Scrap to Fashion: This South African Designer is Using Abandoned Fabrics to Create Menswear

As with many things in life, creativity is often borne out of necessity. For South African fashion design student, Katekani Moreku, a head full of designs could only go so far without the means to acquire the material.  Inspiration came in the form of discarded bags and clothing on his campus in Durban.  If he couldn’t obtain new textiles, why not recycle the old into colorful, eye-catching assemblages? His first collection, released in October 2018, comprised a range of colorful dresses, skirts, jackets, and hats. The hats were made from local food baskets and have now become a part of his brand’s signature look. Moreku’s first collection showcased at the DUT fashion show, organized by his University in Durban in 2018. And his reuse of abandoned fabrics earned him recognition in September 2019 at the Twyg Sustainable Fashion Awards in South Africa. He won an award for “addressing the challenges of sustainability in fashion” at the show. Part of sustainable fashion involves reuse and recycling of old clothes, a practice which Moreku says he is not new to.

SOURCE: CNN