Prada Upcycles Fashion Show Props To Be Donated For Second Lease Of Life
Video screenshot via Prada
Fashion waste is hurting the planet, but the good news is that the industry is catching up by more consciously selecting materials, cleaning up production processes, and designing clothing that lasts longer.
But a huge portion of waste stems from the ephemeral, as well. While fashion shows tend to fade away from the recollection of the masses, they make a lasting impact on the climate. It’s an aspect that Prada hasn’t overlooked; according to a press release from January, it started upcycling runway installations since its Fall/Winter 2021 menswear show a year ago, and has continued doing so for subsequent events.
After the recent Fall/Winter 2022 show at the Prada Foundation’s Deposito showcase on Thursday, technicians carefully rolled up its underscoring prop—a fireproof faux-fur olive carpet that decked the floor, walls and columns—to be moved into its Boviso warehouse. The chairs at the showcase were also packed up to be reused at future Prada fashion shows.
As reported by Vogue Business, at least 1,200 square meters (12,917 square feet) of the 2,000-square-meter carpet will be weighed and inspected at the facility, before being donated for free to Spazio Meta, a young company dedicated to recycling and reselling materials from one-off fashion events.
The luxury house explains that it decided to work with a fellow Italian business to keep logistics emissions down.
Under Spazio Meta’s policy, Prada—alongside other partners of the circularity-forward firm, which only launched in July last year—will personally cover transportation and processing expenses to upcycle fashion sets.
Spazio Meta told Vogue Business that Prada’s staffers took great care to keep the carpet marketable by excluding glue and nails during setup for the fashion show.
As of January 2021, Prada says it has collected and redistributed at least 130kg (286.6 lbs) of medium-density fiberboards, 1.6 tons of fake fur, and over 70 tons of wood from its fashion shows.
[via Vogue Business and Prada Group, cover image via Prada]
