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Fighting fast fashion and feelings of isolation is the focus of a new community initiative.
Makeshift: Sustainability Festival 2026 opens on Saturday with a series of pay-what-you-can workshops such as screen printing, sewing, carpentry and electronics repair.
The festival’s creator and organiser Justina King piloted the event last year as part of her Otago Polytechnic bachelor of design (honours) degree.
Her research merged fashion sustainability with what she described as a "loneliness epidemic".
While the project had an environmental focus, the messaging around sustainability too often leaned on guilt.
Hearing a "giant shock statistic", such as a truckload of textile waste going to landfill every second, could make people want to "throw up in bed and not do anything and just forget the world exists", Miss King said.
Makeshift was about finding a way to make the issue feel a little bit less paralysing, encouraging human connection alongside learning sustainability skills.
"If I’m hearing about a community event where I can have fun and socialise and meet other people who are interested in the same thing, I’m way more looking forward to that than the statistic."
This year, Miss King is returning with an expanded programme run alongside community partners such as Te Oraka, Stitch Kitchen, Cook Brothers and Com2Tech.
All the events are taking place at worker-managed co-operative cafe and venue Yours in Moray Place.
The month-long focus on upcycling begins with the Te Oraka preloved clothing market on Saturday, featuring custom linocut printing by Rj Johnstone and accessories by Solaris Leatherwork.
Future hands-on tutorials include a screen printing workshop on Thursday, July 23, a sewing machine and mending basics class on Sunday, July 26, a carpentry session using recycled materials on Thursday, July 30 and an electronics repair clinic on Thursday, August 13.
The series will conclude on Saturday, August 15 with a DIY Merch Gig where participants can screen print provided band designs on to their own clothing before a live gig featuring local bands Vagina Dry, U-No Juno, Splinter and Strap.
Events are ticketed through Eventfinda with a "pay what you can" philosophy. Details can be found by searching "makeshift".
The project is supported by Creative New Zealand and the Dunedin City Council. Any profits will go towards Yours cafe.