Cover photo by Camille Sarra
Abigail Healing is a UCLA Marine Biology student and fashion designer who cares deeply about sustainability in fashion design and in her own brand, XYCLE, a wearable fashion line made from recycled plastic. During her time at UCLA, she has participated in design teams for three fashion shows, including Unravel in 2024 and FAST in 2024 and 2025. In an industry that produces “92 million tonnes” of fashion waste, which is “expected to soar up to 134 million tonnes a year by the end of the decade,” according to Earth.org, her work and perspective are vital. Through her beautiful creations, she makes commentaries on sustainability (or the lack thereof) in the fashion industry.
I recently interviewed Abby on my radio show, Pita Chip Chat, which airs every Wednesday of Fall Quarter 2025 at 11 a.m. on uclaradio.com, where I host fashion chats, designer interviews, and personal musings. To listen to the interview in full, check out @andmore.archive on Instagram, where all show updates and previous recordings are posted.
—
This interview was conducted by Ava Bozic on October 13, 2025. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Ava Bozic: Today, I’m talking to Abigail Healing. She has been designing since 2023 and taken part in three UCLA runways, one of which I’ve personally seen. She cares deeply about sustainability and fashion design and has her own brand, XYCLE, [pronounced cycle] it’s a recycled plastic wearable fashion line, which you can order from now. She has designed for the 2024 and 2025 FAST runways, as well as the 2025 Unravel runway, and she has used a plethora of materials, such as tea bags, denim scraps, newspaper, bottle caps, wires, plastic bags, fishing nets, keys, and I’m assuming a lot more than that [both laugh]. You’ve already accomplished a lot in a couple years at UCLA. When you arrived, did you know right away that you wanted to get involved in fashion clubs?
Abigail Healing: Not at all. Since I didn’t apply ‘til sophomore year to design, I really didn’t know I wanted to design until a month before I applied. So it was kind of last minute, and it just grew from there. All of my ideas are also that way; I think of something randomly, and then it just spirals, and it works out for me [laughs].
I started because I got my brother’s iPad. He gave it to me because he didn’t use it, and it had an Apple Pencil. So I started sketching on these outlined mannequins. I was kind of just picking a material, and then seeing how I could work with it and seeing how it fit on the mannequin. When I was on the plane home from visiting my brother, I had this whole vision, and I wrote down so many sketches. That had never really been my thing before. I was like, “Wait, this is really fun.” [Then] I was like, “Okay, I’ll just apply to FAST and see what happens.” And then it worked out, and here I am! [laughs]
Ava: Yeah, that’s awesome. It kind of makes sense, too, that you would pick materials you can actually access. Since you’re starting off young, it’s hard to come across fine silk or something out of the blue [laughs]. Were you always interested in fashion since you were young?
Abby: Yeah, I feel like I’ve always been very in tune with trends starting [in] like, middle school, because I was a big fan of YouTube, and used to be a VSCO girl [both laugh], and thrifting was a big thing when I was in middle school. I started thrifting really early, and that gave me a sense of personal style. Especially making clothes, it’s always like you’ll have a piece that’s different and unique to you. So I thought that was really cool, and I wanted to do that more.
Ava: I wanted to talk directly about some of the runways, because all the looks are, first of all, beautiful and impressive, so bravo, snaps to you. [Abby laughs] Especially the quilted one. How long did that take?
Abby: [laughs] Oh, my God, so long, so long. I was also doing this my sophomore year. So I was still in [the] dorms, and I had to use the Makerspace sewing machine. And it’s not always open, so I would have to just plan it out very meticulously, and just take up a lot of space, which I kind of felt bad for, because it was so much material. I don’t know how many hours, but I think I started, like, early winter quarter, and it took me until literally the night before the runway. where I had to just end up fabric gluing a lot because I didn’t have access to a sewing machine. Those [materials used] were all of my previous clothing items that I never wore. I am very sentimental about everything I own, and I was like, I need to do something with all of these clothes, because they can’t take up that much space in my closet anymore.
