TUCSON, AZ — It all started with an idea between marketing and fashion at the University of Arizona... take retired football jerseys lying around in a warehouse and make them into something new.
“You get awesome new finds and the other thing in conjunction with this is lessening the disposal of apparel on the planet, it's a real problem,” said Marc Herman, chief business development officer at Arizona Replay.
During their apparel production class, teams of fashion students cut through the Wildcat jerseys.
“Two hundred maybe, that we had to kind of work and start to develop things with,” said Elizabeth Heuisler, assistant professor of practice at UArizona.
They created prototypes to be manufactured throughout the semester. Andres, Kayla and Maddie were all in this past year's classes.
“We wanted to design a sweatshirt out of the recycled jerseys and try to make it into like streetwear. Very casual sweater you could wear either to the games or just out like an a, like a regular day,” said Kayla Skye Sagabaen, a fashion student at UArizona.
“We did a tote bag, a visor, a pair of pants and a top,” said Andres Behrens, a fashion student at UArizona.
“We designed a trucker hat. We also designed a long-sleeved, flannel jersey, which was super cool. And then we had a matching two-piece set so shorts and a tank top,” said Maddie Smith a fashion student at UArizona.
Their biggest challenge was how small the jerseys were.
“The limited material was interesting because we were always trying to find similar jerseys to fit what we were working with,” said Behrens.
But that didn’t stop them from creating 24 prototypes with a handful now in production.
“There are going to be six new garments put together for this fall offering for back to school,” said Herman.
Each upcycled garment impacts Earth one creation at a time.
“I think using fabrics that are already sort of just thrown aside and bringing in new life is very helpful to the environment,” said Behrens.
Look for one-of-a-kind items to be sold at pop-up shops during home football games.
