Yoox ups its sustainability game with upcycling initiative

Online retailer YOOX has launched a new area within its YOOXGEN space to showcase a selection of upcycled pieces from fabrics that would otherwise be wasted.

The new space has been dubbed "RETHINK WITH <3" and will be curated by a number of designers and stakeholders. Each piece chosen will have a "higher value than the original materials."

Italian designer Caterina Gatta will be the first in a series of collaborators who will join forces with Yoox to create an exclusive collection made from fabrics that have been recovered from local Italian artisan workshops. The designer, who hails from Rome, has always been inspired by vintage textiles, and has worked with found materials to create her pieces.

The CATERINA GATTA X YOOX collection will consist of 10 miniskirts and 10 tops created with remnants of fabrics from the 80s and 90s that create a "modern" look with a "pop-inspired twist". Yoox said that for Gatta, "fashion is inspired by the past that looks at the future."

According to Yoox RETHINK WITH <3 marks a new chapter in its journey towards more conscious consumption. On the new page, Yoox wrote: "There’s a new energy in the air: from research comes creativity, from the past comes innovation."

First announced in January 2022, Yoox's ambition to incorporate new categories such as pre-owned items and beauty onto its platform began with the introduction of Marketplace - a space that gave customers access to over 700 more brands and 150,000 new items.