Upcycle Uplift

Upcycle Uplift is a platform and art project for imagining alternative pathways that combine recycling issues with voices of vulnerable people, and the narratives, ideals, and fantasies of fashion design. Upcycle Uplift proposes to explore the social impact, public values and potential of art by creating new designs for clothing.

In Japan, the basic requirements of life are called ISHOKUJU (衣食住) – clothing, food, and shelter; clothing is written first. It is said that only human beings wear clothes of their own volition and to express their dignity. About 400 years ago in Japan, an ordinance was enacted prohibiting luxury, and restrictions were placed on everything from the material and color of the cloth, the techniques of design, the pattern, and the price. However, people used their wisdom to enjoy kimonos and flexibly make their own personal claims. In addition, at that time, due to a lack of supplies, it was necessary to create a society based on recirculation of items, and the fabric called BORO(襤褸 ) was created through repeated repair and reuse.The precious fabrics were woven with family history and memories and passed on to the next generation.Today we are plagued by the overproduction of clothing (“fast fashion,”), which is mostly sent to West Africa under the guise of charity, causing serious environmental problems. Under these circumstances, what do we want to wear? From that point, I consider the influence and relationship that design gives to the environment, and how to live a fulfilling life, with the pocket as a common trope.

Upcycle Uplift’s clothing design focuses on pocket functionality. Pockets have been a means of transporting objects since the Ice Age. Issues of pocket design in women’s clothing connect to women’s rights, and the problem of gender differences in jeans pockets continues to this day. Marcus, a (formerly houseless) activist who I met when this project started, gave me the opinion that “clothes are also a survival tool for the houseless.” He suggested that there should be a hidden pocket on his back, as his belongings were at high risk of being stolen while at the soup kitchen. With his input, I created functional back pockets both inside and outside the jacket. The functionality of this backpack-and-jacket integrated pocket can be applied to other people as well. The jacket was made from donated clothing materials collected at the Jackson Heights Greenmarket in Queens, in the summer of 2021 during the Covid-19 crisis when I asked for support and clothing donations for Upcycle Uplift.

Upcycle Uplift aims to blur the boundaries and hierarchies between art and fashion, art and everyday life. The project emphasizes a form of power that picks up small personal works rather than the mass-produced works of capitalist, consumer-based societies.