Holstee: Fashion Upcycling

It's been a while since I've posted on "upcycling," so here's a refresher: upcycling is reusing something in a way that increases its value - like repurposing packaging as a useful product, such as a lamp, speaker, or TV stand. It's an admirable form of recycling, since most recycling is actually "downcycling," where the material is degraded in value until it eventually becomes waste. Aaaanyway, I was recently contacted by Dave Radparvar, co-founder of Holstee, which does some pretty impressive upcycling in the fashion world. They use two methods: first, they produce their own shirts out of upcycled polyester, making fashionable fabric out of post-consumer bottles and industrial scrap. (These shirts also feature a uniquely-placed pocket, which I'd have to use firsthand before I could even take a stab at a usability verdict.) Second, they recover what they might call "fast fashion" t-shirts and grace them with custom silkscreens - which intentionally give the formerly gauche shirts an ironic twist, thereby upping their hipster cred and cash value. That's some pretty clever fashion alchemy - and a slick new method of upcycling!