Where others see garbage, Daniel Silverstein sees possibilities. That’s how the designer, known as Zero Waste Daniel, felt when he received from ThredUP as part of a collaboration 2,000 pounds of unsalable garments. Silverstein fashioned it all into the Full Circle Collection, 1,000 items such as dog beds, bowls, handbags and sweaters. The collection will be available to shop on November 15. This is Silverstein’s second partnership with ThredUP. The first hookup in July of 2020 consisted of pre-worn clothing that ThredUP considered “like-new,” which became the base, or canvas. Unsellable scraps were transformed by Silverstein into Monstera-inspired leaves and hand-sewed onto each secondhand garment.
“After the first collaboration, we floated out a couple of different ideas,” Silverstein said. “They said, ‘This could be really something. Could you write us up a proposal.’ I went to the drawing board. I thought, What does waste look like. That’s always my interest, that’s always where I find inspiration, and always where I want to help be part of the solution.
“They told me that their aftermarkets team is dealing with garments that can’t be sold,” he added. “It could be a stain or an odor or a rip or a tear, or it could be not knowing what the sizing is. There are so many reasons why a garment can’t be sold in the second-hand market. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t usable textiles in each of those pieces.”
“It supports our mission of keeping clothing out of landfills,” said Erin Wallace, VP of integrated marketing at ThredUP. “We wanted it to be accessible in terms of price, in terms of categories. Obviously, the idea of doing that, a truly upcycled Zero Waste Daniel collection, was pretty much a dream.”