The upcycling is an old technique used by the fashion industry. It is summarized in the practice of reusing materials that had already been used like pieces of fabric, pieces of clothes, trim, etc for manufacturing new clothing pieces.
Additionally, it is important to distinguish upcycling from recycling. Recycling basically involves other processes to transform the materials and give them a new destination, whereas the upcycling is the practice to adapt the materials without changing its original format.
The problem is that the legal world does not have much knowledge about the practice and how to regulate it. So then, this matter creates a lot of debates and doubts about the practice of upcycling by the fashion industry and its impacts in the legal world.
This technique gained power specially because nowadays the entire world is focusing on sustainable practices and moreover when it comes to the fashion industry with the large volume of wasted produced.
A lot of luxury fashion companies have put this technique into practice. Miu Miu launched a whole collection with dresses inspired in the 30’s and 50’s, with some pieces found in vintage stores that were transformed in some exclusive clothes. In the same way, Louis Vuitton launched a collection that uses reused fabrics from their own past collections. Continue Reading