The fashion industry is notoriously wasteful - for instance, cheap clothing that lasts months rather than years before ending up in landfills. But an expat now based in the US is leading by example, buying up unwanted garments made from quality fabrics and materials. She then unpicks and reworks them into high fashion clothes for the catwalk. Esther Lofely and her husband Robert Catalusci work together on her label, ELC. For well over a decade she worked for the Royal New Zealand Ballet company, and was Head Draper when she left in 2019 to work overseas before settling in Virginia. Lynn Freeman asks Esther why she become interested in creating garments from clothing destined for the tip.