Alterist is about Altering the world's perception of fashion and what is considered to be textile waste, challenging the social norms, being experimental and creative. With a mission to reduce textile waste, Alterist Marketplace along with its community of 68 designers showcases over 500 unique one of a kind upcycled garments. Co-founder Hannah Standen and Martina Sorghi shares explain “We want Alterist to be the catalyst for change within the fashion industry, giving people the power to make more sustainable choices. We see upcycling as a way to create one of a kind, iconic pieces while also keeping these materials out of landfill.”

In late 2022 I had a chance to interview Martina and Hannah on why upcycling can lead the change in revolutionising the fashion industry.

Historically, needlework tended to flourish in female and feminine spaces — namely, the home. To embroider is to embellish: to create a fantasy world, allowing you momentary freedom. It gave women a voice when they had none.

From the sumptuary laws of Medieval and Renaissance Europe, to our present day understanding of ‘power dressing’, dress codes have been created to promote or preserve authority, status and respect. More recently, this ‘code’ has also come to mean a way of “deciphering” our identity and what we communicate through our clothing. The dress codes likely to emerge from our post-COVID, climate-challenged, digital world will be different from anything we have experienced before, even developing their own form of agency as part of a totally new approach to how we value, use and wear clothing. - Essay by Susan Muncey