Cassandra Evanow: The Upcycling Aficionado

Cassandra Evanow (pronounced ee-VAH-no) is the American fashion designer based in Los Angeles behind Evanow Studios. You’ve probably seen her work popping up all over social media on the likes of Bella Hadid, Addison Rae and Tinashe over the last several years.

Specializing in bespoke, one-of-one pieces, her background and expertise in garment reconstruction is showcased through impeccable craftsmanship, patchwork detailing and use of recycled materials.

While her pieces are coveted by fashion enthusiasts, influencers and celebrity stylists, Cassie has been drawn into the world of upcycling and currently works behind the scenes as an upcycling consultant, using her knowledge and skills to combat fashions ugly side: excessive waste.

We DM’ed Cassandra with a few questions about upcycling denim and her experience in the industry and the conversation just kept going! Her drive to impact lasting, positive change on our industry and dedication to her art really inspired us and we hope it helps to inspire and inform you too.

What does denim symbolize or mean to you?

To me, denim is utility and comfort.

When creating, where do you find the most inspiration? Did you find that this changed over the pandemic?

Utility is also the basis of my design inspiration. I think of design from a post apocalyptic or pre-technology mindset. Using materials that would otherwise be waste intrigues me because it just seems sensible and economical. The pandemic certainly contributed to that mindset, being as we faced some scarcities and because of lockdowns, resources were not as readily accessible.

When did upcycling first become a part of your creative process? When did it become really important to you?

Upcycling has always been prevalent in my craft, because of times when I’ve faced scarcity and lack of accessible resources in the past due to financial reasons— from being a kid with no job to being an adult with a job and limited income. I’ve also gravitated towards vintage garments as a source material because of the beautiful fading attributes that are not easily replicated. It became important to me around 2013 when I noticed there weren’t many seamstresses doing it, and at the same time I was able to recognize the demand for it by the positive reactions I was getting on Instagram.

How did you first get into fashion, specifically denim?

I have always been a fashion designer at heart. Sewing & creating was always my thing, even as a child. I drifted away from it for a few years when I was discouraged by the high tuition prices of fashion schools, but ended up discovering financial aid opportunities and a fashion program at LA Trade Tech, a community college in downtown LA. I began focusing on denim in 2015 when I had a lot of scraps leftover from making Levi’s shorts out of high-waisted jeans and then a lot of friends who did the same thing would give me their leftover scraps as well.

What is one of your favorite pieces you’ve created and why?

I don’t have a favorite piece actually! I’m always striving to outdo myself. I’m proud of what I’ve made up to this point, but I’m more passionate about my potential to grow in both ability/skill and creativity.

How has instagram and social media in general influenced your brand reach?

2015 was a good time for me on Instagram. It was largely responsible for the vast amount of fashion community contacts I’ve acquired. I got a lot of engagement when the timeline feed was still arranged chronologically. Social media growth became stagnant for me when all of the new algorithm requirements came into play. For meaningful art, you can’t live by that influencer, tik tok algorithm model. It forces you to be totally open with your craft, process and private life and its hard for me to do that. I’m thankful that that shift has pushed me into other areas of the business, behind the scenes.

What is the hardest hardest part about what you do?

The hardest part of doing what I do is explaining how a business model without typical capitalistic economic growth potential is still a good idea. Its hard to even understand that aspect myself, but I still have an inherent instinct to pursue it.

What is the most rewarding or exciting part of having your own brand?

(I technically don’t have a “brand” because I don’t have the urge to be an entrepreneur, I’m more like an artist, who is a freelance creative/upcycle consultant) I’m not sure there has been a single exciting or rewarding aspect of my experience as an upcycler so far. It’s more exciting to think about what potential possibilities are to come as the masses accept and prioritize sustainability over consumerism. I’m passionate about uplifting and encouraging other sustainable fashion efforts and living to see the day when corporate brands have to start adapting to the evolving demands of the consumer.

We would love to hear more about your role as an upcycling consultant! What does that entail?

As an upcycling consultant, I come in and set up a plan to strategize first deconstructing the existing garments, and second, a ‘battle plan’ for cutting. In upcycling, the cutting process is the main difference in contrast to traditional clothing production. Traditionally you would use a large sheet of fabric, layered x50, and place the pattern pieces on top, cut, and it’s done. With upcycling, you’re dealing with thousands of scraps of varying shapes and sizes. So each scrap needs consideration as to which pattern piece it will be assigned to and how. Or if you will be trying to save time by layering it with more scraps with its similar size/shape, or just cut pattern pieces one by one. During this process, I take into consideration the source material, which varies with every collection, and the space available to us. It can be really difficult to get a factory who is used to traditional production to understand the how and why to this process, because to them it would seem very counter productive and superfluous. So it is important to have a factory who respects and understands the need for recycling and waste reduction.

Are there any specific challenges that you continually run into when trying to scale upcycling? 

That is the biggest challenge I face when trying to scale upcycling (respecting and understanding waste reduction and the art of upcycling). For this effort there must be a lot of hands on deck, and a lot of good attitudes present, because it takes so much work. In some cases, to salvage as much good fabric as possible, you may need to cut pattern pieces out one-by-one. If you want to avoid that you would need an assembly line of folks sorting fabrics and getting all materials as organized and prepped as possible before beginning the cutting and construction phase.

What are the biggest opportunities for companies really trying to make an impact by upcycling product? 

I’m honestly not sure if upcycling production can even make an impact. It is hard to envision a scenario that places upcycling and all it entails as a competitor to the current capitalist model. But aside from that, there isn’t ironclad data yet that would prove upcycling is making an impact, and in some cases, it can even cause more waste— referring to companies/artisans who upcycle clothing that is already perfectly good and wearable already and doesn’t need to be cut down into a halter top. But if you’ve ever seen the horrific piles of clothing waste infiltrating places like Accra, Ghana, exemplified by the organization “The Or” on their instagram @theorispresent, you might feel an inherent urge like I do, to do whatever you can to reduce future additions to those piles in whatever ways possible.

So currently my efforts are to have a hand in anything correlated with repurposing fabric, in order to formulate some quality hypotheses that I’m hoping will contribute to some future ironclad data in our industry.

For now I will say I can envision an upcycling industry that is independent from the consumerist fashion structure, and therefore is not required to compete, in the same way that the meat industry does not campaign for the interests of vegan/vegetarians.

Your views on being a creative in today’s society resinated with us, do you have a new vision of the future when it comes to artists and creatives on social media?

As far as my thoughts about artists on social media goes… I myself am a bit discouraged by the new algorithm requirements. I have seen a major hit to my engagement, and although there are some steps I can take to align with it, such as posting more frequently, & tiktok style behind the scenes videos of my work, I feel like I’m elevating beyond that as an artist. When making BTS videos, I feel it disrupts my actual process and I feel less connected to my ultimate artistry. I have friends who are able to make awesome BTS videos and still create superior quality work. But I am being pulled towards a different lane. I think every artist vastly differs from the next and the current state of social media sort of caters to a certain type. Thankfully, social media is always evolving and I’m looking forward to seeing some new outlets that cater to artists who may not have the influencer gene.