Clothes are wasteful.

Not exactly the most shocking statement in the history of the Universe, is it? Surprise, surprise: a Kiwi company is doing something about making what you wear, well, less of an eventual waste.

Wellington-based sustainable fashion brand Space Between has developed a solution to reduce clothing and textile waste and is seeking funding to work with designer Larissa Banks. The money will go towards resourcing Banks, a Massey University design graduate, to collaborate with Space Between on developing their next range and looking at innovative ways to help businesses minimise their textile waste streams. Money can be given via their PledgeMe, with the campaign ending September 1.

Fundamentals Range – Space Between from Space Between on Vimeo.

Summary: give them money, and they’ll be able to work on reducing the amount of waste making clothes creates.

Space Between’s clothes are already made with pre and post-consumer waste by Lower Hutt-based non-profit Earthlink Apparel – an organisation which supports people with barriers to employment, such as mental illness.

Space Between also knows a thing or two about reusing old materials and reducing waste. The company’s current range, Fundamentals, is designed and produced from discarded NZ Post uniforms that, otherwise, would have ended up in a landfill. Buying one of their dresses, rather than an equivalent dress using new materials, saves an eye-popping 210 kilogrammes of carbon dioxide-equivalents from being emitted into the atmosphere, the company claims. Now that’s a lot of CO2.

“We are the leader in this field in New Zealand,” says Space Between director Jennifer Whitty. “We are creating a closed loop solution to clothing waste streams for businesses.”

All of Space Between’s garments are made within a 25-kilometre radius, but Whitty says she and the company have much bigger ambitions. “We have created the solution and are now ready to focus on scaling up,” she explains. “There is a pressing waste issue that needs to be addressed.”

And they’ll be doing it, it appears, by putting their most fashionable foot forward.