Ava: It’s such a smart thing to do. And I even saw you stuffed the quilted part with the extra scraps.
Abby: Yeah, so the jacket was really heavy because most of the squares. They were mostly button-down shirts, so I would cut out as many squares as I could. And then, obviously, there’s a bunch of scraps still. So, I was like, “Wait, I could do something if it [were] like a puffer jacket,” but obviously, puffer jackets are made from, I don’t know, foam? So it’s a lot lighter [laughs]. It was so heavy, I have it hanging in my apartment, and it has three hangers, because it’s just massive.
Ava: Well, shoutout to the model then, for walking with it! [both laugh] I feel like some of the best looks are always the ones where it’s like, “This is gonna be rough for you, but it’s gonna look beautiful!”
Abby: That was a lot of my line last year. Most of the models couldn’t sit down in what they were wearing [laughs].
Ava: Yes! I saw– so I’m also a part of Unravel. So I went to the show last year, and I know [your look] opened the show. It was definitely not the most wearable thing for them. But it was a really good opening to the show, because it instantly caught everybody’s attention, and I loved it, because you’re part of the nylon section of the show.
So for anyone listening [or reading], the show was comprised of different [sections dedicated to certain] materials [nylon, silk, denim, fur, plastic, and lace]. Unravel’s aim is to be a sustainable fashion club. So, what did it mean to you to be a part of or design for Unravel, considering it aligns with a lot of your design philosophies?
Abby: Yeah, it was really nice, because obviously everybody was on the same level, and trying to make things from what they had. And it was honestly really inspiring to see other people’s looks, too, and we all went thrifting together to source our materials, which was fun. A lot of the designers were beginners, so that was cool to see their vision. Anybody could do whatever they wanted, [and] be creative with it. So I love that runway.
Ava: One of my favorite looks from that Unravel runway was your brown nylon one that was the braided one where her hands were restricted to her body. I really love that one.
Abby: Originally, I wanted to do the whole line as different models being constrained in some way by nylon. Because just the production of it, and as nylon tights were introduced, like in the 50s– obviously they’re tight in general, but like, it created this standard for women in business to always be wearing them. You had no other choice.
I thought tying two people together was also interesting. But the constraining part, the one with her arms behind her back, was just like a clear, Oh, she’s uncomfortable, something’s wrong. So it definitely helps stand out.
Ava: I thought maybe even it could be representative of how those materials interact with the environment, too. They’re obviously beautiful to look at, but then they’re also a commentary on what these things do to the environment, because fashion is a major contributor to all these things. How do you incorporate your care of the environment alongside this industry that is actively kind of ruining the environment? It seems like you found a good happy medium.
Abby: Yeah, I definitely know ways now to be sustainable and to encourage other people to be sustainable, but a lot of what I want to do is kind of make sustainable fashion high scale and like runway, because a lot of times when you think of sustainable fashion, you’re like, “Oh, it’s like a bunch of trash on the runway” and it’s trying to prove a point.
There’s two ways you can go, like, “Oh, I want to create a sustainable fashion look that looks like it’s made from scraps and reused stuff,” and it looks like, “Oh, this is sustainable.” And then what I want to do this year for my line is make it more wearable: it looks sleek and clean, and when you first see it, you’re not like, “Oh, this is a sustainable line.” So people were more like, [surprised voice] “Oh, this is all a sustainable collection, that’s really cool,” because it looks just as elevated as something made with purchased materials.
Ava: It’s probably a lot harder to work with the materials you’re working with too. So it kind of requires a certain amount of creativity.
I saw that you have ties on the [XYCLE] website. Were you intentionally starting with accessories first?
Abby: Yeah, I think it’s the easiest for me, because especially with plastic, you can’t keep it in a bendable form, so it always hardens. With that I was like, “I can make corsets, I can make accessories,” but there’s not really clothing pieces that I can make. I have some ideas now, but they definitely will take more time. Also, I’m trying to keep it more gender neutral, which I think is important. So ties really [were] the way to go for that one. I’m trying to think of new ways I can do it, or different colors; like, right now, they’re more metallic, because I love the the metal vibe and you can either do gold or silver, but I want to do a colorful line, too.
