Turning recycled clothing into forward fashion

With fast fashion having a major impact on the environment due to excessive landfill, a Chinchilla business is embracing the old by creating clothing from repurposed fabric.

Stytchy Wytchy owner, Megan Twidle, repurposes old jeans into one-of-a-kind clothing and accessories.

Ms Twidle will shortly be launching an eCommerce site, after winning the title of Best New Business Idea at the Business Navigator Pitch Challenge.

“I am extremely grateful and excited for what this year is going to bring after winning Best New Business Idea. It was unexpected but I am very happy,” said Ms Twidle.

Sewing is a big part of Ms Twidle’s life, passed down through the generations in her family. A self-taught seamstress, Ms Twidle has been sewing for over 20 years, 12 of them professionally. 

Embracing fashion while supporting the environment, Ms Twidle said the inspiration behind creating clothing from used jeans came when she was struggling to find other material that would work with her ideas.

“I started using old jeans last year after I wasn’t able to find any material I wanted to use where I could print on with my own screen printing.”

“The denim worked great and led me to continue to use the repurposed jeans.”

“While currently I am just using denim, I have had Iron Man Australia generously donate me boxes of left-over volunteer shirts, which are cotton elastane material, so I will be able to repurpose those and sell products from that material,” said Ms Twidle.

With her Best New Business Idea winnings, Ms Twidle will now be able to create a business plan, launch her own website and expand her Stytchy Wytchy business.

“The next step for me is to take full advantage of the training and mentoring available from the Business Navigator  service, which I hope will help me form a very solid business plan.”

“With the winnings, it will allow me to upgrade my machinery which will help me work faster, and eventually I’d like to have a couple of people employed in the studio with me.”

“Winning this challenge is a game changer for me and it’s going to get me closer to what I want to achieve with my business sooner,” said Ms Twidle.

The Business Navigator Western Downs 2020 Pitch Challenge saw three finalists from each category of Best New Business Idea and Best Business Growth Idea go head to head, pitching their ideas to a panel of judges.

Fran Peterson, Contracts Specialist of Shell’s QGC business commented, “clearly a lot of hard work was put in and the finalists really showcased the entrepreneurial talent that is on offer in our region.”

Business Navigator Lead Business Coach, Ariane de Rooy said “We’ve seen some incredibly passionate people and exciting ideas at this year’s challenge.”

“We are grateful to Shell’s QGC business for their support and I believe all our finalists have a great future ahead of them.”

Business Navigator is a Shell’s QGC business program delivered in partnership with Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise.