Upcycling: the future of fashion
Age:
(Holds up 5 fingers). Cause I’ve already had my birthday.
Favourite song?
song in it.
Favourite colour?
he turned grey.
Favourite game? Footy Who is your best friend?
Umm... Victor. He’s not here today. He comes three days. He don’t come on Monday.
What makes you laugh? What makes you sad?
home. That’s just a joke.
What are you afraid of?
The bad Transformer – Grimlock. He turns into dinosaurs.
If you could change your name, what would it be? Optimus can fight the bad guys. The bad guy
turns into a rocket ship. Actually, he can fly. There’s a lot of Transformers.
What are you really good at?
Making things. When next year I’m at big school I’m going to make lots of Lego. You know there’s Lego in the library? At big school.
Do you have any jokes to tell me? What is your favourite thing to eat for lunch?
Sandwiches with jam.
What is your favourite fruit?
Oranges. I had a mandarin tree and a lemon tree and an orange tree. I had three trees.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
mail man. Because he puts mail at houses.
Like this many (holds up 10
How old is grown up?
fingers). Transformers. Actually there’s a Optimus is blue and red. Then Transformers.
My dad’s at work. He’s not Nah (smiles). A ANA Covarrubias is a long way from her Mexican home living in Dubbo but her approach to fashion is ahead of her time.
She is a living solution to the world’s overconsumption of clothes and as a talented designer will be sharing her upcycled label, Fernanda Covarrubias, in Victoria Park at the Dream Festival’s Music and Markets community stage on Saturday, October 27, from 6pm.
The materials she uses includes old jewellery, scarves, curtains, cushions, placemats, bits of fabrics and old wedding dresses, and the results are quality, unique upcycled-wear.
“All the time I’m thinking what I should do next or what I can I put with this or that piece of fabric.
“Most of the things I’m getting from op shops, or when friends don’t want their clothes anymore, they offer it to me,” Ms Covarrubias said.
“It’s not always easy when you’re working with upcycling materials, because you depend on what you find in the op shop. All the things I have here, I have been making for months. You have to know your personal style, the colours that you like. For example, you will not find anything floral or pink here because that’s not my style.
“Every time I go shopping I try to find the colours that I like and the materials that I like and it’s how I have built my collection. You can go op shopping and fill your wardrobe with things you’re never going to use, but that’s not the point of upcycling,” she said.
Surprisingly, Ms Covarrubias’ motivation isn’t money but creating awareness and sharing her skills and ideas.
“One of the models who is going to be in the show on Saturday asked am I willing to sell the pieces. I am just creating the things because I love it. In fact
I’m doing it because I want to show people that the world already has too many clothes,” she told Dubbo Photo News.
“Australians buy 27 kilos of textiles per year, and they discard 23 kilos per year. All these things just go into the landfill. Op Shops are sometimes overwhelmed by all the clothes they are getting so instead of just going to the op shop and buying things you might never wear, think about what you can make by yourself. You can be creative,” she said.
Ms Covarrubias is also keen to share her skills with others.
“The main thing is to know your personal style. What things you’re going to wear, and what you really love, then start to build your wardrobe otherwise you end up with tonnes of things, which is crazy. It’s really sad,” she said.
“I’m just starting to volunteer at The Smith Family Shop as a skilled personal stylist. What I do is combine my personal styling skills based on op shopping, not new clothes.”
Ms Covarrubias immigrated to Australia two years ago, choosing Dubbo to be her home.
“Me and my partner were thinking we were looking for something better in terms of quality of life.
“My first thought about coming to