From Philadelphia
02/26/10 05:34PM
Urban Renewal Diary: The Start-to-Finish Process
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&itemCountThe Urban Renewal team is a proud recycler of gently-worn goods that are used to create all the wonderful one-of-a-kind items you see in our stores and on the web. Here is a sneak peak at two of our new items—the Denim Patchwork Short and the Polka-Dot Headband—soon to be heading to a store (and website) near you!
For the shorts, we first source and order a bunch of vintage Levi’s that we purchase by the piece. When ordering, we set up a specific “grade” that we want. A grade is the specifications in the item such as quality, size, colors, fabric content, etc. They come shipped to us in bales of 100lbs., and this (above) is what it looks like after the bales have been opened.
Next, the jeans are measured for our desired shorts-length and hand cut, and washed to get that frayed look at the hem. Then we dig through bales of vintage “remnant” fabric to find the best prints to make the patches out of. Each set of patches is arranged one by one and pinned onto the shorts for sewing.
And then, voilà, a finished pair of shorts!
The polka-dot bow headband is created out of an assortment of printed tops, skirts and dresses that we bought mixed by the pound. Since the headband is small, we also use scraps from other styles we have made to help reduce waste and utilize as much of every garment as possible.
Once all the pieces are cut out, they are taken to sew and assemble the headband. Elastic is put in, the bows tacked down and threads are clipped…..all by hand and one at a time!
And here is a finished product. Hard to believe this started out as a frumpy '80s dress, right? So adorable!—Urban Renewal
From Philadelphia
02/24/10 12:55PM
Renewal Score of the Month: Koos Van Den Akker
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We found this amazing jacket at an estate sale in New York during one of our monthly scavenging trips. We search high and low for amazing pieces, and boy did we hit the jackpot with this one!
Koos Van den Akker is a Dutch designer who we've looked to a lot over the past couple of years, and his claim to fame was the sweaters he created for friend and dedicated fan Bill Cosby. These sweaters, best known as “The Cosby Sweaters” have been an obsession of ours for quite some time now, and we're going full-force with this inspiration for fall!
Van Den Akker's painterly delight in mixing colors, patterns and textures in unusual, often one of kind garments make his works highly collectible, visually stimulating, and always a sought-after treasure.—Urban Renewal
From Philadelphia
02/10/10 12:31PM
Pequitobun
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We love Pequitobun, a line of vintage, reworked jewelry. It's edgy, yet so pretty and wearable!—Urban Renewal
From Philadelphia
02/08/10 01:28PM
My Vintage Secret: Sparkle Socks
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The sparkle sock project is so cute and original—love socks for spring!!—UO Renewal
From Elsewhere
01/26/10 12:18PM
Renewal: Behind the Seams DIY
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It's almost February, which means that the winter blues are settling in. Remake a vintage sweater into some seriously hot pants with this DIY from Behind the Seams.
From Philadelphia
01/21/10 10:48AM
Vintage Score: Fairisle Sweaters
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We are really loving these cute, girly sweaters reminiscent of Princess Diana. With details like puff sleeves, all-over prints and shoulder buttons, you can throw on a blouse with lacy collar detail and your favorite pair of jeans, and you are set!—UO Renewal
From Philadelphia
01/19/10 12:19PM
Urban Renewal Diary: January
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We had amazing and surprising month of scores in our Urban Renewal world. First came a visit to a rag house in Los Angeles. Rag houses are huge warehouses full of recycled and vintage textiles sorted into 100 lb "bales" piled high to the ceiling. This is where we regularly scour and dig for raw materials that go into our remade collections. On this particular trip we were searching for distressed denim for Fall 2010.
Then mid-month came a surprise call from an associate announcing an auction of her amazing vintage archive, which was used to inspire designers world-wide.
Here is her collection before we purchased it:
And after we loaded it into our rental truck to take it to its new home in Philadelphia:
And once we were able to dig in and sort it out, we discovered scores galore:
Coming soon to an Urban Outfitters near you!—UO Renewal
