OUR MISSION
Every clothing deserves a second chance
If us humans believe in giving others a second chance, then we believe that clothes should too. Which is why we have committed to upcycling old clothes and turning them into useful things such as bags. Clothes deserve to be used again, not thrown away and ditched somewhere to create more problems for the world and for its people.
O U R R O O T S
Hi, I'm Justine Zamora and I'm the founder of The Fashion Alchemist. I believe that clothing should be worn til it screams for help and repairs, if not, upcycled into something else. I have always loved shopping in charity shops, but having studied a Fashion Design Degree at University, my mind got caught up with the fast fashion business model, which focused more on profitability than caring for the people who made these luxury, expensive clothes. I was lost with what I wanted to do after graduating, because of how the fashion industry was like. At the time, it was hard to think of alternatives when it had been drilled in my mind that in order to be successful in fashion, I had to follow a fast fashion system. I refused that idea, so I had to start thinking of an alternative path. 3 years after graduation, and 1 year of working in luxury retail, and seeing too much wasted clothing and plastic waste, I finally knew what fashion brand I wanted to start. April 16 2021 was when I launched The Fashion Alchemist.
The Fashion Alchemist is all about repurposing unwanted clothing. Saving these clothes from going to the landfill, and being dumped into other parts of the world (the global south) to be someone else's problem. I honestly don't think that's right, if anything, these clothes should stay in our country and we should be the ones dealing with them. Old clothes, just because they're old, don't need to be thrown away because it can be repurposed somehow - even if it's turned into rags! What I've decided to do with them is turn them into bags and hats instead. I believe bags are pretty useful, and they last a long time too (if made well and maintained properly of course).
We can create desirable things with whatever we have in our wardrobe with a little bit of creativity and imagination.
What if we looked at our old clothes, or second hand clothes differently? Instead of buying new, why can't we start with what we have first and re-envision them into something else? That, is something I can definitely help you with, together, we can transform your old clothes into something new and useful that is completely unique to you :).