Young designer transforms unwanted goods into fashion pieces
Upcoming fashion designer Maddie Bevacqua is looking to highlight the importance of sustainability by turning unwanted materials into fashionable clothing.
“The reason I got into fashion was because I didn’t want to support fast fashion brands anymore,” says the 23-year-old designer.
The fashion industry is one of the largest polluting industries in the world, even ahead of the transportation industry. One of the main culprits is fast fashion — mass production of cheap and replaceable clothes that come with an environmental cost.
“The second biggest polluters in landfills is the textiles and garments. So it’s a huge problem right now,” says Elaine Chatwood, coordinator of the St. Clair College Fashion Design program.
Bevacqua’s pieces sourced from recycled materials won her the top designer award at St. Clair College’s 2021 Atelier Fashion Show which came with a $1,000 scholarship.
The recent St. Clair graduate created her one-of-kind garments using tablecloths, curtains and tapestries she found at local thrift stores.
“I don’t like taking like a perfect tapestry. I like to take something that’s damaged and might not be used for its original purpose and give it new purpose,” says Bevacqua.
Designer Maddie Bevacqua at St.Clair College in Windsor, Ont. on Monday, July 26, 2021. (Sijia Liu/CTV Windsor)
The process of creating the pieces takes time. Bevacqua often searches through local thrift stores and online markets for months before finding suitable materials. She then begins designing her garments and making them by hand.
“The hardest part is cutting my fabrics. I’m really scared that I’m going to screw up. Once I screw up on a certain material, I can’t get a new one. So I’ll have to make a solution,” she says.
Chatwood says the sustainable fashion is growing in popularity with younger generation as they become more conscious shoppers. To break the fast fashion habit, Chatwood suggests consumers think twice before purchasing an item.
“You should ask a few questions. First of all, do you need this? Secondly, what is the fabric? f possible always buy organic cotton and recycled polyester,” she suggests.
When shopping, Chatwood says the seams can reveal a lot about the quality of clothing.
“Look inside the garments at the seams. If the garment isn’t sown very well and the seams allowances are really small, after one or two washes it’s going to frail.”
Finally, she suggests consumers learn basic sewing skills.
“Learn how to sow a button on, fix a zipper and actually owning a sewing machine again,” Chatwood says. “It’s a great trend learning how to fix your own items.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.