We started our journey toward reinventing the upcycle apparel design process by gathering unwanted t-shirts. Our initial intent was to create yardage, because we came from the traditional apparel design paradigm. We sliced the t-shirts into strips and experimented with various ways of attaching them together.  Then, we place the textile strips on a substance in the shape of the pattern pieces. We experimented with paper, and then found a better biodegradable material. After we have completed the textile design, we place another layer of the substance on top, stitch that sandwich together, then remove the substance to reveal a fabric. At some point, a light bulb went off and we realized that we did not need to put the fabric strips over the whole surface of the substance, and we could engineer the textile design to conform to the shape of the pattern pieces.

 

Further thinking led us to a scalable, repeatable process wherein we create the fabric within multiple pattern pieces at one time.

And RECLEM* was born.