To avoid material loss and textile waste, the Vienna-based second-hand shop created a new brand, Kamikaz, which focuses on reworking and redesigning old denim, blouses, and other clothing items.

According to European Environmental Agency (2019), an average EU consumer discards about 11 kg of textiles each year. Used clothes are either exported to lower-income countries or incinerated or landfilled. Textile recycling and upcycling rates remain low.

bootik54, a Vienna-based vintage and second-hand shop, decided to address the problem of textile waste by starting a new brand, Kamikaz. In essence, Kamikaz is a production company which focuses on the reconstruction and redesign of old denim, blouses, and other clothing items. Using old second-hand and vintage items from the shop, the company creates a completely new product.

The company avoids the waste of resources that would have been used to produce a new product.

Source:

European Environmental Agency. (2019). Textiles in Europe's circular economy. Retrieved 18 August 2022 from https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/textiles-in-europes-circular-economy

Photo Credit: Photo by Claire Abdo on Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/photos/aWLTXw6kbDw)