Fashion waste accounts for roughly 20% of total landfill and ocean garbage as of 2022. Clothes are being made at rapid pace with a primary goal being to maximise profit. GARB is a brand that refurbishes the old, to create the new. It uses a simple and financially efficient process that refurbishes aged, donated garments, leftovers or waste from local sources. These are combined, shredded, or stitched together to make new, bespoke outfits that fit local cultural styles. It allows every city/country to have unique value, as styles can drastically change everywhere around the world.
The project’s brand strategy was to overlook any greenwashing trends, such as the focus being the colour green, any leaf symbols or any uses of buzzwords such as recycle, sustainability and/or eco-friendly. My thinking was deeper and centred on using a bold visual language that creates a social community feel. This meant creating expressive, dynamic, and loud identity system that was attention-grabbing and fashionable.
Rather than having a primary focus on the logo design, or typography, the brand is centred around strong model photography, focusing on the model's expression, mood and gaze, integrated in the bespoke patterns created for every product separately. As every garment, outfit and style is different, each needs a custom look at feel about it. This meant a custom colour, pattern and model used for every artefact, which were all pulled out of the product’s features. It is used throughout the brand's touch-points, including the online store, print advertising and social media channels.
