Upcycled Highlights from Global Fashion Weeks 2024

International fashion weeks have long put a spotlight on glamorous clothing, but the call for more sustainable and transparent practices is louder than ever. Amidst the glitz, some designers stand out uniquely by choosing to upcycle, adopting the use of existing materials to craft their collections. We highlight a creative set of upcycled fashion picks showcased by designers from global fashion weeks. These innovative creations repurpose one-of-a-kind materials, from vintage interior fabrics and pre-loved items to old sneaker apparel and damaged beads, all the way through to recycled jewellery, presenting a stunning presence of sustainability and style.

HARRIS REED - LFW 2024

Vintage Demi-Couture

Designer Harris Reed displayed an entirely upcycled 'Encore' collection at London Fashion Week September 2024, created exclusively from vintage, secondhand found materials. After months of searching for quality secondhand items, the team reportedly sourced from a vintage textile collector, a treasure trove of old vintage classic pieces. The demi-couture collection featured 19th-century tablecloths, silk bedspreads, old curtains, and rare 17th and 18th-century interior fabrics. Some of the rarest fabrics have been upcycled into classy, runway-ready looks.

(Image credit: Harris Reed London Fashion Week September 2024)

EBAY - NYFW/LFW 2024

Pre-Loved Fashion Week

eBay, the globally popular e-commerce platform and a major marketplace for secondhand goods, curated its first-ever sustainable, pre-loved fashion week through the 'Endless Runway' collection, featuring top designers like Ralph Lauren and Toteme for New York and London Fashion Weeks. All the sustainable runway looks were made available for purchase through a live stream on eBay, instantly making these pre-loved pieces accessible beyond the runway. The fashion week spotlighted the importance of secondhand, pre-loved clothing.

(Image credit: Ebay Pre-Loved New York/London Fashion Week 2024)

GERMANIER - PFW 2024

Street Found Materials

The upcycling Swiss designer's eponymous label, Paris-based Germanier by Kevin Germanier, is known as the beadmaster and upcycling king. He designed the closing ceremony looks for the Paris Olympics 2024, with upcycled outfits from deadstock materials, damaged sequins, and VHS tapes featuring his childhood memories. His label, Germanier, focuses on upcycling luxury fabrics and discarded beads and sequins. They featured the 'Les Désastreuses' SS25 collection at Paris Fashion Week September, with repurposed bead designs, unwanted flip-flops styled, and upcycled sequins as major design elements in his collection, responsibly designed from only waste recovered on the streets of Paris.

(Image credit: Kevin Germanier's Upcycled Paris Fashion Week 2024)

MARTAN - CPHFW 2024

Hotel Linen Waste

Martan, the Amsterdam-based circular fashion brand, upcycles hotel linens into ready-to-wear pieces, debuting its SS25 upcycled collection at Copenhagen Fashion Week. Diverting luxury hotel linen waste, like bed linens and table linens, the fully upcycled collection featured abstract designs in its sustainable Spring/Summer lineup at CPHFW. This unique upcycling label sources from various luxury hotels across Europe, with quality checks made for presenting stylish high-end apparel and pitching in to reduce the hospitality industry's massive waste.

(Image credit: Martan Official Copenhagen Fashion Week 2024)

KINRADEN - CPHFW 2024

Recycled Jewellery

Kinraden is a sustainable jewellery brand from Denmark, offering conscious luxury with its handcrafted gold and sterling silver pieces, producing ethically recycled jewellery. Collaborating with Copenhagen-based MKDT Studio, a sustainable fashion brand known for tailored apparel, they presented a combination of minimalistic high-end apparel with conscious Danish design jewellery at Copenhagen Fashion Week 2024. Through partnerships and collaborations, Kinraden is spotlighting recycled metals and creative craftsmanship into sustainable and responsible jewellery.

(Image credit: Kinraden x MKDT Studio Copenhagen Fashion Week 2024)

PLNGNS - BFW 2024

Old Shoes Into Apparel

PLNGNS, founded by a Ukrainian designer, works on a fabulous idea of combining two different commonly thrown, discarded items—clothes and sneakers. They recycle old shoes differently, making apparel from them with parts of other clothes. Old sneakers are cleaned, broken down, and deconstructed into clothes like jackets, skirts, tops, and pants. They presented their SS25 'Sneaker Riot' collection at Berlin Fashion Week July 2024, featuring recycled shoe apparel. This stylish upcycled streetwear collection is said to have made use of 500 plus shoes, diverting them from landfill waste.

(Image credit: PLNGNS Sneaker Riot Collection - Berlin Fashion Week 2024)

Upcycled fashion couture puts a compelling spotlight to raise awareness about reducing waste and responsibly using materials and resources. As more designers engage and implement sustainable practices, the significance of these measures gains broader recognition, creating a space for greener fashion industry. This green movement, which focuses on using existing materials and places a strong, vocal emphasis on the role of sustainability in the future of fashion, inspires both the industry and consumers to rethink and reform their environmental impact.