Lauren Shanley, who has died aged 66, was a pioneer of sustainable fashion, recycling vintage fabrics to create vibrant new textiles, clothing and accessories.

She arrived in the UK from her native New Zealand in 1985, yet to find her creative niche. London was the catalyst she needed. A self-taught artist, she set about improving the dress-making skills first learned from her mother, along with embroidery and appliqué techniques.

Soon she was piecing together fragments of discarded materials to create collages of texture and surging colour. As she added to them, these beautiful panels of reworked textiles grew into new garments of wearable art. Her embellished fabrics became unique coats, wedding dresses, handbags and cushions.

Over 30 years, Lauren attracted a mass of loyal followers, mostly female clients and collectors who became firm friends. They felt empowered by Lauren’s bright and distinctive creations. Clients would visit Lauren’s studio/shop – initially in Gabriel’s Wharf, on the south bank of the Thames, where I first bought one of her pieces, then nearby in the Oxo Tower – to pick up a bespoke piece or buy something from the display they found they could not live without. She mounted fashion shows and exhibitions, delivered lectures, ran workshops and was featured in several craft publications.

One of the six children of Molly (nee Moses) and Reg Shanley, Lauren was born in Te Aroha, a town in North Island, New Zealand, and grew up in rural Waihou. Her father ran his own barber’s shop, and was later appointed civil defence co-ordinator; as her children grew up, Molly started catering from home, and eventually took over a small cafe.

After Te Aroha college, Lauren began a course in early childhood education at Waikato University. Deciding it was not for her, in 1977 she took a job in Christchurch in a refuge for young women. Soon after her arrival, in a late-night cafe she met Jim Marsh, who challenged her to a game of draughts. They married on Christmas Eve 1981, and decided to make the move to Australia, in search of work and adventure.

Lauren took a live-in nanny and PA post in Sydney that offered them both accommodation, while Jim settled into social work in an addiction service. Lauren began to take various short courses in textiles and design, and eventually she and Jim saved up enough to travel overland to Britain. They set off in 1984 and arrived the following year.

Lauren turned their home in Tanner’s Hill, Deptford, south-east London, into an energising riot of colour, painstakingly applying broken china mosaic from floor to ceiling and floral découpage to the boldly painted walls, inspired in part by a visit to Frida Kahlo’s house in Mexico.

Ever curious, Lauren travelled widely, collecting fabrics wherever she went. She visited South America and India many times, and in 2006 volunteered for a brief spell to work with a co-operative of women in South Africa. Each morning the women would sing to her, which she found very moving, before sitting down to sew. Together they produced large-scale embroideries which were then sold to benefit the women.

Four years ago, Lauren was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune condition, systemic sclerosis, which led her to develop fatal pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Lauren is survived by Jim and her sisters, Joanne and Julie, and brothers, Gary and Dale.