Design Team Upcycles Old Threads

Anybody else miss shopping as much as I do?

With the economy looking more warped than Mickey Rourke’s face, this material girl has flipped the script on her favorite pastime. I used to be a power shopper. Now I’m power sitter, camped on the couch and wandering through the Internet looking for something inexpensive (and hopefully eco-friendly) to whet my shopping appetite in a responsible manner.

Sound impossible? I thought so, right until I stumbled upon the Team Salvage line of “upcycled” clothes at nicelena.com. Upcycling, for the uninitiated, is sustainable eco-speak for using something that was intended to be waste to make a new product.

Team Salvage, made by jewelry designer Lena Kim and neighborhood friend Jenny Senungetuk, salvages “pre-loved apparel” from a wear-less fate by adding graphic appliqués that hearken back to simpler days. What started as a forgotten sweater is new again, with a strategically placed funky graphic to maximize the hip factor. Almost everything on each item, from T-shirts to appliqués, are upcycled. The clothes come from a variety of second-hand sources, including shops or neighborhood donations, but the graphics are what make them stand out.

The most eye-catching ones tend to come from old bed sheets. This is where the pieces get their feel-good, simpler-time vibe. Kim created the initial Team Salvage line using various garments, including '80s-era Transformer sheets. (More than meets the eye, indeed.) A nostalgic favorite, Kim knew the line would work from the reaction she was getting in her own home. As Kim worked on Team Salvage’s new creation, her husband saw what she was up to and begged for a Soundwave shirt. It turns out that Soundwave was (and still is) his favorite Transformers character.

Team Salvage has only been around for about a month, but Kim, known as niceLena online, has been cranking out popular jewelry for about six years. Her store nicelena.com features what she considers collage art, a type of Earth-friendly mish-mash. The jewelry ranges from modern cool to cute kitsch in sensibility, most made with some kind of scrap material for sustainability's sake.

Aside from a short attempt a few years ago, Kim had been so busy with nicelena.com that taking her collage viewpoint to clothes wasn’t an option -– until, when dropping her daughter off at kindergarten one day, she met Senungetuk. In Kim’s own words, she discovered, “This mom can sew!” Realizing she had someone who could help move her mish-mash art onto clothing, Kim recruited Senungetuk for her new project.

The duo lives in an affluent neighborhood just north of Chicago, “a luxury salvage yard” as Kim puts it. It’s there that the two collect the used clothes for Team Salvage. The well-to-do locale certainly helps with the quality of the garments. Some items on sale now even sport designer labels. As an example, one Kenneth Cole skirt is now adorned with a sleepy lion.

Team Salvages’ wares have barely debuted, so Kim won’t venture a guess as to whether or not her new project will be as successful as her jewelry. But, if national habit is any indication, the pieces have a fair shot. I think we’re all in the mood for something inexpensive, sustainable, and reminiscent of easier days.

The line may not be the height of couture chic, but the aesthetic is comforting. Forget comfort food. These are comfort — both for the wallet and the mind.