Upcycling Wedding Dresses with Otis College of Art and Design

DressesOur Heart | March 16, 2024

Looking for all the latest details on our sustainability efforts? You’ve come to the right place. Drum roll, please… we’re upcycling wedding dresses with Otis! We’ve loved being a mentor for the Juniors and Seniors at Otis College of Art and Design during this project, and can’t wait to tell you more about where it is headed! Read on to hear all about what we’ve been up to! And, of course, check out our “Our Heart” page for more content like this!

Our Heart

Introducing Our Otis Fashion Mentorship Project

Maggie Sottero Designs is set to embark on an exciting journey as a mentor for the 2023-2024 undergraduate Fashion Design program at Otis College of Art and Design. This esteemed partnership brings together the industry expertise of Kelly Midgley, CEO and Creative Director, Edric Woo, Lead Designer, and Patricia DeLaunay, Designer and Global Sustainability Director (an Otis College ’04 BFA Fashion Design alumna.) They’re teaming up with the talented juniors and seniors at Otis Fashion for an upcycled design project, which revolves around the shared value of sustainability.

Kelly Midgley in front of a wedding dress designed by Otis students during upcycling mentorship project

Kelly Midgley and a model wearing a wedding dress designed by Otis students during upcycling mentorship project

“This partnership carries a profound personal significance,” shares Kelly Midgley. “Not only is our global sustainability director an alum of this institution, but at Maggie Sottero Designs, we also take immense pride in our commitment to inspiring the next generation of designers to stand with us in our dedicated sustainability mission.”

For the first time in its 40-year history, Otis Fashion is bringing together its Junior and Senior class students to create a bridal fashion collection upcycled from our discontinued and one-of-a-kind stock. The project will culminate in a fashion show at the West L.A. campus in May 2024.

Maggie’s Design Direction for the project: “Love, and love for all: This is what Maggie Sottero stands for. The timeless romance and beauty of bridal design step into a new age of sustainable, upcycled design practices. Consider re-wearability. Keep fabric waste to a minimum. Taking inspiration from forms in nature, reimagine our discontinued stock to create bridal fashion for brides and their wedding parties. The setting: An enchanted forest, filled with magical flora and fauna.”

This project is a part of Otis’s annual curriculum and serves as a great opportunity for brands to participate in training and inspiring future fashion designers.

Otis Fashion students have been mentored by Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Nike, Gap, Blizzard Entertainment, Los Angeles County Museum, Revolve, Amiri, and many other notable brands. Maggie is thrilled to be joining this list!

Here Are The Phases Of The Project:

Planning

The project actually began several months before the students entered their design classrooms.

Executing an upcycling project of this scale required lots of collaborative discussions between Jill Higashi (Chair of the Otis School of Fashion), Kelly Midgley (Maggie’s CEO/Creative Director), and Patty DeLaunay (our Global Sustainability Director/Designer).

Wedding dresses designed by Otis students during upcycling mentorship project

Design considerations included which gowns would be donated, how many duplicates would be available, and the types of fabrics involved.

Dress size was an important consideration because the students would be using the gowns as fabric feedstock; a ballgown in a size 10, for example, would yield more fabric than a smaller size.

Jill, Kelly, and Patty worked to create a final inventory of the excess stock that would be donated to the students; next, one sample of every gown was sent to the college, where Otis Fashion’s talented design instructors studied each style and tested some initial upcycling ideas.

Design

After studying the scale of Maggie’s proposed gown donation—and knowing that many of her returning students were extremely interested in bridal design AND sustainability—Jill Higashi felt this was the right opportunity to invite both Juniors and Seniors to design this project.

The result will be a first for Otis Fashion: An upcycled bridal fashion story told on a grand scale, featuring the combined talents of Junior designers and graduating Seniors.

In the first week of the project, students were introduced to the Design Direction and assigned their reference gown (one of three duplicate styles Maggie provided for each team) and started their research process, including draping, fabric testing, swatch creation, and sketching.

