The Fabric Alchemist: Mahdiyyah’s Mission to Weave Ancestral DNA Technology Into Fashion, Education and Community Care

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Experience a beautiful ride into the world of sustainable RE-education with Mahdiyyah—aka the Fabric Alchemist—who’s here to prove that fabric upcycling is more than just a trend; it’s a catalyst for revolutionizing education! In this electric conversation, Mahdiyyah unravels her journey through the overwhelmingly white-dominated environmental scene, where she learned that “sustainability” was just another word for resourcefulness that Black folks BEEN adopting. With grit, warmth and heart, she shows us how inter-generational knowledge sharing (especially in garden classrooms) is the OG blueprint for sustainability.

But wait—there’s more! She dives deep into the parallels between the fashion world and the food apartheid system (yep, we’re going there) to unpack how Black and brown communities are being boxed out of accessing natural materials, all thanks to discriminatory urban planning.

And Mahdiyyah’s not just talking the talk—her groundbreaking research and relentless studies are connecting the dots, exposing the inequalities, and building a vibrant ecosystem of badass non-traditional educators and skill-sharers. This is more than a conversation; it’s a call to action wrapped in fierce creativity and unapologetic truth. Don’t sleep on this one!

MORE ABOUT MAHDIYYAH

Mahdiyyah, the Fabric Alchemist, is an Upcycle Textile Artist, Regenerative Fashion Instructor, and Textile Waste Consultant. Her skill of patchworking discarded scraps mirrors the regenerative design, quilting and pioneer upcycle skills of her African ancestors.

Her process of Fabric Alchemy is highlighted in her approach to textile waste management and regenerative design, and calls on ancestral techniques like repurposing(upcycling) and mechanical recycling discarded materials from nature, to alchemize them into more useful garments and textile art. This process is what she centers her educational workshops, Upcycled Textile Art + Designs, and tailored strategies for textile waste mitigation on. In addition to this, Mahdiyyah is also building the Upcycle Web Directory, which will serve as an all-black upcyclers directory connecting stewards of the practice with opportunities and community. The goal is to ultimately consider the life cycle of clothing, the health of its wearer, and the reverberations of extractive textile systems felt throughout communities which have been perpetually drained without replenishment or fair compensation.

Mahdiyyah has been a recipient of the Fibers Fund Fibershed Grant, Slow Factory Garment 2 Garment Grant, a board member of the Black Fiber Textile Network and a winner of the Wear We Are Going Eco-Design Program. She has facilitated her workshop series with Cornell University, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, Fibershed, GAP Inc, San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, Oko Farms, Good Life Garden, East New York Farms, Harlem Children’s Zone High School, and more. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Forbes, WWD, and on shows like Tamron Hall, Showtime’s The Chi, and FuseTV’s Upcycle Nation. Some of Mahdiyyah’s speaking engagements include The Fabric Act: Live at The Canvas, Earthday: Global Fashion Exchange in partnership with Fashion Revolution USA and Greeningfullife, and Conscious Fashion Collective: Demystifying Financial Sustainability in Slow Fashion.

“I like to call it DNA technology or like ancestral DNA technology because it’s already within us. It just needs to be reawakened, you know!”

— Mahdiyyah