Why we are turning fabric waste, plastic into fashion ―Green Fashion Factory

Seven years ago, Rahmat Oladejo, alongside her sisters, Abiodun Oladejo and Dr Foluke Badejo, decided to start redefining waste.

According to Rahmat, she had learnt fashion designing where they practiced bulk production and at the end of the day, they would pack not less than two sacks full of fabric waste and dump them inside a river close by and at other times, at a landfill in the neighbourhood where they would get burnt later.

However, anytime it was her turn to throw away the materials, she always felt there should be a way to reuse them rather than throwing them away.

“This brought the inspiration of co-founding The Green Fashion Factory where we harness the waste of the earth and turn them into treasure.”

Rahmat says the mission of the factory is to inspire conscious living through circularity with sustainable practices to preserve the planet and make positive impact to industry and community at large.

Now, Rahmat and her sisters get fabric waste from tailors’ shops and then weave them into beautiful clothes on a traditional loom by local artisans. They are in turn used to make lovely shoes, bags and others, thus keeping the waste in use rather than trashing.

She added that another reason they delved into recycling is because they are passionate about young women and children especially those living in destitute and at risk of human trafficking. So, they have a training programme to empower them with unique skills and then select from these women to join their small but growing team.

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The sisters’ backgrounds in sciences, personal feelings for art, upcycling and recycling, have helped them a whole lot, and with the fact that they constantly develop themselves through online resources and an art mentor that guides them.

The items they make out of waste include shoes, bags, art pieces and other accessories. They also use bottle caps for the accessories and they have people help them pick up these plastics from their surroundings.

The sisters also make sure they talk to people in their community so they can be aware of the advantages of recycling.

The goal of the Green Fashion Factory is to take part in creating a sustainable world with zero waste and empower women and girls in their community with their stories and skills. This, according to them, will make the women self-dependent and in turn improve the economy.