Sustainability matters to Glasgow fashion designer Siobhan McKenna.

So much so, that the 27-year-old who hails from the Southside has launched her own ethical fashion business, ReJean Denim.

Using defective second-hand denim she sources from charity shops, vintage sellers, recycling centres and online hauls, Siobhan creates stylish workwear jackets for men and women of all sizes and ages.

As well as making the jackets, after unpicking every pair of jeans by hand, Siobhan has plans to offer workshops that will teach other crafty types how to remake their own leftover clothing.


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She said: "I want to create items that will last the test of time and get people into repairing their own clothes.

"I'd like to teach them how to repair their own ReJean jackets rather than just tossing them into landfills.

"Overall, it's about education as well as just being sustainable and trying to make something that's cool and wearable and high-end."

According to research carried out by Zero Waste Scotland, an estimated £140 million worth (350,000 tonnes) of used clothing goes to landfill in the UK every year - a figure that Siobhan hopes to have even the tiniest impact on.

Siobhan studied fashion and textiles at Cardonald College before taking up a fashion degree in Manchester, graduating in 2012.

Her love of vintage was furthered when she started working at London vintage store, Rokit, a haunt of fashion conscious celebrities including Kate Moss, and working as a tailor for major denim retailer, Levi's.

She said: "I kind of had a bit of an obsession with denim. I was constantly repairing jeans and altering them."

Moving back to Glasgow in 2016 and inspired by the flourishing creative community in her home town, Siobhan set about realising her ambition of starting her own fashion enterprise.

Launching two weeks ago with a 'stock drop' - where she showcased every item available to sell - on Instagram, Siobhan sold half of her designs and sent some jackets packing to as far away as Australia and the Netherlands.

She sells her stock from Colab Scotland, a creative hub based in the city centre, where buyers can buy off-the-rack or be measured for a bespoke creation.

If she's being "super productive" Siobhan can make two pieces a day if she's unpicked a few pairs the night before. She has mastered the art of deconstructing the denims and can get it down to under an hour per pair.

Siobhan's designs have been well received and she's "loving" what she's doing.

She said: "I've had a really nice response from people which is just lovely to hear. I'm just excited to see where I can go with it."

As part of an online community of female makers, Siobhan is able to reach a wider audience when her work is shared by others. And she reciprocates, promoting their work to her own followers.

She said: "It's so nice, people are just championing each other. I think it's if you're handmaking stuff and you've got a sustainable ethos it's just about sharing and getting other people involved."

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With plans for a website and an expansion into making other items of clothing, including made-to-measure jeans, ReJean Denim is gaining momentum. But it's not only Siobhan's design and making skills that shine through in her range but her genuine appreciation for the materials she works with.

She said: "Most of the jeans I use are re-sellable but have small defects. Some of them already have old repairs on them from a past life and I'll always try to feature that in the jacket.

"I just want to focus on celebrating the original details of an old pair of jeans."