The Senior designers are paired in teams of two to create couture-worthy gowns for The Bride. Hundreds of hours of effort are being poured into each creation, including meticulous draping and cutting of embellishments. Meantime, the up-and-coming Junior designers are working individually to design and execute styles for the Bridal party, with a focus on unexpected shapes and rewearability after the big day.

Sketch Selection

Maggie’s team of junior and senior fashion students will present their sketches and 3-D concepts to mentors Kelly, Patty, and Edric. Each team will have time to explain their ideas and present sketches. The Maggie team will make 2-3 initial selections of the sketches; then, once all teams have presented their sketches, the collection will be edited down to the final range, featuring the designs that best represent the spirit of the project and design direction.

First Fitting

Next, the students will head to their studio class to prepare for first fittings. They’ll work under the guidance of Otis Fashion’s veteran patternmakers, tailors, and dressmakers to create the first samples (or “muslins”) of the gowns. During the first fitting. Maggie’s team will review each sample on a fit model, making adjustments and giving notes to the student teams. The goal is to create a beautiful final gown but also to give students the experience of fitting with working design professionals to help them prepare for their future careers. Then the students will head back to the studio to work on their final gowns!

Watching the designs progress from initial sketch to final gown is so inspiring! “My favorite moment for this project is seeing the students being so creative, to recreate something fresh and different with the given styles,” says our Lead Designer, Edric Woo. “It’s been so interesting to see how sketches progressed to the toile fittings where you can really see how well they can execute the design – to bring the sketch to real life!”

Final Fittings

Maggie’s student teams will execute the finished version of their gowns to be reviewed during a final fitting with Kelly, Patty, and Edric. The Maggie team will assess each gown on a fit model and give direction on any last changes needed. After this fitting, students will go back to the studio to make adjustments to the gowns and add final hand embellishments. Fashion show prep is next, with fittings on runway models, the addition of accessories, and the creation of the full look and sound of Maggie Sottero’s Otis Fashion story!

Model wearing a wedding dress designed by Otis students during upcycling mentorship project

How Upcycling Impacts Resource Consumption and Waste Reduction

What is “upcycling”? Upcycling describes the process of taking an existing product and reimagining it into something new while maintaining or increasing its value. For example, the Otis students are putting many hours of hand craft—cut, drape, stitch, and embellishment—into their redesigns of our discontinued gowns. They’re increasing the value of the original gown by putting so much time into creating something new; they’re also extending the gown’s life span!

Upcycling is a creative and environmentally sustainable way to reuse materials or products by giving a unique item a new or “upgraded” purpose or value. Unlike traditional recycling — breaking down materials into their raw form to create new products — upcycling aims to enhance the existing item, reimagining its unique qualities into a new creation and extending its life cycle.

As part of our sustainability efforts, Maggie donates gowns to design school students in the U.S., the U.K., the E.U., and Australia to support future design talent. The gowns are used for upcycling projects and as fabric feedstock for new designs. With these donations, our goals are to support future design talent with material resources, provide creative inspiration, and give students the opportunity to upcycle gowns as class projects. Another goal is to extend the lifespan of the gowns. This reuse of gowns is an impactful way to reduce textile waste and support more thoughtful consumption of existing resources!

In this project, Otis Fashion students are embracing the idea of honoring the value of a wedding dress by fashionably extending its use in imaginative ways. We can’t wait to reveal their finished creations!

Maggie Sottero: Mentor?

Maggie Sottero is so excited to mentor design students on a project of this scale—a first in our nearly 30-year history! It’s an honor to work with Otis Fashion, supporting these future designers with classroom time and donations of gowns for upcycling and fabric feedstock.

This mentorship gives the Maggie design team the chance to share their combined years of industry experience with students; plus, getting out of the office to hear from the next generation of designers (and future brides!) is incredibly rewarding too. The project will also highlight the increasing importance of sustainable design practices, including waste-not upcycling of excess stock.

