For some time now, also fashion system, certainly not known for its sustainability, has become more sensitive to environmental issues. For this reason we decided to present a list of emerging and non-emerging brands that made upcycling their strong point.
We must take a step back: for those who do not know, upcycling is the technique that, through the use of residual materials, gives life to something new and completely unique.
The world of fashion has made this technique a real resource, reducing the environmental impact and giving a nod at the Planet. Margiela, Loewe, Marine Serre, Miu Miu, Acne Studio, Our Legacy, DROMe, Stüssy and Levi’s are just some of the best known brands that have presented various collections and upcycled capsules.
Although now, compared to past years, there is much more attention to environment by fashion houses, it’s still difficult to find brands that have made sustainability their main ethics. Often what we see from the best-known labels are just a few “flashes” of sensitivity: will these be a marketing technique to gain more consensus in a world that now requires us to (rightly) return to the specific target? But how much is their commitment and inclusion in eco-consciousness?
It’s in this scenario that upcycling has become so in vogue, becoming a real trend, but its success is not due only to the new social parameters. Each upcycled garment is unique in its kind as it’s made entirely from residual fabrics or materials. This typical upcycling feature gives value and adds originality to each piece, gaining a huge following among the public.
Anyone today wants to differentiate themselves from the crowd; we have seen the art of customizing depopulate and so what could be better than an upcycled piece?
After this introduction to the world of upcycling, here are all brands that are worth knowing:
COLLINA STRADA
Founded in 2009 by Hillary Taymour, Collina Strada is not just a brand, but a real platform for environmental awareness, social awareness, change and self-expression. The designer offers easy-to-wear clothes, imbued with a fluid attitude without fear.
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The leather is replaced by vegan fabrics and all the materials used are residual or recycled. Production is manual and garments are assembled in New York, the birthplace of the brand, adopting a zero-kilometer philosophy.
NICOLE MCLAUGHLIN
Nicole McLaughlin, the designer from New York who could be defined as the queen of upcycling.
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Adopting an ironic approach to her creative process, Nicole transforms objects of various kinds into clothing by translating waste into design elements.
ZERO WASTE DANIEL
Zero Waste Daniel, founded in 2015 in New York by designer Daniel Silverstein, as the name may already imply, is a brand that creates clothes entirely with scraps of advanced material.
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The result is recycled, imaginative and truly one-of-a-kind genderless clothing characterized by a very marked patchwork aesthetic.
Zero Waste Daniel continues to inspire change and make headlines by growing the mission of ending waste culture and redefining the meaning of “sustainable design” as a call to action for all who wish to partecipate.
RE/DONE
Founded in Los Angeles in 2014 by Sean Barron and Jamie Mazu, Re/Done is a brand born with the aim of giving new life to vintage denim. The brand defines itself as a real movement, aimed at restoring individuality to luxury fashion, keeping historical brands relevant and creating sustainable fashion.
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Used models are unstitched and then reassembled in a new look. Entire production is sustainable, from recycling of fabrics to packaging made with recycled materials.
Since the launch of the brand to date, over 145,000 garments have been transferred from landfills, which have become luxury items. The upcycled collections celebrate the past of each piece to give it a new life.
REFORMATION
Reformation began in Los Angeles in 2009 as a small vintage clothing store. It then quickly expanded as a brand focused on sustainability.
Today Reformation creates simple silhouettes that celebrate the female figure.
Sustainability is at the heart of everything, from production, to materials, to packaging and stores. It’s a zero-emission company that balances water and waste in proportion to the garments made.
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Reformation with its great attention to the environment converts residual materials into ready-to-sell items.
BÉHEN
Béhen is the sustainable upcycled clothing brand created by Portuguese designer Joana Duarte. She’s passionate about untold stories and she focuses on the creation of articles with ancient fabrics worked and embroidered, old bedspreads, and other materials imbued with a lived experience.
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Thanks to upcycling techniques, Béhen recovers kits, tablecloths, bedspreads, sheets to draw a whole new narrative on garments with a contemporary language but full of history.
VERNISSE
Vernisse is an Italian contemporary luxury brand founded in 2019 to celebrate tailor made garments and vintage textiles.
Francesca and Eugenia, the creative minds behind the brand, collect fabrics, trims and objects from the past, working with vintage and antique dealers stores around Italy and Europe to create one of a kind garments.
