Wearable stories: Toby Crispy’s Hong Kong-inspired clothing

What is your favourite memory of Hong Kong? For one, it’s lining up for a Mobile Softee ice cream on their graduation day. To another, it’s an old photo of their grandmother, one of the few female tailors in the city during the 1970s, making a pair of trousers.

These were some of the entries that Toby Crispy received from Slow Stitch Nomad @ Oi! , a community project the designer ran at North Point’s Oil Street Art Space between November 2022 and May 2023. More than 130 participants shared memories of the city through photography, writing or drawing, which they then embroidered onto fabric for Crispy to transfer onto upcycled garments she’d made. These colourful, handmade creations were later displayed in the Dress in Time exhibition, where special lighting and moving images brought the stories to life.

“While these stories might seem personal, they’re actually collective memories of Hong Kong people. You might look at them and think, ‘Hey, I’ve done and experienced the same thing’,” says Crispy. To her, this project was not only her most meaningful to date, but also summarises what she’s been working on for the past decade.

Remade with love

It all started in 2013. Crispy had just quit her job as a design manager at a French fashion house. After a few years of working in fashion, she had become disillusioned with the industry and the negative effects it had on the environment. The problem felt particularly pressing in Hong Kong, where upcycling was still in its early days and tailoring had already become a sunset industry.

Before her break, on a work trip to Paris, she stumbled upon a book about upcycling, which inspired her first upcycled fashion label LastbutnotLeast and, later, FashionClinic by T , a bespoke service which helps clients redesign and upcycle their clothing.

“Many people don’t understand recycling, much less upcycling. They think it means you must keep wearing something even when it’s old and full of holes,” she says. “I want to dispel this misconception by creating something chic and beautiful.”

To Crispy, the benefits of upcycling are two-fold: it’s as much about nostalgia as it is about having a positive impact on the environment. “Clothes are your most intimate diary,” she says. “You experience a lot with them, and just picking up a certain piece of clothing can help you relive emotions and memories.”

Some of the designer’s favourite things to wear are upcycled pieces made from her father’s blazer and her grandmother’s blouse. They serve as treasures that prolong the legacy of her loved ones, and it’s a gift that she wants to give her clients.

At FashionClinic by T, Crispy plays the role of a detective and scours her clients’ social media to get a sense of their style and background in the hope that the transformed pieces will be treasured and frequently worn – just like how she treats those pieces inspired by her dad and grandma.

Stitching a community together

As the buzz around Crispy’s business has grown, her focus has also shifted. In 2020, she started Slow Stitch Nomad, which included a series of online stitching workshops and a clothing upcycling project with fashion students at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, as well as community art initiatives. Next, she’ll expand her reach by taking her work to the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale – one of the world’s largest outdoor art festivals – in Japan in 2026, all the while continuing to encourage others to dress more sustainably.

“The most sustainable fashion is what already exists in your wardrobe,” says Crispy. “It’s all about buying less, choosing well and carefully considering each purchase. Do we really need a new organic tee or a new recycled polyester windbreaker? Upcycling uses the least resources. “More importantly, it also strengthens the bonds between us and what we already have.”

Dress for less

Get Redressed Month , organised by environmental NGO Redress, returns this month with the theme “Your Clothes, Our Planet”. Through clothing collection drives, volunteer clothes-sorting events and educational talks, this annual event promotes sustainable consumption and a circular lifespan for clothing. Shop year-round at The Redress Closet, the organisation’s second-hand shop in Sham Shui Po.

Three more second-hand shops

Green Ladies

Bring home high-quality pre-loved fashion – and, as a consignor, give your unworn clothes a new home.

Shop 8-9, UG, C. C. Wu Shopping Arcade, 302-308 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai Shop 116, The Mills, 45 Pak Tin Par Street, Tsuen Wan G/F, 4 Hing Wan Street, Wan Chai

Midwest Vintage

A treasure trove of US-sourced vintage goods, including leather jackets, raglan tees and denim, plus one-of- a-kind upcycled goods.

Shop 20, G/F, Victoria Centre, 15 Watson Road, North Point Shop 203, 2/F, K11 Art Mall, 18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui Shop 101, 1/F, 618 Shanghai Street, Mong Kok

Retrovert

A second-hand clothing platform which runs an online and physical shop, and hosts swap parties, upcycling workshops and community recycling initiatives.

2/F, 70 Sai Yeung Choi Street South, Mong Kok