Lending old clothes new life

Designer helps young fashionistas express themselves while helping environment

Wang Yi believes her success as an entrepreneur lies in finding the right market, plus low startup costs.

The fashion designer now runs three creative clothes altering stores in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province.

Wang helped clients alter more than 1,300 old garments in the first 11 months of last year, more than 80 percent of whom are regular customers and half of whom are local residents.

Wang spent just 500 yuan ($71.63) to rent a 10-square-meter store on her housing estate to start her business, and she was able to recover that fee in the first two weeks of opening in 2021.

She is redefining an ancient industry with her creativity, turning discarded old clothes into new, fashionable pieces.

"Most customers are really pleased with my alterations when they come to fetch their clothes," Wang said.

In 2021, a woman in her early 40s came to have a brown skirt altered. She was suffering from breast cancer and had been forced to close her company to concentrate on getting better.

Wang said the skirt could still be worn, but the woman thought it showed too much of her belly, which concerned her because the medicine she was taking had caused her to gain a little weight.

Wang attached a shoulder belt to the skirt and lifted the waistband to chest level to turn it into a vest skirt to be worn over sweaters and shirts, which allowed the original wide hemline to disguise the woman's larger belly.

Wang said that the woman was so pleased with the alteration that she often wore the skirt to go out and posted pictures on her WeChat account.

After graduating from Wuhan Textile University in 2014 with a major in fashion design, Wang worked as an editor and designer at major clothing companies in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, and in Wuhan before launching her business.

She was inspired to open her stores after reading an article on social media saying that more than 62 million metric tons of old clothes were dumped worldwide each year, and that between 17 to 20 percent of industrial wastewater comes from the textile dyeing and processing industries.

"That's why I think creative alterations are a sustainable, environmentally friendly and fashionable trend that has broad prospects for development," she said, adding that she is the first person to have opened a creative alteration store in Wuhan.

Her store is quite popular and has been praised by clients.

One young mother who previously bought two skirts of the same style and color was also happy when Wang turned one of the skirts into a pair of shorts for her son, creating a matching parent-child outfit.

The mother said she liked the transformation and later altered one of her shirts for her son.

"Most of my customers are young people who believe in beauty and individuality," she said. "They want to add distinctive elements through creative alterations. What they care about is what kind of clothes best reflect their own style and individuality."

In the winter of 2021, tight-waisted bomber jackets became popular, and one client wanted to make hers unique.

Wang removed the patterns on the front of the jacket and added a navy collar embroidered with pictures and stars to create an interesting story.

The jacket is blue and white, like the sky and clouds, and the navy collar is made of black fabric. With the stars, it represents the boundless universe.

The girl was surprised and expressed her pleasure at the change.

According to Wang, creative alteration is actually a process of redesign and production that gives old clothes a new soul.

"Different clothes express different states and feelings through different cuts and changes. Creative alteration is like a chemical reaction. The garment might still have some of its original flavor, but it is a new piece, full of soul," she said.

Wang usually tries to find out about her clients' hobbies first and talks to them to get to know them before she starts altering their clothes.

In addition to creative alterations, Wang also customizes clothing for individuals as well as for companies and schools.

"But altering old clothes is still the main part of what I do and accounts for the largest part of my business," she said.