Instead of ending up in storage or a landfill, retired fire-service uniforms are getting a brilliant second chapter.
RMIT University researcher and designer Lisa Piller has created a pioneering textile recycling project, Walking in Circles, to convert these old uniforms into brand-new fashion fibres.
By teaming up with industry partners, Piller combined these recovered technical fibres with locally grown cotton from the Kimberley region’s new cotton gin.
The cotton gin allows local processing of Kimberley-grown cotton, reducing interstate transportation costs and creating regional value-adding opportunities.
Working alongside the ARC Research Hub for Future Fibres, Piller mastered techniques like blending, carding, and spinning to turn the old uniforms into experimental yarns and garments.
The resulting pieces prove that waste textiles don’t have to be discarded; they can be kept in circulation and completely renewed as valuable resources.
“These uniforms have spent years protecting the firefighters who work to safeguard Western Australia’s forests, parks and wildlife,” Piller shared. “Rather than ending their life in storage or landfill, we’ve been exploring how those fibres can be recovered, reprocessed and transformed into entirely new garments.”
