Restitched 2021

For the last 5 years, we have organised and run significant events in April, coinciding with the international Fashion Revolution movement to push for accountability and sustainability in the fashion industry. With our 2020 event being cancelled due to lockdown, we took the upcycling idea to another level, with plans being repurposed and reimagined for 2021.

Firstly, it's quite amazing how far we've come, from April 2020 being in full nationwide lockdown, to April 2021 being free to run events and run almost as usual. This is something unique to NZ, with much of the world still in crisis where getting to the supermarket is a major challenge, let alone getting to attend creative workshops. This is certainly something we don't take for granted, and deeply appreciate!

We called our program 'Restitched', and for 2021 spread the event out over several events including two public talks and practical workshops by local fashion and arts practitioners as well as national and international innovators. This has provided opportunities for the artists involved to develop their work and engage the public in the slow fashion movement. This movement aims to transition from commerce-driven consumerism to innovation and creativity at all levels of fashion - from producer to end-user.

This was a fantastic opportunity for us to engage artists from the community, including Anna Nicola Hansby and Anna Perry, Amber Bridgman, Kate Watts, to introduce new disciplines and creative processes, as well as new participants, to our network.

We also hosted talks from two leading figures in fashion innovation: Jane Milburn of Textile Beat in Brisbane who presented a talk via Zoom; and Bernadette Casey from The Formery and the Textile Reuse Programme in Wellington, who will speak in a public presentation in Dunedin via Zoom. Both women are mentors and connecting with them through this project has strengthened our direction for our organisational goals. These talks highlight the broader context of the direction fashion and textile design will go in the future, reinforcing that conscious shift towards a more sustainable textile conversation for Aotearoa and our global fashion community.

We weren't able to record Bernadettes talk, but you can watch this youtube recording of Bernadette sharing the important research and development work in the fashion industry, or for more information about UsedFully and creating a circular use economy in New Zealand

In total, we had over 100 attendees, and strengthened important connections to local, national and international innovators, which made the series a fantastic success!
Massive thank you to DCC Arts Grant for funding us for these events, to Dunedin Libraries for hosting our talk with Bernadette, and to Anna, Nicola, Amber, and Kate for running workshops and sharing your passion for making fashion a more creative, more ethical industry