NexTiles’ mission is to decrease the amount of textiles going to landfills while offering continuous education about the environmental impacts of textile waste. And at the heart of it is Madeline Miller. After graduating from the University of Miami with a master’s degree in marine sciences in 2020, then-24-year-old Miller searched for what direction to take her career next. Her initial idea was to work within the fashion and design industry. She had just completed a 4-month internship in 2019 as a data analyst with FABSCRAP, a Brooklyn-based textile reuse and recycling business.
“I didn’t anticipate a career in textile recycling,” she says. “While attending the University of Miami, my interests were preserving natural resources and understanding what’s happening to our air, soil, and water resources. In the midst of that research, I started to understand the journey of landfill waste.”
The COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity for Miller to take a step away from the fashion-forward, fast-paced atmosphere of New York. She dove deeper into learning about the textile industry’s ecological footprint and the importance of diverting landfill waste.