PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A new collection of collegiate apparel lines the shelves in the Brown University Bookstore, and while the garments may seem familiar, no two are exactly the same. That’s because designer Glory (SeungHee) Lee crafted each piece, using unsold or otherwise unwanted Brown-branded apparel as her foundation.
Lee, a Class of 2024 Brown-RISD dual-degree student studying apparel design at Rhode Island School of Design and economics at Brown, is the founder of Missing Button, a creative studio focused on upcycling — the practice of transforming unwanted materials into valuable, high-quality products. In other words, Lee is turning trash into treasure.
“Upcycle is always interesting, because you have to be creative with such a limited set of resources,” Lee said. “You’re given a starting point, then however you can stretch that is really up to your creative capacity. It’s almost like a problem-solving challenge.”
Lee founded Missing Button last year and officially launched the new collaboration with the bookstore, where the items are now available for sale, over Brown's Family Weekend on Oct. 22. Missing Button’s Brown collection comprises more than 70 unique pieces, from ruffled crop-tops to patchwork tote bags, strappy sweaters and embellished hoodies with added pockets. While delivering high-quality, well-designed garments is certainly part of her goal, it’s Lee’s passion for sustainability that drove both the creation of the studio and the collaboration with the bookstore.
“I wanted to do something where the solution that I’m bringing also helps them to handle this overstock problem that is very common in retail,” Lee said.
Overstock traditionally includes items that didn’t sell for one reason or another, but can also include damaged items, like shirts with improperly sewn seams or mistakes in the graphics. In addition, prospective vendors send the bookstore free sample products every year. All of this surplus material “collects over time and kind of turns into a mountain,” said TJ Cochran, director of the Brown University Bookstore.
“We’ve done all kinds of things — we’ve donated things, put them in special sales or clearance, but if it gets down to the point where it’s just not selling, it would go to a thrift store,” Cochran said. “It could also end up in the landfill, and that’s not where we want it to go.”
Through the collaboration, however, that potential waste is avoided entirely. Since 2020, Cochran said the bookstore has been able to donate 100% of its leftover or damaged apparel to Refried Apparel, another company that sells upcycled products at the bookstore, and now to Missing Button as well.
“What I like a lot about these programs is that they’re utilizing every scrap of fabric,” he said. “They really try to make sure nothing goes to waste. It’s sustainable, but people are also getting fashionable, one-of-a-kind products. It drives sales, because people see it and know that if they don’t buy it then, they’re never going to get the opportunity to get that piece again. It’s a brilliant move.”
Missing Button was conceived last winter and came together quickly throughout the year, launching its first project in May 2022 in partnership with the RISD Store to turn their overstock into an upcycled fashion collection. Inspired by the success of the sold-out RISD collection, Lee approached the Brown Bookstore to see if it would be interested in a similar partnership.
