Unsold concert T-shirts repurposed for music tours

U.S. punk rockers Social Distortion are pioneering a sustainable approach to tour merchandise by upcycling old garments. For their current "Born to Kill" European tour, fans can purchase T-shirts and hoodies made from unsold merchandise of other artists.

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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.

This initiative is spearheaded by Universal Music Group's merchandising division, Bravado. They sourced over 400,000 unsold T-shirts from past tours, which were stored in a Nashville warehouse. These garments were then shipped to Tangier, Morocco, where textile manufacturer Hallotex processed them, breaking them down and spinning them into new yarn.

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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.

The goal is to create an estimated 280,000 recycled cotton blank T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts for musicians to sell on tour. Bravado President and CEO Matt Young stated that the new garments are "a little bit more expensive" currently, estimating a 10 to 20% increase for the raw T-shirt. He attributed this to the initiative not yet reaching economies of scale but expressed plans to expand the program.

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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 mentioned that the upcycling concept was inspired by singer Billie Eilish's mother, Maggie Baird, who, along with Eilish, has been a vocal advocate for environmental causes and sustainability. Social Distortion singer Mike Ness called using the recycled blanks a "no-brainer," expressing pride in the proactive approach to sustainability. He believes that as more partners join and scale increases, the price of these upcycled items will eventually match that of new merchandise.

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It was a no-brainer to use the recycled blanks as tour merchandise.