Upcycling fashion label The R Collective has unveiled a new campaign highlighting the advances in sustainability through its upcycling projects across Asia.

The campaign features global fashion influencers promoting how creativity and sustainable design can reduce waste in the fashion industry, at a time when global fashion weeks are facing consumers’ continued protests about fashion’s environmental impact. 

It has been launched to support The R Collective’s new upcycled collection created exclusively for Net A Porter’s ​Net Sustain programme.

The R Collective collects excess textiles from luxury brands, mills and manufacturers that may otherwise have ended up in landfill, incinerated or converted into stuffing. The label uses the fabrics in new designs.

Influencers involved in the campaign include Thai actress and singer Mint Pattarasaya as well as fashion stylist Justine Lee and Peony Lim, Fabienne, Cherry Mui and Victoria Onken from the UK, Hong Kong and the Netherlands. They all wear apparel created from ‘rescued fabrics’.

“Fashion reflects our times,” said fashion writer Susie Lau. “Over the years, I’ve been watching the next generation of sustainable designers drive change. When you look at these The R Collective designs, you can sense a certain language from the designer. By rethinking fashion at the drawing board and reusing unwanted fabrics, there is a real sense of purpose to this collection. With our collective changing attitude towards sustainability in fashion a better fashion industry is not a distant hope, but a distinct reality.”

Mint Pattarasaya said it was inspiring to witness the collection being sewn in her home city, Bangkok. 

“For this video, I witnessed firsthand the designers’ visions transformed by local garment workers, showing that fashion can be good for all.”

The fashion industry continues to battle to reduce its 92 million tons of industry textile waste generated every year and its estimated 10 per cent contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions.