Redwood Classics Apparel, Toronto, and Preloved have teamed up to turn something old into a brand new collection, using unexpected materials that had a very finite shelf life.
After Toronto hosted the Pan Am Games in 2015, the city found itself with hundreds of leftover street pole banners. This isn’t a new problem for cities that host international sporting events; on average, these events create over 50 tonnes of plastic waste. While steps are being made to reduce environmental waste from sporting events, banners and other signage are still single-use items. When the opportunity arose to create something useful and beautiful out of the Pan Am banners, while celebrating the legacy of the Games for the city of Toronto, Redwood Classics and Preloved rose to the occasion.
Similar to other Redwood Classics and Preloved collections, this collaboration diverts textile waste from our landfill by upcycling it into new products. But this time, we took it one step further: Each piece in the Upcycled Pan Am Games Collection has been thoughtfully designed to help the user reduce their own environmental footprint with each use. The collection includes a produce bag, shopping bag, laundry bag and knapsack—each one crafted to reduce the number of plastic or single-use bags that the user needs to waste. From one banner, we have created a complete collection of multi-use products.
“Upcycling is not just a trend—to us, it’s the only way the fashion industry can move forward,” said Kathy Cheng, president of Redwood Classics Apparel. “This collaboration with Preloved is the next step in our journey to creating a more sustainable fashion industry while directly impacting our local community by reducing plastic consumption.”
Each piece in the collection is crafted to stand the test of time, is breathable and is easily washable. The collection includes:
- Ellie Shopping Bag: A stylish, lightweight tote for your everyday needs that can be tossed into your bag or car when not in use.
- Princess Gate Laundry Bag: A lightweight laundry bag perfect for travel and dorms, and for making it easy to tidy up bedrooms.
- Pachi Produce Bag Set: A set of three unique bags, each a different size, designed to fit all shapes of produce so you can say goodbye to single-use product bags at the grocery store.
Committed to building on the legacy of the Pan Am Games for the city of Toronto, Redwood Classics and Preloved will be donating one dollar from every item purchased to Kidsport, a national not-for-profit organization that provides grants to help cover sport registration and equipment costs so that all kids aged 18 and under can play a season of sport. Kidsport was founded in 1993 as a program of Sport BC, with a goal to help families overcome the prohibitive cost of sport. Since then they’ve expanded across Canada, giving tens of thousands of kids each year the opportunity to participate in organized sport.
“There are so many benefits, both mental and physical, to participating in sports,” said Julia Grieve, founder and CEO of Preloved. “Affordability should not be a barrier to participating in organized sports, so we knew that this collection should help to give back to kids in our community to build on the legacy of the Pan Am Games.”
Source: Redwood Classics Apparel
The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with Promo Marketing. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of Promo Marketing.