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Each Vernisse piece has a timeless soul and is tailor made in Italy. The brand philosophy is to create garments that can be passed down through generation, far from usual trends, with the commitment to give new life to vintage, antique and unused luxury fabrics.
CHOPOVA LOWENA
Chopova Lowena brand debuted in 2017, as well as crossing the founders’ surnames, delves into folklore and sportswear focusing on sustainability and craftsmanship using recycled materials and deadstock fabrics.
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Modernization of fabrics, craftsmanship and traditional techniques come together in this brand to create unique garments.
EL/IF
el/if is the brand born in the south of France that offers exclusively handmade and upcycled pieces, made from forgotten and neglected clothes.
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Old garments are first carefully cleaned and then deconstructed and rebuilt in a new shape and style. Proposed articles are completely reworked and unique.
SEVALI
Focusing on sustainable fashion, Parisian brand Sevali was entirely conceived and built using upcycling methods, in which vintage garments are combined and revisited thanks to artisanal techniques.
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DURAN LANTIK
Duran Lantink, designer of the homonymous brand based in Amsterdam, offers a playful and inclusive vision for sustainable fashion future.
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His innovative approach focuses on upcycling and zero-waste philosophy using residual materials and creating exclusively tailored or limited edition clothing.
GARBAGE CORE
Garbage Core, based in Milan and designed by Giuditta Tanzi, offers unique and handmade garments and accessories made entirely from upcycled clothes.
The project developed a wide material search for dismissed clothes in street markets, second-hand shops but also among several friends and family wardrobes.
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Giuditta’s practice is based on constant experimentation through fabrics and concept of “wearable art” and sustainability that makes work expressive, artisanal and sensitive.
Garbage Core thus gives old clothes a second life while keeping their soul intact. That’s why some pieces presents spots and holes, as evidence of their previous life.
VITELLI
Founded in 2016 by Mauro Simionato, Vitelli represents Italian youth culture through contemporary knitwear design, strongly focused on collaboration with Veneto independent laboratories and sustainable production processes.
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Born “responsible”, it’s since 2019 that Vitelli reached almost complete green-brand status, thanks to the special Doomboh fabric made with a 100% upcycling process.
LES FLEURS
Les Fleurs, founded in 2017 by Maria Bernad, was born from a desire to change the way we consume and reassess the cyclical patterns that have made fashion the biggest polluter in the world.
Les Fleurs Studio is a collaborative social and retail platform that provides visibility to designers operating in a sustainability space.
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Fabrics used for creation of garments are exclusively taken from pre-existing materials such as vintage garments and residual fabrics in order to not contribute to the growing problem of waste.
OH CARLA
Oh Carla is an artisanal upcycling brand launched in 2020 and created by Carlotta Boldracchi and Claudia Nesi.
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The brand works mainly with vintage fabrics and deadstock textile.
By cutting and decomposing fabrics with various techniques, singular pieces are sawn back toghether to create a new unique form with materic substance. Almost every garment is made by more than 200 singular pieces, hand stitched embellishments and padding.
ACIDALATTE
Acidalatte is a Milan based project born last year and designed by Eva Fiorucci and Carolina Ferrari. “Friendly, upcycled and one of a kind” is how it is described, combining innovation and sensitivity through artistic manipulation and processing of fabrics.
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In a girlish aesthetic in search of one’s inner child, the brand offers handmade and one-of-a-kind garments and accessories, made with both new and recycled materials.
DENNJ
Multifunctionality and sustainability are the foundations on which Dennj brand is established, which does not buy any new material but inherits all materials that compose garments.
In fact fabrics used come from previous vintage garments, furnishing materials, treasures from flea markets and from private donations.
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Dennj himself, the brand’s creative mind, says that the design of a garment not only represents a gesture of safeguard for the planet, but also becomes a gymnasium of style and sartorial technique.
HARAM
Ecological and contemporary, Haram brand focuses on “creative recycling” by presenting unique garments and accessories.
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Such unique pieces can only be presented in an equally creative and innovative way. Unconventional models, without filters in all senses with psychedelic backgrounds and provocative slogans.
ANCUTA SARCA
Last but not least there is Ancuta Sarca, the Romanian designer, Londoner by adoption, who has made a name for herself on Instagram by transforming old Nike into new shoes.
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Ancuta blends contrasting aesthetics giving life to an unmistakable sandal with an elongated and pointed silhouette that is truly one of a kind.
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If you liked the article, read also:
Interview with Elif Aybars: upcycling at the center of the creative process of her brand el/if.
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