From old to new: unsold concert T-shirts repurposed for music tours

Social Distortion has become the first band to use upcycled merchandise from Universal Music Group's Bravado division, reducing waste and offering sustainable tour apparel options.

When U.S. punk rockers Social Distortion take to stages ​across Europe on their current "Born to Kill" ​tour, fans can buy T-shirts and ‌hoodies ​upcycled from old merchandise garments. The band is the first to use blanks that Universal Music Group's merchandising division Bravado has upcycled from more than 400,000 ‌unsold T-shirts from other artists' past tours which lay in a Nashville warehouse.

Bravado shipped the garments to Tangier in Morocco, where textile manufacturer Hallotex broke down the old T-shirts and spun them into new yarn. It ‌aims to make an estimated 280,000 recycled cotton blank T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts for musicians to sell ‌on their European tours. "We wanted to give the artists the options to have this product available for them to use ... it sets ... you apart by using these blanks, but also makes a difference," Bravado President and CEO Matt Young told Reuters.

The ⁠new garments ​are "a little bit more ⁠expensive", Young said, adding the plan was to expand the initiative. "It could be anywhere from 10 to 20% more for ⁠the actual raw T-shirt to be made. But that's only because we haven't hit the scale yet," he said, ​adding the upcycling initiative was inspired by singer Billie Eilish's mother Maggie Baird.

Both mother and daughter ⁠have long been vocal about environmental causes and sustainability. "By doing this and getting more people to do it and having more ⁠partners ​that start doing it, the price will get to be the same as a new piece at some point," Young said.

Currently in between European shows, Social Distortion singer Mike Ness said it ⁠was "a no-brainer" to use the recycled blanks as tour merchandise, featuring the leopard head from their "Born to Kill" album ⁠cover as well ⁠as the band's logo of a skeleton holding a martini glass and cigarette. "I'm very proud of it," Ness said. "We can talk about it all day long ... ‌complain. But ... now ‌we're getting proactive and that feels good."