The consumption of fast fashion is a major cause of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. This form of fashion industry is usually counterfeit and counterfeit. Therefore, fast fashion is not only harmful to people and the environment, but also to brand names. The Netherlands – as one of the most globalized economies – is faced with the import of fast-fashion on a large scale.
Counterfeit clothing is not allowed to cross the border with the Netherlands in a lawful manner and is thus confiscated on a large scale by the customs services, on the grounds of the infringement of intellectual property. Our stakeholder – React – tries to process the masses of confiscated clothing in a sustainable way through textile recycling.
This is not an easy job; in our challenge, we had to take into account three major obstacles. (1) The new market value of recycled clothing is 20% to 40% higher than the original market value, (2) high-end clothing producers believe that recycled textiles detract from their brand name due to lower quality and (3) the content and composition of recycled textiles cannot be determined with complete reliability.
The core of our prototype is two-sided. On the one hand, we have chosen to take a commercial perspective and sell the recycled textiles under a new brand name: ‘Counterfelt’. On the other hand, we contributed to the organization of a conference, in which the possibilities and qualities of Counterfelt are promoted – awareness among both producers and consumers is key. Some highlights of the conference include the exhibition of artworks, a film produced by us and an immersive 3D projector experience.”
