Everything is in circulation at all times. Floating through time, jumping from person to person and place to place. As a brand, Alt Üst positions itself right in the center of this circulation of things. Collecting and accumulating clothing items in circulation, turning them into something else, and sending them off back into circulation. This act of accumulating items over time creates a collection, consisting of garments from different times, places, brands, etc. So in any Alt Üst collection, you may see a coat from a luxury house’s winter ’97 collection paired up with a sweating suit we found somewhere to bring to life something one-of-a-kind that does not belong to wherever the original pieces came from. This constant circulation of things fuels our practice inspires us to dive deeper into the pile, and gives us the name of our first runway collection “In Circulation”.   

Upcycling creates the framework for Alt Üst Winter 2023 collection, as in all the previous collections. The collection features 22 looks, ranging from outerwear to dresses and button-up shirts to our new knit products we like to call scrapwear. We always like to use every last bit of material available to us, we collect every little scrap that is a part of our process because, in any type of production method, including upcycling, a certain amount of “waste” is created.       

For our scrapwear line, we used waste scrap fabric that is leftover after the fabric-cutting process of a mass production line. Usually, these are sold to a third party or thrown away. After we buy the scrap fabric a long process begins, starting with cutting of the fabric into same-width threads and adding them end to end to create a yarn. Afterward, they are knit with a thick needle to create scrapwear. Looks 10, 12, 21 and 22 all feature this knit scrapwear.  

The first look of the show is Alt Üst’s take on a conventional suit. Old ties which are usually a formality and an irreplaceable part of a suit become the harness for the blazer and the plus signs on the trousers. In look 9 a blanket takes center stage as a high-neck jacket with baggy jeans. Look 10 features may be one of the first pieces we ever bought, an antique robe becomes a fringed jacket and an envelope skirt with the help of scrap fabrics. Look 18 features a pencil skirt upcycled from a huge gardener’s trousers. One leg becomes the skirt and the other leg becomes the tail. We love to keep traces of the garments’ older selves as it reminds us this was something else with its own stories. We also see this approach in look 11, two trousers on top of each other keeping the zippers and closure details of each trouser. The closing number of the show, look 22, is a very labor-heavy tailed gown which is also heavy in weight because of the fabrics used to create the fur-like texture on the skirt. A two person team worked on the gown for 18 days to complete the look. The piece strongly resonates with how Alt Üst operates, materials used are the cheapest materials used in the collection, not because of their quality but because they are discarded and difficult to process. Taking the most looked-over materials and processing and presenting them in a way that is unexpected.