Pimp My Garms: Style, Sustainability, and Second Lives at Urban MBA

Fashion has a waste problem, and on one particular evening at Wenlock Street, Urban MBA and three of its own alumni and students decided to do something about it. Pimp My Garms brought together sustainability education, hands-on upcycling, and a community of people ready to look at their wardrobes differently. What arrived as a pile of unworn garments left as something else entirely: one-of-a-kind pieces with a story, made by the people wearing them.

About the Event

Venue: Urban MBA, 3 Wenlock Street, Shoreditch, London N1 7NT | Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Pimp My Garms was an evening of hands-on upcycling workshops, sustainability talks, and community networking, guided entirely by Urban MBA’s own, with deep roots in sustainable fashion and textiles.
Attendees were invited to bring a garment they no longer wore and leave with something they would actually love, whether they arrived as a complete beginner or already comfortable with a needle.

The evening was hosted by three Urban MBA alumni businesses: Okuru Patchwork, : Asaasa Sustainability and workshop facilitator Ana De Sa.

Evening Itinerary

6:00 PM — Sustainability Talk with Asaasa Sustainability A keynote presentation on sustainability in fashion and textiles, led by the CEO of Asaasa Sustainability, the first dedicated quality assurance agency for textile and clothing exports, focused on verifying sustainable recycling systems, biodegradability, and material integrity.

7:00 PM — Upcycling Workshop with Okuru Patchwork A hands-on workshop guided by the CEO of Okuru Patchwork, hand-constructed, upcycled London streetwear blending denim, global street culture, and raw cut precision. Every piece a one-of-one.

9:00 PM — Closing Ceremony & Showcase A display of every guest’s customised piece, a celebration of creativity, community, and the power of giving clothes a second life.

Event Recap

The evening opened with Asaasa’s sustainability presentation, and it set exactly the right tone. The slide that drew the most attention summed up the session’s philosophy simply: “The Most Powerful Change is How You Think.” Beneath it, four principles; Value Over Volume, Normalise Outfit Repeating, Clothes as an Investment, Embrace Imperfections, framed a broader conversation about the global impact of fast fashion and the role every consumer plays in shifting it.

The discussion that followed was active and genuine. Projected on the screen behind a spread of fabric swatches and donated garments, one question invited the room to reflect: “How can we as consumers pressure brands to produce less and make clothes that last longer?” It was the kind of question that does not have a neat answer, and the conversation it generated was all the better for it.

When the workshop opened, the space transformed. Tables that had displayed dozens of donated garments, denim, printed fabrics, floral textiles, Ankara prints, patchwork pieces in every texture, became workstations. Fabric swatches were laid out in extraordinary variety: velvet, herringbone, batik, silk, embroidered panels, bold geometric prints. Attendees worked their way through the selection with scissors, pins, and guided instruction from Ana De Sa and the Okuru team, deciding what stayed, what was cut, and what was added.

What was immediately striking was how accessible the workshop felt. Attendees of all ages and experience levels, including younger attendees guided carefully through the process, were working alongside one another, asking questions freely and experimenting without hesitation. The atmosphere was focused but relaxed, creative without being competitive.

The closing showcase brought every piece together. Okuru Patchwork held up a finished patchwork jacket, dark fabric panels stitched with floral and textured patches, entirely handworked that captured what the evening had been about from the start: not a trend, but a timeline. A garment with history, made intentional.

Urban MBA’s EdTech Hub, with its bold murals and open floor plan, gave the event room to breathe sewing machines alongside gaming murals, fabric swatches in a space built for technology. It was an unusual combination that somehow worked perfectly, a reminder that creativity does not confine itself to expected spaces.

About the Featured Businesses

Asaasa Sustainability — The first dedicated quality assurance agency for textile and clothing exports, delivering sustainability education for all ages and empowering everyday consumers to help shift the industry forward.

Okuru Patchwork — Hand-constructed in London, Okuru blends upcycled denim with global street culture, anime references, and raw cut precision. Every piece is a one-of-one, crafted, not produced.

Ana De Sa — An Empowering Afro-European fusion fashion designer and Urban MBA Student.

All three are Urban MBA alumni, coming together at Wenlock Street to give back to the community that helped shape their businesses and that, as much as anything made on the night, is what Pimp My Garms was really about.