An innovative entrepreneur has taken on the lavish fashion industry by producing a line of hats made from off-cut materials otherwise tossed into landfills.
Adrien Taylor initially got a look into how much fabric went to waste through his father’s curtain wholesale business before a light bulb went off in his head.
Offcut Caps (pictured) are handmade in New Zealand from fabrics destined for landfill
‘I was there visiting him one day when I saw a whole room full of off-cuts, samples, and end of line fabrics that they couldn’t use as curtains anymore,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I asked dad what they did with them and he told me they paid someone to throw most of them out to landfill which I thought was insane.’
The fabric was brand new, untarnished and soon to be cast away because it was too small to be used as curtains.
‘That’s where the idea came to me. I asked dad whether I could use the fabric and he said ”sure.” So I did.’
From there the evolution of Offcut Caps would begin and despite their size the hats were capable of making a big difference with each garment handmade in New Zealand from fabrics destined for a landfill.
Adrien Taylor (pictured) decided to make a difference in the world with an idea of his own
Taylor got an insight into wasted fabric (pictured) and decided he could implement change
The 28-year-old began to reuse thrown out material for his own line of hats (pictured)
‘I choose to turn the off-cuts into hats is because the panels are small, so we can use small and oddly shaped scraps of fabric which are no good to others.
‘I also wanted to make a product that’s visible when people are wearing them and perhaps nothing is as visible as a great hat.’
Despite his approach to utilising and reducing waste Taylor says the fashion industry across the world has a shocking problem.
‘Humans are terrible at throwing away perfectly good resources to landfill.
‘In New Zealand, around two thirds of what gets thrown to landfill doesn’t need to be there: it could have been reused or repurposed.
Taylor, an innovative entrepreneur, took on the fashion industry by producing a line of hats made from off-cut materials otherwise tossed into landfills
Offcut Caps (pictured on model) are handmade in New Zealand and are aided only with a small part of new rubber or material
‘The problem is we’ve created a culture of waste, when in fact we should declare a war on it.
‘We should get rid of the word ‘waste’ altogether and replace it with the correct term: ‘by-product’.’
Taylor says when it comes to resources, there is no such thing as waste, just wasted opportunities.
‘We’re not saving the world with Offcut, but I sure damn hope to inspire people much smarter than me to rethink whatever it is they do with the by-products in their business and homes.’
The 28-year-old believes an overwhelming number of big business opportunities lie within repurposing resources, instead of chucking them out, that are not being taken advantage of.
‘In the fashion industry, up to 20 per cent of fabric is thrown out as off-cuts,’ Taylor says.
‘Fabric waste is a colossal problem worldwide and fabric which goes to landfill is not only a complete waste of money, but it’s harmful to the environment.
Taylor (pictured) says that the first step to pursuing your own idea is taking the initial leap of faith
Offpeak Caps plant a native New Zealand tree with every cap sold and help the planet
‘When fabric breaks down, it releases greenhouse gases as well as glues and dyes which seep into the soil. Fabric is incredibly resource-intensive to make in the first place, so to throw out brand new bits is just ludicrous.’
He believes that the world should expect some high consequences if humans continue to pollute the way they are.
For now Taylor is doing his part by reusing the otherwise trashed fabric but says although the company does add small amounts of new fusing fabric and leather for their line they’re starting to source these from off-cuts too.
‘We plant a native New Zealand tree with every cap sold to help offset the carbon from shipping and give something nice back to the planet.
‘Offcut has also created Trump Forest which now almost has 1,000,000 trees donated from people around the world.’
The 28-year-old believes there an overwhelming amount of wasted opportunities to reuse wasted materials across all businesses
Taylor says when it comes to resources, there is no such thing as waste, just wasted opportunities
The thought-inspiring creative, who has spoken at a TEDx Talk, is adamant that others looking to get their own idea into the world or start something off the back of their own passion or vision should just take the leap of faith.
‘So many people talk about doing stuff but not many actually do it.
‘Don’t be a big talker, be a big doer. It’s hard. You’ll have massive moments of self-doubt and you’ll probably have a few failures along the way.
‘But the faster you start, the faster you’ll get a major success. So get onto it.’