Fresh Purpose: Justine Gallo Makes Fashion Circular

From neutral, fringed color-block pants made from a blanket to a flower-embellished, light green skirt and crop top set, the fashion at Sun in Leo is made to be circular.

“Everything that we need already exists. There is no reason to be making anything new,” says Justine Gallo, who owns Sun in Leo and designs most of the original items at the Kent boutique that also sells vintage.

Gallo’s grandmother was a seamstress — and would create clothes and doll outfits from her granddaughter’s sketches.

“I would design clothes on the playground,” Gallo recalls.

Gallo learned to sew in high school — then obtained her first sewing machine, with which she made and altered her own clothes. She remembers the first outfit she created and was excited to wear — turquoise-and-black high-rise pants with pleats and a matching tube top.

“I remember having excess fabric and I was like, Oh, I should make a top out of this. So, that was kind of even my first upcycle too,” Gallo says. “I felt so fierce.”

She attended Kent State University, majoring in fashion design and minoring in sustainability, photography and marketing. Her portfolio project, Mother of Pearl, was comprised of sustainable, upcycled outfits as well as upcycled jewelry. It contained pieces such as a vest flipped upside-down and made into a corset, pants with open legs strung with chains and a pink one-shouldered tank top made from the scraps of a cropped shirt, paired with matching pink Dickies — Gallo opened up the waistband and added pearls to the side for extra embellishment. The project also included flowy green reversible pants, matched with a sheer shirt upcycled from a scarf with green embellishments along the hem, and overalls made out of a wool blanket. Instead of buckles, she used jewelry on the straps.

“I did this shirt underneath that I do with pants. You can cut out the crotch of a pant and then that’s the neck hole, and then the sleeves are the legs,” she says. “It drapes.”

For Sun in Leo and her personal collection, Gallo creates embroidered sweatshirts, dresses — such as a mermaid-style green ruffled and fringed dress made from a Goodwill-sourced scarf — and more.

“One of my favorite things is to utilize what the fabric’s giving me,” Gallo says.

Another dress, upcycled from a blanket with a homes pattern around its perimeter, intrigues with its mix of textures and visual details.

“Sometimes, just a simple silhouette dress with a bold pattern is all you need,” she says. “I had fun even making the straps. I did a lace strap that is elastic too. … I just used the ribbon to … mimic clouds, the skyline.”

With a fringed trim, checked brown shorts were made from a large blanket that also produced a pair of pants. Paired together with a corset and matching shrug top upcycled from a tan cable-knit sweater, they make the perfect outfit for Ohio’s temperamental weather.

“I wear it mid-season, so I usually wear it with a pair of boots,” Gallo notes. “I try and even play with ready-to-wear in the sense of, You can be cool and stylish while still being really comfortable.”

Plus, she makes her own upcycled jewelry, such as earrings made from a pair of matching keys, a gold body chain and a necklace crafted with a shell plucked from the Jersey Shore — Gallo is from the Garden State.

“You can come into my store — it’s a safe space. You can feel comfortable trying on anything. We give opinions. We give alterations. We can make it work,” Gallo says. “We should care about where things come from and where they go. And if you know that you can do all of that at my store, then that’s amazing — that’s the goal.”

154 E. Main St., Suite C, Kent, 330-805-5837, suninleo.shop