Sewjak

Abstract

Why are human beings prone to buying so much, yet throw so much away? Perhaps, it is because we are nostalgic beings. This, coupled with our innate need to fit in and belong, is a recipe for disaster. Consequently, textile waste has unsurprisingly become the second largest form of waste in Singapore. To tackle this issue, Sewjak is the project I created to bridge the gap between what we don’t want and can’t bear to throw. It is the first platform in Singapore that provides a personalised upcycling service, where a person’s unwanted clothes are deconstructed and reconstructed to form a new piece of clothing. Playfully merging the concepts of Sewing and Rojak, Sewjak is the eclectic mix of the old to usher in the new. By giving the option to breathe new life into old clothes, Sewjak sees itself as something that changes the mindsets, habits, and lifestyle of people — the possible solution of our ever-worsening textile waste problem. In measuring the success for my project, I want Sewjak to be able to first provide an outlet for unwanted clothes; second, be able to encourage conscious and mindful purchases; and third, to be a possible solution that escalates the process of reducing textile waste in the long run.