Glittery, sparkly and twinkling sequins can take any piece of material from simple to spectacular, normally only worn for special occasions and a handful of times due to their alluring nature. Concealed behind these shimmery shiny embellishments is a dark side that unfortunately is not so dazzling on our environment.

The fashion and textiles industry is contributing immensely to the War on Waste. “Trash to treasure” explores the process of intercepting discarded waste materials with a purpose to refashion them into a new, interesting and sustainable resource. In effect, creating a renewed cycle of life for this waste.

With Covid 19 and limited access to supplies, a lot of thought went into rethinking how I was going to use materials and express and create my embellishments. By exploring such a concept and retrieving common items that are frequently thrown out, I was able to Up cycle this once foregone trash into treasure which produced handcrafted, unique and one of kind materials, that emphasises and displays the power of re-using and re-designing seen below..

Ultimately achieving outcomes through the transformation of what was once waste, into beads, sequins and embellishments – a steppingstone to achieving a more sustainable, circular model of industry production.