Journey:
Carolina Bedoya’s immersion into textile and fiber art is rooted in her family. From an early age she watched her grandmother practice her craft as an artisan left a lasting impression on her, as she learned a discipline and the joy that came from it.
Her mother was also another major influence in her journey with textiles and fashion. By the time she was eight years old, she would often accompany her mother to fashion school since she had no one else to watch over her. Carolina’s early understanding of what fashion is and what it could be was shaped by sitting in those classrooms, watching her mother work on assignments and present her designs. She learned to see fashion as an introspective, creative practice rather than just a commercial product.
Additionally, growing up in Colombia was a major influence in her relationship to textiles, craft and material reuse. Even before she had the vocabulary to define sustainable practices, she was doing so through traditional Colombian customs such as repurposing containers, passing down clothes among family and friends, and using damaged garments as cleaning rags. These customs influenced how she sees the materials around her, learning to recognize their potential and value instead of as excess waste. Today, this perspective guides her work with materials to be reimagined and transformative.
When she began working at Eileen Fisher as the Renew, Resale and Recycling Manager, is when she realized firsthand how devastating the environmental and social impacts were coming from the fashion industry. This was a turning point for her, realizing the urgent need to create systems that are more responsible to the people and the planet.
Being aware of how much useful textile material was going to waste, reshaped Carolina’s practice and led her towards textile and fiber art. Through the process of remanufacturing and transforming, she uses existing materials to create new work, inviting the viewer to reflect on consumption, waste, and value. Her background in fashion design informs not only how she works with the materials but also why she uses them in her art as a way to make people think about the impacts of their choices and to be more conscious of their relationship with textiles.
Through her work, Bedoya is most interested in expressing stories of transformation, care, and resilience. Being drawn to the emotional tension between what the world sees as waste and the labor, history, and human touch each textile carries, her work seeks to honor those unseen stories rather than eliminate them.
Art & Circularity:
Working across different scales, first within a brand like Eileen Fisher and later through the co-founding of MakeAneew, shaped Carolina's understanding of circular fashion as an ongoing practice rather than a single solution. These experiences taught her that circularity requires commitment, experimentation, and the infrastructure to support it.
At Eileen Fisher, she was part of a team developing hands-on systems and operations to extend the life cycle of garments returned through the brand’s take-back program. At the time, few brands were pursuing sustainability in ways that created real, operational impact. The work was driven by a “just do it” mentality, testing processes, adapting systems, and dealing with issues as they came along. The challenges that came along with it revealed to her the complexity that exists in circularity, even for a brand that has great values and resources at its disposal.
This work also enabled Bedoya to understand that even if many brands share their interest in being more circular in nature, the expertise, infrastructure, and operational knowledge is often lacking in order to scale effective initiatives. From this she learned that being circular or sustainable does not necessarily involve mere interest but also knowledge and expertise in that field.
These experiences only solidified her belief that if anyone is working towards making the fashion industry more sustainable, no matter what their size or point in the process, it is worth it. She understands that changing the fashion industry for the better in the field of sustainability is something that happens incrementally through experimentation and collaboration.
As a professor of sustainability at Parsons school of design, her practice as a textile artist is deeply embedded into her teaching and vice versa. In the classroom she highlights the process of learning through making, experimenting, and critical reflection rather than sustainability being an abstract concept or requisite on a checklist. She encourages her students to understand fashion as a system, shaped by labor, resources, waste, and power. Through these ideas, she pushes herself as an artist to constantly question her own understandings and refine her practice, also feeding off her students' perspectives and energies to challenge her evolution creatively and intellectually. Often using her studio practice as experimental grounds for what she can bring to the classroom and the classroom becoming a space to imagine future possibilities through collective inquiry. “Together, they form a feedback loop where art, education, and sustainability are not separate pursuits, but part of the same ongoing investigation into how fashion can be more responsible, reflective, and humane” she says.
This interconnectedness between teaching and creating is what feels most meaningful to her.
Re.Stance & Beyond:
Carolina Bedoya is particularly excited about showcasing her work during New York Fashion Week with Re.Stance, she sees it as an opportunity to engage with fashion in a way that simultaneously respects and questions its usual structures. Having worked both within and outside of established fashion institutions, she sees NYFW as a tremendous platform for shifting the conversation to ideals of care, responsibility, and transformation.
The Colombian artist sees this as an opportunity to present within a platform that enables textile-based, process-driven methods embedded in remanufacturing and reuse to live in a moment of high visibility without sacrificing their values.
“For me, this presentation is not about rejecting fashion, but about expanding what fashion can be. It’s an invitation to imagine an industry where creativity, systems thinking, and accountability coexist, and where existing materials are seen not as limitations, but as sources of possibility.”
Bedoya hopes her art evokes a sense of stop and wonder, inviting viewers to slow down and take a closer look. At its foundation, the work encourages people to appreciate the worth of materials that are sometimes disregarded or discarded, as well as to care more deeply about the tales that fabrics represent.
She also hopes that the work will motivate people to think about their own consumption decisions and how they relate to clothing, waste, and labor. If spectators leave with a greater understanding of the consequences of their actions, as well as the possibility of transformation and accountability through creativity, the work has served its purpose.
Carolina Bedoya is currently very excited about MakeAnew's success and the continuous development of its line of products manufactured solely from recycled garments. She is now working on multiple agreements with brands and organizations that produce garments and accessories, which will open up new opportunities for remanufactured goods at various scales. These collaborations are also sparking crucial questions about design, production, and value, particularly how remanufacturing may fit into existing market structures.
Along with this work, Bedoya's artistic practice continues to expand, with the studio serving as a venue for experimentation and critical inquiry. It remains a testing ground for new ideas, materials, and methods, which frequently flow back into MakeAnew's work and education.
Looking ahead, she hopes to further connect art, education, and industry through initiatives that not only repurpose discarded fabrics, but also broaden the awareness and viability of
remanufactured goods in the marketplace. Bedoya sees the future in developing systems that promote creativity, accountability, and long-term influence.
Carolina Bedoya is grateful for the opportunity to engage in platforms that challenge the current narratives surrounding fashion and art and allow space for alternative, new ones. She feels these collectives are critical for uplifting minority perspectives and envisioning more responsible and inclusive futures. By participating in conversations that emphasize care, accountability, and transformation, her commitment to utilizing textiles as a vehicle for change is reinforced and serves as a reminder of why this work is important.
Written by
Mariana Monahan Negron
This article is based on written responses from Carolina Bedoya.
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