VALRICO, Fla. — As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
For upcoming fashion designer Hector Diaz, beauty is in the wear of people's old clothes including his own.
"Garments, I believe, hold sentimental value so there's certain garments and things like that people just don't want to let go of because it means something to them," Hector said.
As a young child, he watched his grandmother run a tailor factory in New York.
"I wanted to take it to the next step, so I asked my grandma, 'hey can you show me how to sew some things?' and then it just went from there," Hector said.
Hector is a senior at the Savannah College of Art and Design. He's hoping his final project will raise eyebrows not only for the design but for the effort and message behind it.
"At the end of the day my goal is to stop clothes from going into the landfills. My goal is to reduce the waste in the industry," Hector said.
Instead of traditional fabrics for his three piece collection, Hector is using whatever clothes he can get his hands on.
He uses strips of fabric from discarded clothing and meticulously weaves each piece through a loom. The final product ends with environmentally conscious pieces.
"I can possibly send a message or do something where I can turn the fashion industry from the second largest polluting to number one in innovations," Hector said.
In 2018, the EPA estimated more than 11 million tons of textiles ended up in landfills.
"It may seem like it's an immense task to say that I want to change the status quo of one thing to the other side of the spectrum, but it is possible and it starts with a change in yourself," Hector said.
Hector still has two more pieces to complete for his collection and is taking donations.
If you would like to donate clothing, contact Hector at sinster34@gmail.com or follow him @kurriizmatic on Instagram.
