Vanhulley: New products from textile waste

Vanhulley
Type of organisation or company
Country
Netherlands
City
Groningen
Language for original content
Project elaborated in partnership
Yes
Scope
Start/End date
Ongoing
Yes
Type of funding
Description

The idea to repurpose used shirts into custom boxers started with a worn-out shirt of Jolijn Creutzenberg's husband, a dear souvenir from a trip to the US. Throwing it away was not an option, so there it was, useslessly hanging in the closet. Until Jolijn decided to upcycle the worn shirt into a pair of boxershorts.

Jolijn further developed this idea. She did not want another underwear factory. She wanted to build something authentic, original and with a good cause, which led her to creating Vanhulley, a Dutch company that makes products from textile waste, thereby contributing to the circularity of the textiles industry.

Vanhulley is also a social enterprise that trains and employs women who want to work but who do not have the necessary qualifications for their ambition on the labour market. At Vanhulley these women do not only get work experience in the textiles industry, but also go to school for a day and a half every week to get a vocational diploma at the end of the year, which enables them to fulfil their dreams and continue their education or active contribution to the labour market.

Main results

Vanhulley's unique combination of circular business model and social economy principles not only reduces the amount of shirts ending up as waste, but also provides employment opportunities for socio-economically disadvantaged women in the Groningen area by helping them to make a plan for their next step, like a job, an internship or a follow-up education.