Northern Ireland firm’s 'Titanic' impact by transforming discarded material into corporate merchandise
A Belfast-based sustainable design studio has launched a new project converting used textiles destined for landfill into high-end corporate merchandise for leading companies.
The expansion for clothing shop Titanic Denim comes after the business participated in the government-backed Go Succeed enterprise programme.
It is the latest venture for the multi award-winning company, founded over a decade ago by Marie Nancarrow with a vision to challenge fast fashion by transforming discarded jeans and other reclaimed denim garments into luxury items including tote and messenger bags.
Already, major businesses such as Smiley Monroe, Survitec and Heron Bros have worked with Titanic Denim through the ‘Rescued’ initiative to create bespoke corporate items including turning old lorry tarpaulin curtains into laptop folder and high-vis construction vests into drawstring bags for schools.
The expansion for clothing shop Titanic Denim comes after the business participated in the government-backed Go Succeed enterprise programme.
It is the latest venture for the multi award-winning company, founded over a decade ago by Marie Nancarrow with a vision to challenge fast fashion by transforming discarded jeans and other reclaimed denim garments into luxury items including tote and messenger bags.
Already, major businesses such as Smiley Monroe, Survitec and Heron Bros have worked with Titanic Denim through the ‘Rescued’ initiative to create bespoke corporate items including turning old lorry tarpaulin curtains into laptop folder and high-vis construction vests into drawstring bags for schools.
Transcript
00:00My name is Marie Nuncaro and I am owner and founder of Titanic Denim.
00:07My background is actually fashion and textiles. I studied fashion and textiles in Belfast.
00:13I actually started to re-sew again just as a kind of hobby and pastime.
00:19I kind of went from there and I was asked then to put the collection that I did into a fashion show
00:27and it got a really good response.
00:30I then thought that maybe I could do something with this, you know, maybe a business
00:37and I also discovered that what I was doing was sustainable.
00:44Running a business by myself can be quite difficult at times
00:48and the Go Succeed service prompted that it would help businesses like mine grow.
00:56Go Succeed have been actually brilliant to be honest.
01:01I was assigned an amazing mentor.
01:04Any information I have needed it has been provided and the support given has been really, really great.
01:11It provided masterclasses for Canva, for other areas of the business.
01:18My plan is to build a rescue digital hub.
01:22The platform will be there for people to just come along and say,
01:27well look, I've got a whole pile of life raft material or I've got a whole pile of denim.
01:32What can you do for me? Can you help me transform this into something else rather than a go to landfill?
01:38I would definitely recommend the Go Succeed service. It really has been fantastic for me.