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What is one item most Americans have in their wardrobe? According to a 2024 YouGov poll, 90% of Americans wear jeans at least occasionally. That's more than enough reason to pay attention to what happens in the lifecycle of used jeans. Baltimore's fashion-forward and eco-conscious crowd turned out this past Friday for an evening that proved just how much life is still left in a well-worn pair of jeans. On August 21, The Loop by Planet Aid in Baltimore's Fells Point hosted the "Denim Painting Workshop: Reclaim & Create." This after-hours event invited attendees to socialize during a creative upcycling activity that included a paintbrush and thrifted denim.
Leading the evening was Baltimore visual and graphic artist Rashida Cotton, who guided a room of painters—many holding a brush for the very first time—through the process of turning secondhand jackets, jeans, and other denim pieces into wearable art.
The Origins of Wearable Art in the U.S.
Believe it or not, Americans' engagement with wearable art did not begin with denim. It first gained popularity on leather A-2 Bomber jackets during World War II. Soldiers personalized their leather jackets by painting them with cartoons, mottos, and popular pin-up models. However, it was the Vietnam War that inspired art and political statements to land on the back of denim jackets. Hippies turned their denim into canvases for hand-painted imagery and political expression.
Encouraging Creativity and Sustainability
Friday's workshop at The Loop had a simple but pointed goal: rather than treating clothing as disposable, treat it as a canvas. Over the course of the evening, plain denim became a backdrop for color, pattern, and personal storytelling, with each participant leaving with a piece unlike anyone else's.
True to The Loop's mission, the event embraced a "bring it or thrift it" spirit. Some attendees arrived with their own denim, pulled from closets and ready for a second act. Others browsed The Loop's racks beforehand, taking advantage of the up-to-$10 credit offered to workshop attendees toward a denim purchase on-site. Either way, every piece painted that night began its life as something pre-loved and ended as beloved, a detail befitting the evening's broader message about sustainable fashion and creative reuse.
All art supplies were provided, and no prior painting experience was necessary. After all, a Picasso-level piece of art was never the objective. It was simply to create something the workshop participants would actually want to wear again—a tangible reminder that sustainability and self-expression don't have to be at odds.
Events like this one are part of what makes The Loop by Planet Aid more than just a secondhand shop. By pairing reuse with creativity, the workshop offered a hands-on way to think differently about the clothes already in our lives. Christina Jones, Planet Aid's Project Manager for Retail Expansion, said: "We’re on a mission to make The Loop a community hub for sustainable fashion, and last night (Friday) felt like a pretty great start."
Keep an eye out for future workshops at The Loop, where reclaiming, creating, and reusing are always in style.