Ava: I think a lot of consumers, too, want to align their morals with what they’re purchasing. You know, I think as that becomes more popular, hopefully we see more of that in, like, luxury brands, because at this point, I don’t feel like we’re seeing a lot of that, which is unfortunate.
Abby: I know there’s some brands that have recycled lines incorporated in their other clothing. But usually, what I’ve learned about recycled lines [is that big companies], maybe like Free People, when they say recycled, it’s like using materials that they have, which they would be throwing away. But it’s the materials that they’re making from their other clothing, which I guess is good in the general sense, but it’s definitely a different kind of sustainability.
Ava: Green washing; like, “Oh, it’s sustainable.” But it’s like, is it? [both laugh] It’s kind of like, they’re not being very clear, but it’s helpful to your conscious. I’m happy to see, because I feel like it starts with the youth and people in college and in these spaces that are making beautiful things that are sustainable, that end up influencing [industries] later on, [through] continuing [to work] in the fashion field. Because that seems like that’s what you want. You want to continue to work in the fashion field, right?
Abby: Yeah, that’s the goal. I mean, I’m also studying marine biology; something relating to that would also be interesting to me. But I think fashion is what really gives me purpose, and I feel the most alive when I’m designing.
Ava: I know this is a major passion of yours, but being a student is extremely overwhelming and takes a lot of time. How do you find the time to create something like a quilted jacket? [both laugh] Right alongside being a marine biology student? That sounds kind of tricky.
Abby: I mean, usually when it’s like, about to be runway, I focus a lot of my time on figuring out when I need to work on these things, and I usually start my projects pretty early on in the year, because honestly, I’d rather be doing that than studying a lot. So sometimes it does take priority over my schoolwork [laughs]. And I know that’s not great, but especially spring quarter last year, since I was doing eight looks, I was a little bit overwhelmed, and then I also had the Unravel runway. So I was focusing a lot of time on fashion and not school, which isn’t great, but it works for me.
Ava: Yeah, I’m not designing, I’m just, like, on Depop and like, you know, [laughs] I get it. Where do you find your influences tend to come from?
Abby: My inspiration mainly just comes from my brain. [I’ll] sometimes look on Pinterest and be like, “Oh, this is a really cool thing I did with this material.” Or I’ll just look at Pinterest for random materials, honestly, and then I’ll just like, think about how I can make them wearable. I remember this one look I did last year with [electrical] wires. [They] have [the prongs] at the end, and I was incorporating a lot of metal in my line. I had a vision when I was about to go to sleep about how I wanted the wires to seem like they were stabbing someone in the neck, like they’re plugged in physically. And I was like, How could I make the wires stand up on their own? So I kind of just wrote that down, right before I went to sleep, in my Notes app. And then I sketched it the next day. And then it was kind of hard to actually bring the sketch to something that you can wear, but I figured it out eventually. So a lot of these dreams are not dreams, but ideas. A lot of times, I’m also on a plane when I get my best ideas, I don’t know what it is. I’m like, bored and, yeah, anxiety medication, maybe that helps [laughs].
Ava: [laughs] I mean, I don’t know if you want to call [your wires in the neck look] this, but [it’s] a little, like, grotesque in nature; it’s making a point. It’s not just there to look pretty. It’s also has some sort of purpose to it. It seems like a bit of your inspiration comes from what you’re starting with? Which I think is a good mentality, because it’s like, “What can I work with?” That seems like the sustainable mentality. Do you have any designers you personally look up to?
Abby: Well, recently, I went to New York Fashion Week with these two designers, Bruce and Glen. They have a brand called BruceGlen. They’re honestly some of the only designers I look up to, because I’ve never been really into watching or keeping up with designers. I don’t know why, maybe I just don’t want to accidentally steal their ideas. But these two designers are amazing, and they’re also a sustainable brand, and everything they do is so colorful, and they have such good energy to them. I loved working with them. So promote! [laughs]
Ava: What did you do for them?
