PROVIDENCE, RI [Brown University] — A new collection of college clothing lines the shelves of the Brown University bookstore, and while the garments may look familiar, no two are exactly alike. That’s because designer Glory (SeungHee) Lee designed each piece using unsold or unwanted Brown-brand clothing as a base.
Lee, a Brown-RISD dual major in the class of 2024 studying apparel design at the Rhode Island School of Design and economics at Brown, is the founder of Missing Button, a creative studio focused on recycling: the practical of transforming unwanted materials into valuable, high-quality products. In other words, Lee is turning trash into treasure.
The collaboration made its public launch at the bookstore during Family Weekend.
“Upcycle is always interesting, because you have to be creative with such a limited set of resources,” Lee said. “You’re given a starting point, then however you can stretch it, it really depends on your creative ability. It’s almost like a problem-solving challenge.”
Lee founded Missing Button last year and officially launched the new collaboration with the bookstore, where items are already available for sale, during Brown’s Family Weekend on October 22. Missing Button’s Brown Collection comprises more than 70 unique pieces, from ruffled crop tops to patchwork tote bags, strappy sweaters and hoodies adorned with extra pockets. While offering high-quality, well-designed clothing is certainly part of his goal, it is Lee’s passion for sustainability that fueled both the creation of the studio and the collaboration with the bookstore.
“I wanted to do something where the solution I’m providing also helps them deal with this overstock problem that is very common in retail,” Lee said.
Overstock traditionally includes items that didn’t sell for one reason or another, but can also include damaged items, such as t-shirts with poor seams or errors in graphics. In addition, potential vendors send the bookstore free sample products every year. All this excess material “builds up over time and becomes a mountain,” said TJ Cochran, director of the Brown University bookstore.
“We’ve done all kinds of things — we’ve donated things, we’ve put them up for special sale or clearance, but if it gets to the point where it just doesn’t sell, I’d go to a thrift store,” Cochran said. “It could also end up in the landfill, and that’s not where we want it to go.”
However, through collaboration, that potential waste is completely avoided. Since 2020, Cochran said the bookstore has been able to donate 100% of its surplus or damaged clothing to Refried Apparel, another company that sells recycled products at the bookstore, and now to Missing Button as well.
“What I really like about these shows is that they use every piece of fabric,” he said. “They really try to make sure nothing goes to waste. It is sustainable, but people are also becoming fashionable, with unique products. It drives sales, because people see it and know that if they don’t buy it, they’ll never have a chance to get that part again. It’s a brilliant move.”
Missing Button was conceived last winter and quickly came together throughout the year, launching its first project in May 2022 in partnership with the RISD Store to turn its excess stock into an upcycled fashion collection. Inspired by the success of the out-of-print RISD collection, Lee approached Brown Bookstore to see if he would be interested in a similar partnership.
Source: news.google.com