Reclaim. Resist. Repeat.
The #Upcycle 365 Campaign
They call it donations,
With a hidden plan up their sleeves,
Piles of polyester prayers
No one asked to receive.
Mountains grow where cotton dies,
Under burning secondhand skies.
Not your landfill, not your shame,
Wearing the stain, in the Global North’s name.
Colonial threads still play a part
Let’s take Upcycling justice as an activist art.
So don’t you dare call this a trend.
This work against injustice should never end.
Three six five, we raise our voice,
Refuse, reuse, reclaim, rejoice.
#Upcycle365
© Toyin Gbomedo
credit: Artillery
My name is Toyin and I am a multidisciplinary artist and PhD researcher, passionate about using creativity as a tool for justice and social change. My background is in community organising and performing arts. I use art activism in most of my work, such as writing poems about the exploitation of garment workers and waste colonialism.
I started upcycling in 2007 as a hobby. I just wanted to wear items of clothing that were original. I would use predominantly Ankara fabrics to upcycle my shoes and bags to go along with my headwraps or Aso-Ebi, which is a Yoruba tradition of wearing matching fabrics or styles to social events such as weddings, celebrations etc. My shoes and bags would always match my outfit.
I later learned how serious the issue of fashion waste really is, and decided that I wanted to use my skills in upcycling to take action against this injustice.
Each year, millions of tons of fashion waste are exported under the illusion of charity, only to suffocate markets, ecosystems, and livelihoods in the Global South.
“In a world drowning in fast fashion, #Upcycle365 is not just a campaign, it’s a call to action with a needle and thread, encouraging people to reclaim, rework, and reimagine their secondhand clothing and discarded garments for one year.”
credit: Artillery
#Upcycle365 is a campaign that pushes back with creativity. From upcycling workshops to educational creative content, my aim is that the movement will grow stitch by stitch. Fueled by artists, activists, and everyday people who believe fashion can, and should, serve both people and the planet.
This is not just about aesthetics. It’s about equity. Upcycling is a radical response to a system that offloads its problems onto the Global South while continuing to profit. It’s a demand for justice, expressed in patchwork and hems.
In a world trained to toss and replace, #Upcycle365 dares communities to mend, remake and remember, because when we upcycle, we’re not just changing clothes, we’re changing the narrative. Fashion doesn’t have to cost the earth or colonise it.
#Upcycle 365 will hold an Upcycling one-stop drop-in shop at the Reuse and Repair Fair on the 10th May so that all community members can breathe new life into their old clothes. Come and join us, we would love to see you there!
