Creating treasure from waste

Xenia Sidorenko, the founder of UseDem, has created 150 backpacks from old jeans this year. Photos provided to China Daily

Instead of discarding old denim jeans which no longer fit or have gone out of fashion, Xenia Sidorenko prefers to give them a new lease of life, albeit in a different form, by upcycling them into backpacks.

Upcycling is a form of recycling where waste materials are transformed into a better-quality product.

The Russian — she currently works as a technical designer at a Chilean company in Shanghai — has become so adept in the craft that she has even managed to launch her brand called UseDem which she manages on the side.

The premise of her brand’s concept is a romantic one — she said that the resulting backpack will feature the very same scuff marks, holes and stains that were present on the jeans, representing a continuity in memories while providing the user with a new product with which he or she can use for future endeavors.

“You have your beloved jeans which are probably out of fashion, but you just cannot bear to put it into the garbage bin because you still have feelings for it. This is where I come in. I can turn that pair of jeans into a handy backpack that you can take on new adventures with,” said Sidorenko, who has been living in Shanghai for six years.