FABSCRAP, a textile recycling and reuse NGO, has opened a location in Philadelphia thanks to collaborations with URBN and Nordstrom. FABSCRAPs new headquarters will allow the New York City–based organisation to serve the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, including Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Md., and Southern New Jersey, in addition to giving the group’s services to Philadelphia.
“The extension to Philadelphia with the help of URBN and Nordstrom is a terrific example of how leading companies can engage in sustainable technologies to increase the availability of a resource in their sector,” stated Jessica Schreiber, CEO of FABSCRAP. “These pioneering efforts establish a new norm for businesses to regard themselves as stewards of the world, accepting responsibility for their impact and seeking to lessen it.” FABSCRAP serves as a resource for the fashion, interior design, and entertainment industries, with a customer list of over 550 brands. This progression in sustainable design will also include a commercial textile charity shop where designers will be able to find recovered textiles, yarns, and trims. The FABSCRAP volunteer fabric-sorting programme will also be expanded. FABSCRAP stated that it would collaborate with regional design school lecturers while also giving opportunities for regional businesses to understand textile waste and conservation. FABSCRAP will select a local designer to spotlight each year, with Grant Blvd being named the city’s first FABSCRAP Featured Designer in 2022. An installation of limited-edition, zero-waste garments produced from dead-stock fabrics and reinterpreted textiles will be presented during the FABSCRAP media premiere on November 10 in Philadelphia. Made Institute in Philadelphia will make bespoke fashion-design graphics from FABSCRAP swatches, while Drexel University fashion-design students will construct an exhibition featuring dead-stock textile garments.
