Upcycled Outfits With A Hint Of Urban Fashion – Danny Calero

As the world has named it today ‘Fast Fashion’ involves the quick design, manufacture, distribution, and marketing of apparel. As a result, retailers can draw larger amounts of a wider range of products, giving customers access to more fashion and product diversification at lower costs. With an ever growing fashion industry, adverse environmental effects of this growth are more prominent than ever. 

Slow/sustainable fashion has now come to the rescue, with good quality and environment friendly upcycled fabrics in clothing articles. One such designer, making his way into the sustainable fashion industry is Danny Calero. He is a Tacoma based fashion designer, with a love for vintage textiles. This love of his, has resulted in him creating distinctive yet fashionable pieces of upcycled outfits using nothing but vintage textiles.

According to Business Insider, fashion production each emit 10% of the world’s carbon emissions. While 85 percent of all textiles end up in landfills each year, it dries up water sources and pollutes rivers and streams. 500 000 tonnes of microfibres, or 50 billion plastic bottles, are released into the ocean every year just from washing clothes. 

In an interview, Danny mentioned about his favourite piece to upcycle “My favourite piece to upcycle is a flannel shirt because there are so many ways to style that piece. You can extend the sleeves, add pockets/zippers, crop the length, bleach parts of it, or even cut and sew them with other flannels. It is a perfect piece that can be worn around the house or even year-round in most parts of the world.” 

“I truly believe sustainable fashion is the future. there is nothing better than owning a one of a kind piece that is not only fashionable but also good for the environment.” 

Danny patterns his designs after 90’s vintage, 2000’s punk and modern eclectic fashion. His biggest inspirations are Nicole Mclaughlin, Jerry Lorenzo and Jake Zielinski. His strong belief in the expression of oneself through sustainable fashion is what sets him apart. Fashion industry is desperately in need with this kind of thought awakening