by Jamila Douhaibi
The old saying “reduce, reuse, recycle” can be updated by Andria Paulo of Spruce Clothing + Lifestyle to include “repurpose” and “upcycle.” The owner of this shop takes on the challenge of being an environmentally friendly clothing store head on by not only offering shoppers curated thrifting options, but also by reaching out to schools in the community to help students learn how to create something new without affecting the planet.
Great stories of rock bands have started from garages, but the story of Spruce began in a laundry room. That’s where Andria set up her thrift shop in 2016. Her friends always admired her clothes, and even from a young age Andria was buying used rather than new. The shop did end up expanding into the garage, and three-and-a-half years ago Andria moved into the brick and mortar building in Brentwood Bay.
Andria says that her shop is “committed to being a zero waste or full circle shop in all the ways we can.” This includes working with other local shops and artists to keep the store filled with local goods, starting bottle return programs, hosting clothing swaps and creating a clothing program that runs in two schools.
With the trend in secondhand fashion, Andria reached out to Stelly’s Secondary and Bayside Middle School to offer them clothing for students to sew, alter and create into new garments. One sixth grade class even came to the store for a discussion on upcycling, altering and entrepreneurship. Andria says that she was so inspired by how interested the kids were, and knows how important it is to teach younger generations about being resourceful for the future by repurposing rather than buying new – “it’s so powerful and creative and expressive.”
Two years ago, Andria started providing Stelly’s with pre-loved clothing to use for a clothing swap, that students could freely take, leave or swap, and for four months Bayside has been receiving clothes for students to work with. Clothing gets delivered to the art room on racks for students to use during class, and some even work on projects during breaks. Andria recently received a photo of a student who had altered a denim jacket, sewing a patch onto it that they had painted themselves. The teacher at Bayside was so excited about the project that she took a silk-screening course to better support the students. Andria says that she is really looking forward to seeing how this project continues to evolve.
The idea for the upcycling project also came organically to Andria. She says that “being an eco-oriented shop, we are determined to get creative with the inevitable waste retail creates.” When they brought in secondhand pieces with holes or stains that couldn’t easily be re-sold, Andria wanted to find a way to make the clothing work anyways. She says that this stems partly from a resourceful nature as a small business, but likely has more to do with her seeing value in things that others might consider waste.
Rather than viewing last season’s clothing as unsellable leftovers, the shop turns pants into shorts for the summer and finds ways to re-use the scraps of fabric as handles for upcycled tote bags. Used towels from thrift stores become fashionable bathing suit covers and pieces of denim have been used for the stuffing of bone-shaped dog toys. Rather than filling the landfills, clothing is sold in the store, sent to the school program to be repurposed, or upcycled into something new.
A big part of the upcycling process is working with a local seamstress. Andria designs the pieces, like scraps to scrunchies, and Jade, from the local company Pippin and Bean, does the sewing. At Spruce, they are happy to offer advice for home alterations or do “quick crops and chops at the shop.” Community members can also drop off clothing or scrap donations for projects at Spruce or to be passed on to the school program. As part of her holistic vision and goal, Andria wants to continue offering more to her community as her business grows.
Spruce Clothing + Lifestyle started as an individual’s skill in picking out quality second hand clothing and turned into an environmentally passionate project that not only upcycles clothing as a creative business model, but also supports the community through its school programs. Andria says it best: thrifting and altering leaves room for individuality, while taking more responsibility for the clothing you wear and how you wear it.
Photo: Cindy Lister in the art room at Bayside Middle School.
Photos by Kathryn Alvarez Photography.