Re-creating the Fashion Industry

In our current era of globalization gone wild, citizens of third-world countries don T-shirts advertising sports teams in first-world cities they've never heard of, and women in London, England, walk around in the same mass-marketed khakis as women in New London, Missouri. It's getting harder and harder to retain our individuality.

Fortunately, there are some designers who delight in turning these mass-market castoffs into unique, quirky new creations, providing a virtual guarantee that no one else will be wearing the same thing as you. That quest for individuality is what drives a lot of sales, says Charles Tesnakis, vice president of Ekologic, which buys fabrics and clothes from clothing graders. "The silhouette [for each design] remains the same but the fabric changes. It's completely dependent on what's in the waste stream," he says. "Everything we do is one-of-a-kind."

Urban Outfitters' Urban Renewal line operates on the same premise. The company buys a certain style of material—plaids, stripes, etc.—from rag houses, another stop in the textile recycling chain (see What Happens to Donated Clothes?), and makes a season's worth of clothing from it. Some Urban Renewal items are sold online, but their stores usually have greater selection and variety.

Just north of the border in Canada, Preloved (www.preloved.ca) and On & On (www.onandon.ca) turn old clothes from thrift shops, "by-the-pound" stores (wholesalers who resell donations from graders or charities) and clothing graders into trendy outfits.

Due to varying availability of materials, your purchase might be slightly different from what you see online. Even so, the uniqueness of the pieces makes the suspense worthwhile:

Ekologic recycled-cashmere mittens ($76) and square hats ($72; www.ekologic.com, 518-274-0813); On & On Crisscross Blouse made from thrift-store castoffs (about $129; www.humclothing.com, 604-708-5486); Urban Renewal Super Lucky Cat Plaid Jumper ($78; www.urbanoutfitters.com, 800-282-2200); Potential Fashions Applique Tee made from recycled T-shirts ($66; www.econsciousmarket.com, 866-444-8864); A Greater Gift Recycled Fabric Handbag made in India from old clothing and household textiles ($32; www.agreatergift.org, 800-422-5915). Look for Preloved clothing in boutiques across the U.S.; see www.preloved.ca/english/find.html for store locations.

Patagonia has taken a different approach to recycling castoffs. Their Common Threads Garment Recycling program reclaims any polyester garment as well as Patagonia organic cotton clothes, breaks them apart and uses the raw material in new pieces, like the women's Strappy Vitaliti Dress, good for resort wear ($29), and the men's Brushed Vitaliti long-sleeved polo ($65), as well as men's and women's Capiline base layers (www.patagonia.com, 800-638-6464).

Finally, clothing made from recycled soda bottles may not keep clothes out of landfiils, but it's keeping something out of the heap: Israel-based Bagir Ltd. recently introduced machine-washable business suits for men and women made entirely of post-consumer PET (est. $400). The company plans on introducing a voluntary return program similar to Patagonia's (www.bagir.com).

Whether you choose from this sample of designers or find your own, there's no need for you to look like everybody else, whichever London you may live in.