THE REINVENTION OF FASHION
Words: Joseph Findeiss
For co-founders, Lisa Siedlecki and Jenny Silbert,
speaking of the business of redirecting and repurposing post-industrial salvageable materials into beautiful,
one-of-a-kind fashionable items is a serious matter and
“landfill” is a four-lettered word. Rewilder aims to undermine the legacy of waste perpetuated by the fast-fashion
industry through recovering waste materials. Their goal is
to reduce the reliance upon mass-manufactured goods of
inferior quality while simultaneously redirecting potentially
environmentally harmful materials slated for landfills.
Siedlecki and Silbert opted to abandon corporate servitude for the greener side of the fence and create a carbon
negative company.
The moniker, Rewilder (RWR) refers to a concept within
conservation biology concerning the return of wilderness influenced by human intervention to a wild state,
the reintroduction and preservation of keystone plant
and animal species, and wilderness engineering as an
attempt to reconnect the fragmentation of natural habitats
in an effort to retain a natural homeostasis. With a slight
twist, Silbert and Siedlecki define RWR as, “a movement
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Photos courtesy of Rewilder
that explores new ways to create, a cultural shift toward
more responsible and careful use of materials; a person
committed to solving problems with utmost respect for the
Earth.” RWR has a slight socio-political slant toward the
sanctity of the environment and its preservation.
Silbert, a creative polymath, attended the University of
Pennsylvania for Design and Art History, as well as the
Yale School of Architecture. She has worked for architecture firms such as SLC based 3form, known for its
sustainability philosophy and Path to Zero, (0% waste)
mission. At 3form, Silbert co-founded and developed the
Advanced Technology Group, delving into complex and
technical architectural problem solving, including hardware design, geometric and structural solutions. However,
merely producing “no waste” wasn’t good enough for
Silbert. “Using and making new for every project is not
sustainable.” Salvaging, repurposing, and recycling materials have become Silbert’s ultimate mission.
Fashion-wunderkind, Sieldecki graduated from Drexel
University with a degree in fashion design, tenured em-