Swap Stations lets Canary Wharf visitors exchange unwanted clothing for shopping vouchers
Melanie May | 22 April 2022 | News
To mark Earth Day, people visiting London’s Canary Wharf can currently donate their old clothes in return for vouchers to spend with retailers in its malls.
Canary Wharf’s Swap Station is in Jubilee Place mall until next Tuesday, and has been designed by the UK denim artist Ian Berry. Berry will transform the donated denim jeans, jackets and accessories into a piece of art that will hang in the mall, with the artwork to be unveiled in June to coincide with World Environment Day.
Any clothes not used for the new artwork will be donated to Love Not Landfill, a nonprofit campaign to encourage fast fashion fans to buy second-hand, swap, recycle and give to charity.
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Berry’s final piece will join over 110 permanent works by over 50 international artists currently around the Canary Wharf estate.
Poplar-based artist Berry is known for his work turning old denim into visualisations, such as his celebrity portraits including Debbie Harry and Giorgio Armani, and his works depicting real life in collections including Behind Closed Doors and My Beautiful Launderette in 2016 and Hotel California in 2019.
Commenting on this latest project, he said:
“It’s brilliant to be working on a project so close to home which combines art, sustainability and the local community at Canary Wharf. Recycling denim is a fantastic medium for seeing the world and creating a piece from the donated Swap Station clothes to be displayed in Canary Wharf is extremely exciting. I strongly encourage the public to donate any unwanted clothing and watch their items be transformed into art.”
The Swap Station campaign forms part of Canary Wharf’s wider Conscious Consumer initiative, which encourages visitors to live, eat and shop locally through sustainable retail choices, refillable water stations, transport links, green spaces and plastic-free lunch spots.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.