For the 2nd year in a row, Goodwill Industries of Southern Arizona has partnered with Pima Community College’s Fashion Styling Class. The PCC Fashion students are tasked with upcycling clothing found at Goodwill stores into high fashion garments for the 2020 PCC FashionArte Show in May.

Project Profile – Elizabeth Webb

Elizabeth has given herself an extra challenge. Rather than using existing clothing as the base for her new pieces, she is creating them entirely from scratch using sheets and curtains she found at Goodwill. She is planning on creating an entire ensemble consisting of a purple dress with ruffles, a yellow corset, and a pink lacy jacket to complete the look.

Elizabeth is balancing her unique vision with the requirement that the project fit in the class’s overall brand. She says, “My final project is going to be really feminine and flowy. It’s going to have the matching color scheme which is going to be the light, muted colors.”

Impact of Upcycling

Upcycling can be defined as the process of altering existing clothing to give it new life as a new piece. For Elizabeth, the environmental impact is important. “I think upcycling is important because there is already so much fabric in the world. It’s a good way to try and use what’s already out there to try and keep it from the landfill.”

Upcycling is a growing trend in the fashion industry. The rise of fast fashion (cheap, disposable, mass produced clothing) has led to an increase in landfill volume as well strains on resources needed to produce all new material. As the original recycler, Goodwill helps with that problem by offering used clothing a new life while also keeping 30 million pounds of materials out of Southern Arizona landfills per year.

Community Impact

In addition to the benefits of upcycling, shopping at Goodwill stores also directly supports our community in Tucson. Goodwill Industries of Southern Arizona invests nearly every penny earned back into the community through job training, youth mentoring, and employment for Southern Arizonans who need a hand up providing better lives for themselves and their families. Visit https://www.goodwillsouthernaz.org/about-us/ for more information on how they’re benefitting our community.

About Goodwill of Southern Arizona

The mission of Goodwill Industries of Southern Arizona has always been to provide a “hand up” to those looking to provide a better life for themselves and their families. We believe that jobs are transformational; they can strengthen both the community and families through the POWER OF WORK.

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