Tracy’s Transforming Fashion One Conscious Product at a Time

Tracy has wanted to be a designer since the age of 5, but it was only during her education at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) that she decided to focus on sustainable path. Her method of designing begins with choosing fabrics first - often deadstock and second-hand clothing - and then designing around what they could become, drawing off vintage and lingerie inspiration but combining them with everyday wear. 

«2020 is when I started my business so I’ve been upcycling since then. I have thrift stores that are so accessible to me. During my FIT education I was conscious of my fabrics so I used deadstock fabrics for a lot of my garments and then I would dye them with natural dyes» she explains during our interview. 

Tracy’s Instagram (Image via Instagram @transformationsbytracy)

What do you aim to achieve by sharing your upcycling via social media?

My main goal from sharing my upcycling via social media is to inspire other people to take what they already have and make it into their own garment. I feel proud to be able to teach people how to upcycle. It’s so much more enjoyable to make a piece instead of just buying and discarding. 

Talking about the upcoming ventures, where do you see your business/YouTube channel heading? Where would you like to be in 5 years?

I have just released a sewing pattern and I will be going back home to teach a sewing camp with my sewing teacher. Relating to the future of the business, many often asked if I would consider getting a factory to produce the garments but I don’t wanna do that. I personally don’t like the idea of producing so much stock and just having it sit there…do we really need this many things? Instead, My dream is to start my own production company. I wanna provide jobs and opportunities in Mexico, where my parents are from, so I want to have them sew garments and print textiles for me and pay them a living wage and provide health benefits.

A strength is the capacity of Tracy’s business is proud to provide sustainable packaging for her products. Why did you make this sustainable choice and was it something you aimed to do from the start?

I knew when I started my business that I wanted to be conscious around every part of the business so packaging was a huge deal to me. Even though I spend the most amount of money on packaging, I am certain that every penny is worth it. I purchase all of the packing from No Issue. They make boxes from recycled cardboard, compostable bags, tissue paper printed with soy-based inks, and water based tape where the adhesive is activated with water. Most tapes have a plastic film on top that isn’t recyclable, which shows just how much attention to detail there is in Tracy’s packaging. It’s nice to be plastic free when it comes to my business.

Sustainability and recycling seem to reach your attention for the majority. What are your views on climate change and the crisis we are facing?

I am very passionate about what it is doing to our planet. Climate change is real and fashion has a huge part when it comes to that. All of our clothing is dyed with chemical dye and it poisons all of the drinking water. I recommend the River Blue documentary to anyone who wants to learn more about this. It’s so upsetting to think that clothing does that, it damages water supply. It’s way easier to have access to clothing than it is drinkable clean water. And it’s not just about water. A lot of sneakers have leather in them, in the bottom sole, to get that leather, hundreds of thousands of cows are killed and they don’t do anything with a lot of that meat. They just have plots of land just to house the cows for this leather. 

To conclude the interview, we discuss a correlated matter: fast fashion realm. “I think all these fast fashion companies should just not exist. Even if they just changed their current systems in place, I think they would drastically do a big difference.” Companies need to be transparent about their products. As consumers, Tracy believes we should be able to know the pay, hours, and fabrics cost of a garment, even suggesting they should put it on the labels. 

“There’s no way you can sell a shirt for $10. That just seems ridiculous to me” she concludes.