Waterlooville's Vintage Trainers holds upcycling event to teach community about impact of fast fashion

At their store in London Road, Waterlooville, Vintage Trainers held an event to encourage the community to make the most of their pre-loved trainers.

More than 150 visitors turned out to the shop to learn about how their unwanted trainers can be turned into clean and shiny works of art with various designs thanks to demonstrations from local artists.

Three Portsmouth artists attended the event painting custom trainers at their desks to raise awareness of how individuals can help the environment.

James Shaul, marketing manager, says the response was ‘positive’ as it ‘showed people how far they can take a pair of trainers’.

He said: ‘We really wanted to show people how far you can go with an old pair of shoes.

‘We'd have someone show us how to get from a dirty pair to a new pair. Then we've had multiple local artists in who have been painting to show how you can restore the trainers.

‘We put out a lot of posters in our showroom outside which shows people a lot about the impact of fast fashion. A lot of people have spoken to me saying they didn't realise how big of an impact it has.’

James, his dad Mat, sister, Lauren and her partner Matt started the business when they discovered the impact fast fashion was having on the environment.

‘It was my sister who initially found out how many trainers were being thrown away each year,’ James explained.

‘It's 300 million in the UK every year.

‘We know that fast fashion is having such a big impact on the environment.

‘It went from a garden shed at the house into a warehouse into a showroom.’

Today, the upcycling business have handled and cleaned more than 100,000 pairs of trainers.

After restoring trainers, the team work to transform them and sell them on at a low price.’

‘We can get pretty much everything onto a trainer if you ask for it,’ James said.