JJ Vintage Upcycling is Rising on Instagram

By Alex Assoune Oct 16, 2020

Jasmine James founded her sustainable fashion brand JJ Vintage in November 2019 and is now gaining recognition. Like every young fashion designer, she started with zero followers and has now over 20,000 on Instagram.

JJ Vintage is a new brand all about upcycling. Its founder reuse, recycle and repurpose old clothes, mostly from Nike, into unique and stylish pieces.

After the fashion marketplace giant DePop trusted the brand to deliver, JJ Vintage received a massive influx of orders from new followers.
“I was just like, let me sit down, I need to collect my thoughts because my life is about to change. [...] I couldn’t see my floor the first week, I had clothes everywhere."

- Jasmine James, JJ Vintage founder, as told to BK Reader
Jasmine James has been working hard to fulfill orders. She even moved into a new apartment with an office.

She started enjoying thrifting and selling her vintage finds while studying business management at Oklahoma State University. Today, her designs include original tank tops, skirts, and corsets made from old clothes.

It's very encouraging to see young, talented, and passionate entrepreneurs create new fashion labels with sustainability in mind.

The fashion industry is one of the largest polluters globally. It produces massive amounts of waste, pollution, and carbon emissions every year.

Upcycling is a large opportunity for fashion lovers and apparel businesses to reduce the impact of clothes.

Upcycled garments decrease the demand for the wasteful production of new clothing and prevent old textiles from ending up in landfills.

Upcycling not only reduces the ecological footprint of our wardrobe but also supports local businesses, industries, and artisans involved in the collection, sorting, manufacturing, and shipping of textiles.

Reusing, repairing, repurposing, and upcycling clothes are one of the most simple steps to protect the environment. Used clothes can be transformed into new pieces of clothing that are more useful and valuable.

Instead of encouraging fast fashion and the throwaway culture, upcycling inspires consumers to buy fewer clothes and higher quality. Let's create a sustainable fashion future by extending the life of clothes, recycling, and upcycling.

Photos via JJ Vintage.

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About the Author: Alex Assoune

Alex Assoune (MS) is a global health and environmental advocate. He founded Panaprium to inspire others with conscious living, ethical, and sustainable fashion. Alex has worked in many countries to address social and environmental issues. He speaks three languages and holds two Master of Science degrees in Engineering from SIGMA and IFPEN schools.