New clothes with old ones: fashionable upcycling in Bigorre

To make new with old, the idea is not new. But as fashion is an eternal restart, it was finally logical that the old clothes find a second youth. This is the meaning of upcycling, this current that is sweeping through the textile world around a guiding idea: reusing clothes that are sleeping in wardrobes to create unique, brand new pieces.

In Tarbes, in the showroom on the floor of the Nouvelles Galeries, Sophie Matéos and Uhaina Haet have just launched upcycling workshops open to everyone. This Friday, Dimitri, one of the first students, transforms an old shirt and scraps of fabric from his grandmother into a necessarily unique bag. "This material that my grandmother kept, we improve it by recycling it, we give it added value" explains the student, while playing with the sewing machine. "It's really great even if it's quite demanding" blows Eric.

Unique pieces

Because if the environmental and artistic philosophy gets along quite quickly, upcycling requires some notions that Sophie Matéos and Uhaina Haet like to distill, with the help of Marie Terrier, alternate. "It takes technique to reclaim these old clothes, extract the material and reuse it, but also ideas, to see the possible pieces behind these deconstructions." Also, within the workshop itself two schools coexist: Sophie starts more from the design of the final product before looking into the material to achieve this when Uhaina starts from the material. "We are both nature lovers and opposed to fast-fashion, pleads Sophie Matéos. Textile is the second most polluting industry in the world. It was one more reason to put upcycling forward." Ecological concerns also coupled with the "do-it-yourself" trend; "It's a way of seeing fashion differently, abounds Dimitri. With confinement, I'm turning more to second-hand, thrift stores..." Sophie Matéos to deepen: "You can embellish old pieces with paint, embroidery. People are looking for unique pieces, they want to stand out. There, they have the material at hand." On social networks, "homemade" creations are flourishing. "It's a concept that speaks to people, friends for whom it is easier to progress by being accompanied, specifies Uhaina Haet, who has declined upcycling in a brand, La petite vague (read elsewhere). The tutorials do not are not enough. Upcycling is also about sharing. Tips and ideas come from everyone." A sort of collaborative fashion that has become a school since upcycling will be at the heart of the Reffye fashion section show, on March 11, at the town hall of Tarbes.