cover photo credit: @duyho_ courtesy of Rethink The Runway
Last month, local Bay Area sustainable fashion advocates and innovators gathered at the Rivian showroom for Recharge Your Closet, a San Francisco Climate Week event hosted by Rethink the Runway. Attendees swapped clothing, explored sustainable fashion brands, participated in garment-repair workshops, and learned about circular fashion solutions.
As an innovation partner for the event, we were excited to support Rethink the Runway with thoughtfully sourced merchandise and began considering which products would best reflect the event's spirit. We wanted to think outside the box with merch, creating something that aligned with Rethink the Runway's mission to prevent unnecessary landfill waste and support responsible production practices.
Designing Visibility With Purpose
That intention led us to connect with Jillian Clark, founder of Roboro, who recommended we use their upcycled bandanas for the project. Jillian shared the story behind the bandanas: they were originally made for a famous rock musician's tour, but turned out to be too thin for the artist's needs. A friend working at the distribution company saved them from being thrown away by donating them to Roboro. Jillian had customized several at home using a DIY Cricut process and used them in sewing lessons and workshops, with remaining pieces listed on Roboro's website as reusable rag bundles.
Bandanas make great giveaway items because they are so versatile. You can style them as a fashion accessory, use them to wrap something, or even get more utilitarian and put them in your pocket as a handkerchief.
Once we settled on a design, the journey to San Francisco was quite short; they were first dropped off at a union printer in Los Angeles and then shipped up north for the event. We paired the printed bandanas with a 100% certified organic USA-Made cotton pouch. Each bandana, tucked into a pouch, transformed waste into a meaningful and purposeful gift for attendees. More than just another swag item to take home, each piece carried the story of circularity and sustainability, showing how materials can be reimagined rather than discarded.
"What would have gone to a landfill and been a loss of time and resources, has now supported multiple events and workshops, and it has been an exercise in what's possible when a little creative problem-solving is applied to the 'brandfill' issue." - Jillian Clark, Founder of Roboro
A Backdrop for Connection, Collaboration, and Change
To maximize Rethink the Runway's brand visibility throughout the event, we also produced a custom union-made banner that served as a backdrop for photos, speakers, and workshop facilitators, ensuring a consistent, high-impact visual presence across programming and content moments.
"Ethix Merch's support was instrumental in bringing our 'Recharge Your Closet' event to life with intentional, mission-aligned choices. From our custom union-made backdrop banner to the upcycled Roboro bandanas packaged in organic cotton pouches, these pieces allowed us to present tangible circular fashion solutions that truly inspired our community." -Mira Musank, Founder of Rethink the Runway
This gathering reflected the kind of circular, community-driven future that Rethink the Runway is working to build, where collaboration across designers, organizers, and material innovators turns sustainability from concept into practice. From reused materials to intentional production choices, every detail of the event reinforced the idea that better systems for fashion already exist when we choose to design with care, creativity, and purpose.
The event was truly a community effort, made possible by the support of many organizations, individuals, and local businesses. Big thanks especially to all of the event sponsors: Rethink the Runway, BB Events, SF Climate Week, Rivian, Climate Creative, Fibershed, and Sway.