Lead Designer Edric mentoring an Otis student during upcycling mentorship

“It’s amazing to be back at Otis Fashion as a mentor!” says Patty DeLaunay. “As a student, I was very interested in sustainable fashion; in fact, Otis even encouraged me to do a special sustainability project as part of my Senior classwork. When I graduated in 2004, the idea of “sustainable fashion” was a “nice to have” at most brands, but not a core value. I’m so happy that we’ve finally gotten to a place in 2024 where sustainability is now so important to the fashion industry.”

We’re so honored to support a milestone project for Otis Fashion: An upcycled bridal fashion story told on a grand scale, featuring Brides and the Bridal Party AND the combined talents of Junior and Senior design students!

Community outreach is an important pillar of Maggie’s mission statement. Through donations, volunteering, and now mentorship, we continually strive to improve and bring together our community. We’re thrilled to have incredible partners like Otis College of Art & Design to help us meet our outreach goals.

Maggie’s Community and Sustainability Efforts

Maggie Sottero introduced its first sustainability efforts in August 2023 after a full year of planning and executing first projects. Our vision: To create a more sustainable future for the next generation and beyond, reimagining everything we do with a regenerative, future-facing view.

This is a brand-wide effort across all departments: “We are rising to meet this critical moment for people and the planet. We’re implementing systems change throughout our organization, embedding sustainability as a core value for every team in support of a more sustainable wedding industry. We are working as quickly as we can to reduce our environmental impact, taking ambitious action in three key areas: Waste Reduction, Resource Consumption, and Protecting Biodiversity.” – Patricia DeLaunay, Global Sustainability Director and Designer.

Maggie Sottero employee planting a tree through One Tree Planted partnership

Beyond our meticulous designs, our heart, and love expand into our global community. Our sense of home is both local and global. Giving back and helping others through our community support efforts has always been at the core of this women-led, multi-generational family business. Love connects us all.

We’re passionate about protecting biodiversity. Our partnership with One Tree Planted is one of our favorite ongoing projects. We are dedicated to planting a tree in honor of each bride who purchases a Maggie gown.

We’re also the first bridal brand to invest in textile recycling. Have you read our blog about our partnership with SuperCircle? Go check it out!

We’re diverting 100% of our excess stock from landfills, choosing instead to recycle AND donate to community groups and design schools like Otis Fashion and Rare School of Fashion and Art in the U.K. See more waste reduction efforts.

Upcycling with Otis: What’s Next?

In May, the students will present their final gowns during Otis Fashion’s highly anticipated annual fashion show. During the evening’s festivities, Maggie Sottero will announce the Junior and Senior projects that best represent our design direction and showcase a marriage of bridal fashion beauty and sustainable design.

Stay tuned throughout the next few months to see the creation of the gowns, from sketch to fitting to finished look, and find out which projects take the prize!

Trendy Lower Impact Wedding Dresses

Psst! In case you didn’t already know, Hilo Marie, Addison, and Jackie are designed with lower-impact outer shell fabrics, and many of our gowns in the All Ivory colorway have lower-impact linings! If you’re passionate about keeping things more sustainable like we are, those are great options! Here’s more info on them:

Hilo Marie by Maggie Sottero

You must have dimension. You must have lush, form-fitting layers. You must have a simple elegant bridal gown made for a red carpet-worthy entrance. Enter Hilo Marie, a simple elegant bridal gown with Acer recycled content satin and a strapless neckline.

Aspen by Sottero and Midgley

Here’s what we know about this couture strapless A-line wedding dress. First, that minimalism is power. Second, satin is undeniably timeless. If you aren’t sold yet, wait until we tell you that it comes in a lower-impact pink option! Our Ice Pink Elin Mikado is made with yarn-dyed fibers to help reduce water and energy use.