Feb 21, 2019
In episode 152, Kestrel welcomes Jenny Silbert, the founder of Rewilder, to the show. An LA-based brand, Rewilder is focused on the following tenants: salvage materials, local production, zero waste, good design, ethical production and high quality.
“I have always been interested in upcycling, like from the time
I was a kid it was something that I would do. My parents would be
driving and I would be like ‘stop the car! I need to pick up that
chair or I need to pick up that table that was on the side of the
street.’ ”
-Jenny Silbert, Founder of Rewilder
In this week’s show, Jenny shares more on her journey into sustainable fashion, from originally starting in architecture. For several years, Jenny’s architectural career was focused on materials development and architectural problem solving.
Through her work, she discovered how much industrial trash was building up in, for instance, the automotive and beer industries. This helped spark her and her cofounder’s concept to utilize this waste — beautiful, durable, unique material — and repurpose it into bag designs.
The below thoughts, ideas + organizations were brought up in this chat:
-
“The unique thing about fashion is that is really touches everybody.”
-
“We’re in this interesting time where it’s very clear that we have a gigantic trash problem and it impacts everyone on the earth but the action - like changing people’s behaviors is still really really difficult.”
-
For Jenny, using pre-consumer industrial waste has proven the most efficient for Rewilder. Because often, when something is already constructed, it’s so durable that the deconstruction and reconstruction makes it cost-prohibitive to utilize.
- Rewilder will be launching an entirely zero waste bag in the coming months.