Reinventing Fast Fashion: From the TEDx Stage wearing upcycled CURTAINS!
- Reinvntd
- Apr 9
- 3 min read
On April 5th 2025, the founder of Reinvntd CIC, Maya Patel, took to the TEDx Wolverhampton stage to deliver a powerful and personal talk titled “Reinventing Fast Fashion and Textile Waste.”
In it, she reflected on her own journey, from a teenager working in a high street fashion store, to becoming a passionate advocate for sustainable fashion and textile education.
The talk opened with a striking image: every second, a truckload of clothing is either burnt or buried in landfill. By the end of her time on stage, over 500 truckloads of textile waste would have also joined that pile. It’s a statistic that speaks to the scale of the problem, but it’s also one that many people feel disconnected from.
That sense of detachment is exactly what Reinvntd exists to challenge.
The Founder shared her early experiences with fast fashion, recalling how a generous staff discount at her first retail job wasn’t just a perk - it was a 'golden ticket' into a cycle of overconsumption.
Like so many others, she didn’t question where clothes came from or who made them. That shift came years later, through learning to sew and understanding the time, effort, and skill behind every garment.
It was this turning point that led to the creation of Reinvntd, a Community Interest Company, dedicated to tackling the environmental and cultural consequences of fast fashion. Through educational talks, workshops, and community-based events, Reinvntd helps individuals and organisations reimagine their relationship with clothing.
In a powerful visual statement during her TEDx Wolverhampton talk, Maya revealed the outfit she was wearing on stage, had in-fact, once been a pair of curtains. Upcycled from old and unwanted curtains. The choice wasn’t just stylistic, it was symbolic. It demonstrated that creativity and sustainability can go hand-in-hand. That discarded household textiles have potential for reinvention. By wearing curtains transformed into fashion, she challenged the audience to rethink waste and begin to see value in the things we so often throw away.
During her TEDx talk, the 32 year-old from Wolverhampton explored not only the environmental toll of the fashion industry but also the human cost. Behind every garment are real people, often underpaid and overworked, producing clothes at a pace dictated by social media trends and global consumerism.
But the talk wasn’t just about the problem. It was also about the power of solutions.
She highlighted how change is already happening through:
Upcycling and repurposing clothing is becoming more popular, both through grassroots creativity and forward-thinking fashion brands.
Capsule wardrobes are helping people consume less while wearing more.
Rental fashion is booming, especially for special occasions.
Thrifting and clothing swaps are reshaping the way people value secondhand items.
Sustainable innovations are transforming waste into wearable materials.
At the heart of the talk was a simple but powerful question: What if we stopped seeing clothing as disposable, and started seeing it as an opportunity to create, to connect, and to care?
That’s the vision Reinvntd is working towards every day.
Through accessible education, hands-on experiences, and a focus on community empowerment, Reinvntd is helping people become active participants in reshaping fashion culture, one garment at a time.
As the founder concluded in her TEDx talk:
“The next time you stand in front of your wardrobe and say, ‘I’ve got nothing to wear,’ don’t rush to buy something new. Pause. Take a look at your clothes and ask yourself, ‘How can I reinvent this’?”
The full TedX talk will be on YouTube in coming months.
To follow along with Reinvntd’s journey, you can follow us on socials.
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