UNIFORM by Heron Preston
By: Sophie Neuhaus
The Sanitation Foundation was established in August of 2016 with the launch of an unconventional avant-garde project—a collaboration with street-wear fashion designer Heron Preston. Inspired by the intersection of work-wear and street-wear, Heron Preston joined forces with Sanitation employees to create UNIFORM, a ready-to-wear collection debuted at New York Fashion Week.
Known for his bright, bold colors and elevated everyday designs, DSNY was a perfect fit for Heron Preston’s celebration of today’s urban uniform -- no one does uniforms like DSNY. The line was developed with the mission to keep clothing from decomposing in landfills while celebrating the New Yorkers who keep our City healthy, clean, and safe every day. Preston built upon this mission of celebrating the clothes and people that make New York the city it is by repurposing decommissioned Sanitation uniforms and thrift store finds.
The success of this partnership sparked an idea -- how can we leverage innovative public-private partnerships, like UNIFORM, in order to forward DSNY’s ambitious waste goals? Since the launch of UNIFORM in 2016, the Sanitation Foundation and Heron Preston have collaborated on projects such as our annual ReFashion Week and the Ocean Bags project with Parley for the Oceans.
Our collaboration with Preston has also inspired other brands to recognize and showcase DSNY’s crucial role in NYC life and culture, such as ONLY NY’s City of New York collection and the Neighborhood Spot’s capsule collection.
