Knowing What Makes an Item “Credential”

For many clothing consumers, the term “credential” may be unfamiliar or draw an unclear definition of what the term actually means. Many in the fashion industry tend to think that “credential clothing” refers to all variety of recycled materials and that they end goal in producing these materials is exclusively an environmental interest. In […]
Addressing Disposable Fast Fashion with a Mixed Rags Solution

Building a personal fashion collection by using items from an earlier era or owner is a practice that is increasingly becoming in vogue given the challenges of wasteful fashions and the overflow of landfills. Many studies show that millennials are now turning to the process of thrifting – which was at a time a […]
The Cost Benefits of Credential Clothing

Statistics indicate that one of the least likely recycled materials among consumers is textiles. According to CBC, consumers channel much of their attention and efforts where recycling is concerned with materials such as newspapers, plastic containers, glass, plastic, and cardboard. In Ontario alone, as of 2016, only 15 percent of discarded textiles were being […]
Addressing Textile Ethics One Mixed Rag at a Time

While textile consumption continues to be at a noted high, consumers are growing all the more interested in alternative textile markets that show an ethical interest in the environment and responsible attitude towards spending. Experts argue that this impulse for “textile ethics” has grown – in part – out of the rise of “fast […]
Mixed Rags as the Answer to Fast Fashion

While thrifting used to be a less than desirable activity, building your clothing collection from used items is now considerably popular for many millennials. Aside from saving consumers a significant amount of money, studies show that it also enables clothing aficionados to keep up with constantly changing trends (by, in part, harkening back to […]
Credential Clothing as a Part of the Solution to the Consumption Crisis

In a recent podcast episode of What Makes Us Human, Tasha Lewis (Cornell University assistant professor in the Department of Fiber Science & Apparel Design in the College of Human Ecology) argued that the fashion industry has a huge and detrimental impact on the environment, and not only in the production and manufacturing phases. […]
The Growth Curve Possibilities of a Mixed Rags Market

In recent years, media outlets have reported that clothing has an enormous and even toxic environmental footprint. This is particularly true as consumers unnecessarily send their items to landfill rather than finding new ways to recycle materials they may no longer deem necessary. For example, statistically we know that the average shirt in the […]
The Road Taken: How Credential Clothing Makes an Epic Journey

While many credential clothing owners certainly know the contours of the new journey they intend to take their item on, they may not necessarily know of the journey it took to get their item in their hands. Credential clothing, also known as “original clothing,” refers to items or materials that are considered unwanted […]
Mixed Rags: A Global Benefit for a Sustainable Environment

In the United States, experts estimate that the annual average of waste per US citizen amounts to nearly 70 pounds of clothing and textiles. The EPA has drawn together statistics that indicate that the nearly 13.1 million tons of municipal waste collected each year occupies nearly 5% of all landfill space. Experts agree […]
For the Love of Credential Clothing: A Solution to the “Crisis of Stuff”

In the town of Franklin, New Jersey, a spray-painted, rainbow-coloured Volkswagen sits in front of “Woodstock Vibes,” a shop that specializes in countless racks of unique, quality, and name brand vintage clothing, shoes and accessories. Customers from all across the region flock to the space for its great prices, its friendly staff, and as […]