Image courtesy of Sissey
“The planet belongs to you in the long term. We believe it’s important for youth to lead in this conversation—in businesses, governmental changes of attitude, mass consumption, and manufacturing. Breathe life and endless creativity, and form something new and loved.”
—Matty Johnson, Beyond Retro Rep
Beyond Retro is a haven for the most unique, vintage inspired designs you can find. Going beyond the meaning of just being vintage, the label hopes to reclaim, reduce, and reuse 10 billion items.
“Students can help the cause by finding their own creative and forward thinking ways to save unwanted garments from a life in landfill,” says Matty Johnson, Beyond Retro customer care representative.
“Our major aim is to reduce the enormous amount of wasted clothing each year, by giving it a new home and refashioning it where possible,” says Johnson.
The label even sews leftover pocket change into their clothing, creating some awesome “brand bling” by stamping pennies with their Anchor logo.
The label is made entirely from secondhand fabrics and are trimmed, chopped, tapered, and cropped into motion—back onto the rack, and into your closets. Their ultimate motive is to seek to reclaim materials, creating original designs that align with today’s declining global resources.
“Fashion and furniture are similar, in being simultaneously the product of incredible design and regular over-consumption,” says Johnson.
The brand is also constantly discovering new innovative avenues for long-lasting impact in the fashion landscape. Johnson suggests buying items of strong quality and long-lasting design to help minimise the impact on the environment.
“If we can find new homes for vintage clothing, the same is true for furniture. The same clothing aspects of re-using and re-making can be applied to any piece of furniture in need of repair,” says Johnson.
The label also includes some pretty stylish upcycled wholesale bags, which you can view on their online store here. Their bags, created from quality vintage materials like corduroy and denim, are upcycled and re-worked into an amazing range of totes, backpacks and paperboy bags. The shop also brims with ideas for fabric décor. Just take a look around and you’re sure to find inspiration by classic and cutting-edge designs. Just grab a patterned shirt and it can easily be converted and upcycled into a pillow case cover, for example. The possibilities are truly endless.
So how can students find some of their own treasures? Johnson recommends using Gumtree as an incredible source of free information for grabbing unwanted finds. He also suggests using a brilliant free paint depot called Wise Up to Waste, which allows you to pick up free paint for your own renovations or whatever you wish. Students can find the free paint initiative available for collection at selected household waste recycling centres. Colours and volumes of paint are dependent on the materials donated. Find an RRC participating in the scheme here:
- Summers Lane, Barnet
- Regis Road, Camden
- Western Road, Haringey
It’s all in the eyes of the beholder, so now that you’ve got the goods, why not grab a pail yourself ? Making someone elses’ junk your jewel isn’t all that hard, proving that you can be chic and sustainable. Keep your eyes open because you never know what kinds of endless gems you’ll find right at your fingertips.
As Johnson says, “The planet belongs to you in the long term. We believe it’s important for youth to lead in this conversation—in businesses, governmental changes of attitude, mass consumption, and manufacturing. Breathe life and endless creativity, and form something new and loved.”
Don’t forget to visit Beyond Retro’s amazing Instagram page here and support them by shopping their amazing selection online or in person to begin your own upcycled journey.
*Please note: Matty’s family name has been changed to protect privacy.
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