Malaysian fashion designer embraces fabric waste towards a more sustainable future

It is important to upcycle clothing because it's a way to keep things in the world instead of dumping them in landfills, says Emmy. Photos: Emmy Nurlyana Mohd Shaifolazham

Home-based clothing designer and crafter, Emmy Nurlyana Mohd Shaifolazham, 27, always finds herself with carbage (shreds and patches of leftover fabric) and scraps of material from her various sewing projects.

Instead of discarding the scraps, however, Emmy upcycles the sometimes oddly cut remnant fabric offcuts by creating patchwork pieces and using them to repurpose old clothes to breath new life (and new looks) into them.