Sioux City Career Academy students work to “upcycle” clothes – Sioux City Journal

Once known for being the fabric of choice for both hippies and cowboys, denim has been making a comeback on fashion runways as of late.

However, even the trendiest blue jeans may have a detrimental impact on the environment.

Don’t believe us? Here are some sustainability stats: 17 million tons of clothing is discarded each year and around 4.5 billion jeans are sold worldwide on an annual basis.

The denim industry is known for its high water usage, energy consumption and chemical pollution. Indeed, it represents one of the most environmentally damaging sectors in the fashion industry, according to a report commissioned by Makefashionbetter.com

So that means that cool denim jacket in your closet or those skinny jeans you got for Christmas both carry a heavy carbon footprint.

Career Academy instructor Jill Risdal knew this. That’s why she had her Applied Sewing high school students “upcycle” an old piece of denim while creating a unique, personalized garment of their own making.

“I wanted my fashion design pathway kids to transform worn-out jeans and jackets while turning them into something new and creative,” she explained.

Junior Rylee Winquist is already a big fan of “upcycling.”

“It is important because it helps the environment and it saves natural resources,” she said. “Even better, you can use old denim and turn it into something new and cool.”

In fact, Winquist’s self-made denim halter top and blue jean miniskirt wouldn’t look out of place at any boutique at the mall.

Senior Fernanda Torres went even further.

She took denim shorts, combined it with lace as well as a colorful assortment of men’s neckties for a fashion-forward midi-skirt.

“Long skirts are ‘in’ nowadays,” Torres said.

Apparently, so are rips, tears and frays.

Austin Guerra, a junior, was using a seam ripper to fray the bottom of an old pair of blue jean shorts.

“People pay extra to make their blue jeans look a bit raggedy,” he said. 

They also pay extra for certain labels. This is why Guerra sewed a multitude of trendy Hollister labels on these decidedly upscale “jorts.”

Risdal said her students had spent the last few weeks of class researching, brainstorming and constructing items they’d actually want to wear.

That included senior Eric Munoz who was creating a double-denim hood that he’ll attach to a winter jacket.

“Originally, I wasn’t going to have the inside of the hood be a different type of denim than the outside,” he admitted. “It was actually a mistake but it does look cooler like that.”

Munoz drew his inspiration from the internet. Junior Nick Duong more than likely drew inspiration from “That ‘70s Show” reruns.

“Bell-bottoms were popular in the 1970s and I want to exaggerate the wideness by sewing extra lace to the leg of these pants,” Duong explained.

Those particular bell-bottoms are what was called elephant pants and were immortalized by Cher on “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour,” circa 1974.

We wouldn’t be surprised if somebody like Olivia Rodrigo decided to wear something similar on some swanky red carpet.

That wouldn’t faze junior Ariel Flynn one bit.

Showing off her self-made denim corset top and mini-skirt ensemble, she wants to pursue a career as a designer.

“I love making clothes and wearing clothes,” Flynn said. “By upcycling old material, I can be creative while saving a whole lot of money.”

Which is exactly what Risdal wanted her students to take away from her class.

“Fashion allows us to express our individuality,” she said. “You can tell my students don’t have a problem thinking outside of the box.”

Plus if they’re lucky, they can pick up some extra pocket money.

That was what Winquist, a relative newcomer to the fashion world, is discovering.

“I literally didn’t know how to darn a sock before I took this class,” she said. “Now, my friends and family are coming to me every time they want something hemmed up or let out.”

“Guess I don’t if I want to be a designer or a seamstress in the future,” Winquist said with a smile. “Now, I know how to do both.”