Empowering Students to Tackle Denim Waste, One Pair of Jeans at a Time

Laura Segura Gonzalez, a second-year master’s student in design, is tackling the fast fashion waste crisis. Inspired by the environmental toll of denim, Gonzalez began hosting jean upcycling workshops. “Denim to me has always been really interesting to me because it’s expensive, it’s emotional, and it’s super resource intensive”. After noticing how skinny jeans had fallen out of the trend cycle and were filling out donation racks, Gonzalez decided to experiment with different ways to make skinny jeans fun again. This year, Gonzalez has hosted five workshops at the GSE Makery, and helped students upcycle over 30 pairs of second-hand jeans. 

The Makery at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education (GSE) is a creative hub where students from all backgrounds come together to build, design, and upcycle. Equipped with sewing machines, 3D printers, engraving tools, and more, the space empowers students to turn their ideas into tangible projects.

But for Gonzalez, it’s about more than the clothes. “It’s not about the jeans anymore. It’s about people getting their hands on a sewing machine and the empowerment that gives them,” she explained. “People start to see their clothes differently. If something’s broken, they know they can fix it.”