The path retailers are following to embrace fashion upcycling is becoming increasingly congested so it’s interesting to see a new entrant, Newless, taking an alternative route. It’s introduced a bespoke upcycling experience that turns pre-owned pieces into custom garments. 

As 75% of garments aren’t used again after their initial six months of wear, and the average Briton doesn’t wear around 25% of their wardrobe, Newless says it’s following an alternative method to make a difference, using experiential upcycling in two distinct ways “to combat textile waste and garment fatigue”.

The first involves customers mailing in their pre-owned garment then having them undergo the ‘On Demand’ service, that involves upcycling their old product into something new.

After a customer purchases the desired style on the website they receive a mail-in kit to provide all the details for their custom garment and a pre-labelled bag to send back their original piece.

Within five days, Newless designers have upcycled the piece into a completely new style and it’s back in their wardrobe. The starting price for the On Demand service is £70, up to £150.

The second involves opening pop-up retail units that provide the opportunity for users to have their pieces upcycled live by emerging designers in under 90 minutes. 

Designed as a social experience, guests get to collaborate with the designers to create a bespoke piece, “while sipping drinks and socialising with friends”. 

Newless says it will host pop-ups regularly both independently and in partnership with brands “looking for a sustainable and social way to activate their physical spaces”. The customer price for a spot at a pop-up ranges from £40-£90, and this includes their upcycling costs.

Newless employs emerging UK designers to come up with creative ideas to reconstruct garments, “taking items from feeling out-dated and undesirable to clothes that their owners will want to wear again”. 

These designers, many of whom are graduates “up against the competitive pool of traditional designer roles in the industry”, are the foundation of the Newless back-end, and the business is delighted to support emerging talent through their model”, it said.

Newless founder Anita Shannon added: “As we reckon with fashion’s impact on the environment, it seems our choice is split between cheap, trendy, fast fashion or expensive, and often simple, sustainable clothing. At Newless we are proving that upcycling can be accessible to many through an engaging e-commerce style experience via On Demand. This, in tandem with our pop ups, is proof that lower impact, fashion-forward styling can exist, be fun, and be available at an affordable price point.”