Local studio GINLEE to offer upcycling workshops for bags, accessories

Contemporary womenswear label GINLEE has introduced an environment initiative, the _/\/\/\ake O Experience, featuring a series of DIY upcycling workshops in support of the Singapore Green Plan 2030.

In celebration of World Environment Day (Jun 5), the initiative aims to encourage customers to reduce waste by transforming unused fabrics into re-designed products.

The first workshop is named cOts, which is short for “coloured on the spot” – a DIY pleated bag class that offers a beginner-friendly introduction to the age-old craft of pleating.  

The bags are available in three sizes – purse, pack and tote. The _/\/\/\ake cOts Experience costs $88 which includes a pack-sized bag retailing at $78.

Aimed to reduce waste from unsold merchandise, the workshop will feature a textile printer used to print colour on a recycled textile from GINLEE Studio.

Customers will receive a tour around the GINLEE store, where they will be able to select their choice of pleats, colours and embellishments for their bag. 

Following this, they will be guided through the pleating process using paper moulds and baking their new bags in the store’s built-in steamer.

cOts will be conducted at GINLEE’s Raffles City store or at MAKE Studio at the National Design Centre. Interested participants can sign up here.

Customers can also create a pOcuts bag, which are detachable utility pockets that have been die-cut with a pre-designed template as an add-on.

For $108, customers will be able to create their own pack-sized cOts bag and a pOcuts bag of their choice in a one-and-a-half hour joint workshop.

At the second workshop named Tee-tO-Bag, customers who are keen to repurpose unwanted t-shirts can transform them into tote bags for daily use.

These t-shirt tote bags are available in two sizes and shapes – “Onetee” and “twOtee”.The workshop costs $88 and $128 for “Onetee” and “twOtee” respectively. 

Customers can bring their own clean t-shirts, while the other materials and guidance will be provided. pOcuts can also be added on at an additional cost.

Tee-tO-Bag will be conducted at MAKE Studio in the National Design Studio and will last two hours. Customers will only be able to collect their finished tote bags one-and-a-half weeks later. Interested participants can sign up here.

GINLEE Studio has also introduced a new clothing repair service named O Fix It, in efforts to increase clothing longevity to reduce wastage.

Customers can bring any apparels in need of repair and resizing at a fee between $10 to $30, while re-pleating work ranges from $20 to $80 depending on the item.

Repairs are subject to item condition and style and the approximate waiting time ranges between one to two weeks. A full price list for the repair service is available on GINLEE Studio’s website.

GINLEE Studio aims to encourage thoughtful design processes that slow down the pace of fashion apparels in the landfills. 

On top of the _/\/\/\ake O initiative, GINLEE Studio has also introduced other offerings to better control supply and demand and allow on-demand last mile production. 

These include the Get Order on Demand (G.O.O.D) initiative where the brand encourages shoppers to order their pieces in advance in order to effectively manage supply and demand.

For more information on the _/\/\/\ake O experience products available, visit GINLEE Studio’s website.