Abby: So I met them [at] LA Fashion Week 2024, and I asked if they needed help for New York [Fashion Week], because my brother lives there, so I could stay [there]. And then they’re like, “Oh, yes, come to New York. You can help volunteer for our runway.”
So they didn’t end up having a runway this year because a sponsorship fell through, but they had their photo shoot for their spring collection. I was helping style the models for the photo shoot, and then I had to sew a bunch of sequins onto this skirt, and steam a bunch of clothes, and run errands! I was all over New York. I was working with them for three days, and then I saw some other shows for free. I love them. They have just the best energy.
Ava: That sounds really cool. Do you think just over time, the more you sew, the better you get at it? Like, how did you learn? Just [by] doing it?
Abby: I got a sewing machine when I was 16, because I think I was watching YouTube videos about upcycling thrifted clothing. I was like, “Oh, I need to do that.” But I just taught myself on YouTube. I never really was into patterns, because I tried a couple times, and I would just get so angry and not be able to actually figure out what I was doing.
So I started just looking at clothing pieces I already liked. And this might have been harder, but I just traced them, and then would remake it by looking at it. And then that’s kind of how I learned. And then I would just make a bunch of tote bags. I started making jean tote bags and longer over-the-shoulder bags. That was kind of where I started. But I feel like the more I sew, the more I realize I don’t like it.
Ava: It’s tricky! It’s so tedious! I got a sewing machine for free last year. I think Facebook Marketplace. It’s not the greatest sewing machine ever, and I’m not great. I’ve actually been doing tote bags. So I feel like, one day I’ll make a quilted jacket, too [laughs]. But it’s so not easy, and the preparation seems to be half the battle. And that’s my least favorite part, like the actual measuring and everything like, ughhh. I think it’s fun to have an actual task to do with your hands. I feel like that’s underrated, because it’s like all your focus is in one place, even if it’s unsuccessful. It’s like, “Okay, well, it was still fun, I tried my best.”
Abby: [laughs] Yeah, feels like you accomplished something.
Ava: Yeah. Well, are you partaking this year in the upcoming FAST runway?
Abby: I am. I’m doing that one and Unravel if they have a runway this year, but I think they will.
Ava: Yeah, that’ll be awesome. I’m excited to look out for that. Anything else coming up?
Abby: I’m gonna start selling more things. I want to do some photo shoots this year [for] XYCLE, and then I have some more ideas for designs. So, yeah, look out for that [laughs].
Ava: Yes, I will.
Abby: Maybe LA Fashion Week. I think it’s happening at a smaller scale than last year, but we’ll see. I think I’m working with BruceGlen a little bit more. I think they’re gonna just ask me for random things, because they’re LA-based, so I’m a part of their intern kind of vibe now, but I don’t think I’m gonna get paid. But I don’t care.
Ava: That seems to be the case in every field, to start out. So this is a PSA to send Abby money.
Abby: Right! Venmo me! [laughs] No, I’m just kidding.
Ava: [laughs] Well, thank you so much for joining me! It was so nice to talk to you and learn about your designs. I’m going to continue to stalk you and see what you’re up to [Abby laughs] and I’m sure we’ll run into each other at some FAST or Unravel event in the future.
Abby: Oh, I’m sure, yes. Looking forward to it!
—
Clearly, Abby has an incredible artistic eye, a passion for sustainability, and the skills to bring her visions to life. She aims to elevate sustainable fashion to be on par with luxury and high-end designers, and one day design a look for the Met Gala or establish herself as a runway designer. Keep up with her work by following Abby on Instagram @abigailhealing and check out her brand @__xycle__ for all her newest sustainable designs! To keep up with fashion chats like this one, check out Pita Chip Chat, every Wednesday at 11 a.m. on uclaradio.com, and follow @andmore.archive for updates about episodes and new exciting guests like Abby.
