This clothing line, Zero Waste Daniel, turns fabric scraps into fashion. “We take textile scraps that are completely irregular shapes, and we stitch them back together to create a new, flat textile that you can make anything out of.” Daniel Silverstein started his company in 2015 after years of designing a high-end fashion line. Over 20 billion pounds of textiles are thrown away in the U.S. each year, and each piece by Daniel uses about one pound of textile waste. Twice a month, Daniel and his team pick up scraps from a cutting room in Brooklyn. “…What I wanted to do is create a process where we could ball everything up, roll it back out and make new fabric,” says Silverstein “and so I created what I call ‘reroll’”. Garment workers face low pay and difficult working conditions worldwide, but Silverstein pays his employees fair wages and manufactures every item inside the store. “I want to be able to say to people, ‘This is Emelie. She’s 25, she lives in New York, she’s super passionate about climate change, and she deserves a living wage.’” says Silverstein. T-shirts start at $55, and customers can even customize their own pieces.
