It takes a village to transform excess materials into a new upcycled product that's both purposeful and stylish. For Looptworks, the village happens to be our Portland, OR workshop, where operations specialists, partnership & supply chain gurus, and product designers come together under one roof to make magic out of the diverse bevy of materials we receive from partners looking to reduce their waste.

Our latest collection features upcycled denim twill from the New Denim Project in Guatemala. Today we're going Behind the Seams with designers Alyssa Augustine and Matthew Spann on the inspiration for this summery collection.

Watch the video or read the transcript below.

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Alyssa: Hi I’m Alyssa, Designer-2/Developer at Looptworks

Matthew: Hello I’m Matthew, Designer-1 at Looptworks.

Alyssa: There was an aesthetic trend on social media that went viral called #coastalgrandmother 

*tiktok clip segment*

Alyssa: It just fit really beautifully with the washed out denim. That was definitely a leading inspiration behind all the products. Being able to kind of lean into that more feminine customer, and get a little softer with the aesthetic in the product. So that was really fun also.

Matthew: Denim is almost a living material because it breathes, it takes on your warmth. It’s such, like, a heritage piece as well. My favorite piece in the collection is The Extra Large Tote. There’s just something so beautiful and simple about packing everything one Mary Poppins style bag. 

Alyssa: Well I’m particularly attached to every single piece in this collection, but my favorite one is The Bucket Bag. I think it’s a great everyday piece to just grab and go. And also because it has a ton of hand-detailing on it. This material has lived many lives. Some people may say, “You upcycle it but it becomes less than it started out as.” And I think that we see it as it’s more than it started out as. 

Matthew: It like proposes a new challenge in design. It’s like you already are given pieces of the puzzle that you now have to try to understand and then incorporate, somehow. And like, that’s part of the fun, just figuring out that puzzle.