GREATER GOODS' UPCYCLING: "Nothing into Something"

But behind the playfulness of a lot of Greater Goods’ work is a very important message, one that’s now more pertinent than ever for the fashion industry: to prioritise sustainable methods of craft. His work breathes life into old and discarded product, turning pieces perhaps destined for landfill into something new and innovative, without any compromise on aesthetics. It's an ethos summarised by Greater Goods' founding principle, "Nothing into Something", whereby Jaimus aims to shift our perceptions on the untapped possibilities surrounding us.

It’s this approach to upcycling — one where creativity, functionality and aesthetics all combine — that’s led Jaimus Tailor to achieve critical acclaim, working alongside industry frontrunners such as Salomon, Arc’teryx and Nike to further his unique vision for upcycling. Ahead of his workshop at UrlfreezeShops Manchester alongside Arc’teryx, UrlfreezeShops caught up with Jaimus Tailor at his London studio to talk Greater Goods’ origins, the importance of upcycling and his penchant for technical outerwear.  

To those that don’t know, can you introduce Greater Goods and the story behind it?

I started Greater Goods while finishing up at university here in London. My background is in graphic design, but I found myself always making physical objects opposed to digitally. I knew I wanted to be designing as well making but didn't have the perfect outlet to share my creations. Upcycling was common but it never appealed to me as a young 20 year old. I wanted to make upcycling normal and essentially cool — and that's when I started sharing work under the Greater Goods name. It started off with woodwork and carpentry but as my interests grew, I started to explore textiles and learnt how to sew in 2019.

How did your love of upcycling first come about?

It's always been a part of my life, even before it was called upcycling. My dad is very resourceful — the majority of our furniture growing up was made in the back garden from discarded wood that others had thrown away. I grew up with a mindset that using waste to make stuff was 'normal' — it just made sense for multiple different factors. I've carried this mentality with me and it’s essentially the foundation for Greater Goods.

A lot of your work uses technical outerwear that’s been repurposed and given a second lease of life. What is it about technical outerwear, or the outdoors in general, that you are drawn towards? 

When I was learning to sew back in 2019, I wanted to make a bag but didn't want to buy a new roll of fabric and trims. Starting with a blank canvas is quite intimidating, so instead I decided to cut up a waterproof jacket that I had — It was a bit beat up and I was selling it on eBay. The jacket was made from two-layered nylon and had a bunch of trims such as Velcro, waterproof zips, shock cords and cord locks etc. Since this day, I've loved working with Nylon as it's so strong and durable, however, I also found that it's notoriously hard to recycle and that there is an abundance of damaged waterproof jackets that can't be repaired. I'm a city kid, but I have loved outerwear and technical wear purely from a design perspective. In the studio, we often look at references and try to figure out the construction of a pocket or how the lining of a jacket was fitted.

Some of your work has a sense of playfulness to it, like your All Conditions Greggs jacket, while at the same time displaying meticulous attention to detail. What sparked the inspiration for this approach to upcycling? 

It's easy to take things too seriously in design, so we often set these personal projects that allow us to work without any strict briefs but also challenge us in new ways. The Greggs jacket, trousers and bag were an exercise in pocket construction and was also the first time using HTV on pockets as well as embroidery. Through these fun projects we learn new skills and techniques that can be applied to future projects. We found that upcycled products and pieces are often really badly sewn, which kind’ve gives upcycling a cheap aesthetic. We make sure everything we make, even the one-off, wacky projects that sit in our archive, are wearable and built to last. There’s no point cutting up a broken jacket to make another broken product.

Is the ideation and direction of a lot of your work steered by what upcycled material you have available, or do you come up with a concept and then source material from there?

It’s a bit of both: it’s a process of designing with the materials in mind, but also pushing the design and thinking of new ways to tackle the project. I find upcycling is like solving a puzzle while designing the puzzle at the same time! Currently, we think of the outcome first and work backwards to the materials. Early on, however, it was very much the other way around.

What upcycled material do you find most interesting to work with and why?

I personally don’t have a favourite as every material has pros and cons. However, as we actually sew and construct pieces, we do have our favourites when it comes to an easy construction and those that are simply nice to sew. I’m a big fan of any backed heavy nylon as our walk foot machine just eats it up. I’m also a fan of cotton fabrics as they press really nicely.

You’ve worked alongside a lot of big names in recent years, with Arc’teryx being an ongoing partner. Why is it important for big name brands to be shining a spotlight on sustainable craft methods like upcycling?

It’s part of design that is massively overlooked with the product lifecycle being seen as the consumer's issue — very much the out of sight, out of mind approach. I feel upcycling needs to be considered as part of the product lifecycle or just more thought of what happens to the product after it is deemed unrepairable. This could be through a designer perspective, fabric technology or even just a culture change in how we appreciate garments.

With your upcycling workshop just around the corner at UrlfreezeShops Manchester, can you speak about what people can expect and the importance of spreading the message of upcycling?

At our workshop, attendees will have a chance to interact with garments in a new way — it’s not every day you get to cut up an Arc’teryx jacket and not feel the guilt! These jackets are beyond repair so we’ll be getting the sewing machines out and turning jackets into crossbody bags, which will be designed to hold all the daily essentials plus more. This will be the purest form of upcycling with no expectations and a great intro into sewing for any beginners. Our main message with our workshops is to show how accessible and easy upcycling can be.