Melbourne label Reborn by HoMie is an antidote to fashion’s waste problem
WORDS BY MAGGIE ZHOU
“We saw how many garments end up in landfills and knew there was a better way.”
For those lucky enough to be among it, the Melbourne fashion industry is a particularly exciting division of the creative scene. There are a few firm fixtures in the style space who’ve cemented their place here – one of which is HoMie. The social enterprise has committed to supporting young Australians affected by homelessness or hardship.
In 2019, HoMie had a bunch of leftover T-shirts. Then and there, an idea – then a label – was born. Reborn by HoMie is an arm of the beloved streetwear label and is solely dedicated to breathing new life into existing garments. To date, through upcycling its own stock and other fashion labels’, Reborn by HoMie has upcycled over 2,700 garments.
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As an official media partner of Melbourne Fashion Week, we spoke to Co-Founder Marcus Crook ahead of Reborn by HoMie’s showcase at the Underground Runway. Read on to hear more about the journey and evolution of Reborn.
Tell us about you. What’s your fashion background?
As a Co-Founder and [the] Creative Director [of] HoMie, I came from a casual retail background with a keen interest in fashion, but without any real knowledge [of] design or running a business. Our main drivers were passion and commitment to shedding light on homelessness and tackling the stigmas.
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We quickly learnt that having our own clothing store and label could be a great way to drive social change, by spreading awareness and offering opportunities to young people. It’s been a pretty steep learning curve working on everything from product sourcing right through to content and socials but I love it. Everyone in the team is so passionate and committed to the cause which is really inspiring.
How did the label get started? Talk us through the process and the challenges.
Reborn by HoMie started because we had some leftover tees back in 2019 and we wanted to give them a second shot at selling, so I decided to cut them up and sew them back together. Given we don’t have much waste because our clothing is given away for free, we then started to partner with other brands to make a dent in the fashion industry’s waste problem. We saw how many garments end up in landfills and knew there was a better way.
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Over the past three years there have been challenges, especially doing everything in-house with a small team, production has been a huge challenge. However, our [recent] partnership with ABMT has been a game-changer, allowing us to scale our vision and become Australia’s first upcycling facility that can repurpose deadstock.
We are hoping that [with] a shift in mindset, we can offer a solution to brands with excess stock and help bring value back to each garment. And also, upcycled fashion is cool! It’s unique and the garments are made with care, creativity and love which we know consumers value.
Where did the name come from?
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The name Reborn came about because we’re giving garments a second life, renewing their purpose and value. [It seemed] important at the time to make sure people knew that [we were] the brand that reused garments and excess. I knew that… trends would lead brands [to] producing garments that looked upcycled but were in fact new.
How would you describe your brand to someone who’s never seen it before?
Reborn by HoMie gives clothing a second life by partnering with brands and utilising excess and deadstock and repurpos[ing] it into sick garments. And even better, all the profits support HoMie’s mission to combat youth homelessness.
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What are you most proud of in your work on your brand?
So far, we’ve upcycled over 2,700 garments and saved over a tonne of textiles from landfill, not only that but we’ve created local design and manufacturing jobs and caused a bit of a shift in the mindset of the industry. I’m super pumped for this next iteration and to scale it up, work with more brands and provide a solution to the ongoing issue of waste.
What do you wish you had known when you started?
Scaling was going to be hard and having a structure to do so would take years. We tried a few different processes but it was hard, as all products we were working with were different or they may have had faults in certain areas. Collaboration is the key to making an impact. Also [I wish I knew that] selling online was going to be a challenge as each product is one-off and unique. We still haven’t really found a solution to do this efficiently, especially at scale.
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What about the Australian and New Zealand fashion scene needs to change?
The industry needs a stronger focus on sustainability and waste, not just as a marketing buzzword but as a core principle. We’ve got to move beyond fast fashion and disposable culture to create an industry that respects products, people and the planet.
How can we buy one of your pieces?
You can buy our pieces in the HoMie store in Fitzroy, the Reborn rack gets updated weekly but it’s first in best dressed.
Keep up with Reborn by HoMie here.
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