the rhythmic snip of scissors and the steady hum of a sewing machine fill a quiet boston studio’s basement every night — where discarded fabrics find a new life. 

walking into friends + family, a vintage shop on massachusetts avenue in cambridge, the scent of incense sticks is like mild sunshine, leading people into the depths of the store. in a small room inside the shop, two hangers are filled with common brands but in unique designs. a woman with shoulder-length blonde hair wearing a blue baggy check pattern shirt and wide-fit raw denim pants looks ready to showcase her new products. 

this is michmade, an independent upcycling fashion brand in boston, where designer michaella sheridan makes clothes useless to someone else into valuable commodities and proves that the future of fashion does not have to be wasteful.

every year, the average american consumer discards 81.5 pounds of clothing per person, resulting in approximately 11.3 million tons of textile waste. however, only 15% of used textiles are recycled annually, and half of that ends up in landfills or rotting piles. according to the environmental protection agency,  17 million tons of textile waste were dumped in landfills in 2018.

upcycling: giving old clothes a new life

sheridan’s work is part of an initiative that aims to slow down the cycle of textile waste by providing a new life to discarded clothes. 

“i love american sportswear brands like polo ralph lauren because they are known for having high-quality materials, so i’m attracted to items like that,” sheridan said. “you can take a men’s shirt from a thrift store and wear it, but what excites me is to take those items and give them a little spice like changing them in a way that makes them feel new and exciting.” 

a red tank top originally a red sox t-shirt, a yellow knit with a smiling red lobster emblem representing boston, and a men’s yellow polo stripe shirt transformed into a business casual women’s blouse with playful ruffles; sheridan is giving a new identity to discarded clothes. sheridan treats each piece of fabric like a piece of the puzzle and readjusts them to make something new. in her hands, old clothes are reborn with a new story and purpose.

“i was born and raised in boston and that informs my taste and style,” she said. “the lobster is a culmination of all that — upcycling meets boston imagery and a core part of my brand is that i’m not fussy. it all just works.”

the challenges of sustainable fashion

sheridan’s passion for upcycling began in her childhood with her grandmother and her mother. 

“my grandmother taught me to sew when i was a little kid and my mom taught me how to sell at a flea market,” she said. “i started sewing things and putting them at her booth. that was five years ago, and it’s just snowballed from there.”

however, continuing a sustainable fashion business hasn’t been easy.

“oh my god, a thousand times, yes,” she said, when asked if she’s struggled. it is difficult for her to make the product line consistent and cohesive because working with found materials is unpredictable. “it is a challenge to make everything feel like it’s part of the same family. i don’t buy fabric, so i work with what i find.”

sustainability encompasses everything from the origin and composition of fabrics to the processes used in manufacturing, distribution, and post-consumer impact. according to anna sáez de tejada cuenca, a professor at iese business school in navarre, spain, “the word ‘sustainability’ has many meanings, some people think about material properties if the material is made of an organic fiber, recycled fiber, or is going to be recyclable later.”

fashion brands like patagonia and outerknown embrace using organic materials or developing recycling technologies; however, it is complicated to say that all brands are sustainable.

“shein is now trying to claim to be more sustainable and they are trying to develop recycling technologies. but that’s the biggest contradiction because they are a model for selling a lot of stuff cheaply with less durable stuff,” sáez de tejada cuenca said. “the ultimate change will come when clothes are more durable and we buy less.”

big brands and greenwashing greed

brands are relying on mass production while they market their sustainability initiative. ongi min, a former environmental department fellow from south korea’s anseong si sustainability committee, thinks it is a marketing strategy. 

“i call them greenwashing,” she said. “shein or h&m say they are making an effort to be sustainable by using recycled materials. however, it doesn’t change much because customers keep buying cheap clothes.” 

sheridan pointed out the problem of fast fashion in the environmental crisis. “it’s built on greed and a lack of understanding of what we actually need,” she said. “the constant demand for cheap and disposable clothes creates so much waste. that’s not sustainable.” the industry will be viewed as sustainable when the cloth itself becomes sustainable. 

giving consumers a choice

upcycling fashion brands like michmade are giving customers a way to feel as though they are contributing to solving the issue in their daily lives by changing their consumption patterns. 

“i used to shop fast fashion without thinking about it,” said jane park, a first-year graduate student at berklee college of music, standing in a crowded flea market in fenway.  “i used to feel powerless and depressed when i heard about environmental issues including textile waste piling up in landfills, but shopping from upcycling designers gives me a way to be part of the solution.” 

jennifer song first discovered michmade at a flea market in fenway. she was drawn to the brand’s unique selection of clothing, especially a crop top emblazoned with a boston sports team logo. 

“i bought this cropped t-shirt that used to be a red sox t-shirt which is something you can always see if you live here. the fit was perfect, and i love that it has a story behind it,” she said. “i’m literally wearing something that has a past life. that makes it feel special.”

sheridan also values connecting with her customers. “if someone is emotionally attached to a shirt they bought from a designer, they’ll take care of it and make it last longer,” she said. 

while social media has helped her grow her brand, she values the time that she spends meeting with customers in person even more. “they allow me to talk about what i do, explain the work, and show how these pieces can be styled,” she said. “i want people to understand the emotional value behind upcycling.”