘Finding Your Wardrobe Essentials’ subject. February explored durability, styled by Redress’ Creative Director Julie Shah. In March, Anupreet Bhui focused on the idea of clothes swapping, enlisting help from people like Lucy Shea of Swishing. For April, DIY queen Geneva Vanderzeil, author of the blog a pair and a spare and the recently released book DIY Fashionista, took over with a (you guessed it) DIY theme.

Day 99. April 9, 2013 – DIY remade jacket, styled by Geneva Vanderzeil

Day 104. April 14, 2013 –  DIY remade blouse, styled by Geneva Vanderzeil of a pair and a spare

Day 113. April 23, 2013 –  blazer remade into vest, styled by Geneva Vanderzeil

Day 124. May 4, 2013 – “floral chic” for a sunny day in Brussels, styled by Elle.com.hk

Day 135. May 15, 2013 – monotone outfit set against secondhand jean mosaic wall at Taipei’s Amba hotel

Redress wants people to join the campaign by sharing pictures of themselves wearing restyled, reconstructed, repaired or recycled clothing on Instagram, and tagging them with @GetRedressed and #the365challenge.

The post The 365 Challenge: A Year of Stylish Reused Clothing appeared first on EcoSalon.