The RealReal ReCollection 01 Gives New Life to Damaged Pieces from A-COLD-WALL*, Balenciaga, Dries Van Noten, Jacquemus, Simone Rocha, Stella McCartney, Ulla Johnson, and Zero + Maria Cornejo
The RealReal- the world’s largest online marketplace for authenticated, resale luxury goods—kicked off Earth Month by launching the first collection from its new upcycling program, ReCollection. The collection brings together a diverse group of luxury brands to collectively promote the importance of creating an afterlife for clothing. Created in partnership with A-COLD-WALL*, Balenciaga, Dries Van Noten, Jacquemus, Simone Rocha, Stella McCartney, Ulla Johnson, and Zero + Maria Cornejo, The RealReal ReCollection 01 transforms distressed or damaged clothing into new, one-of-a-kind luxury pieces.
“As a designer, I think it’s the biggest compliment for your designs to have an afterlife – to me, that is luxury. And I take it into consideration from the beginning of the process. The timelessness of the design, how it’s made, what materials are used to produce it – it is all part of our ethos at Stella McCartney,” said Stella McCartney, founder and creative director. “We invest a lot to make sure that our products are made to last rather than end up in a landfill.”
The RealReal ReCollection 01, upcycled by L.A.-based circular fashion initiative Atelier & Repairs, celebrates and honors American craftsmanship by incorporating pieces of unfinished American quilts into each look to give it a new life. Each piece was created in accordance with ReCollection’s high sustainability standards, including no virgin fabrications, a zero-waste process, and fair wage, made in America production.
The ReCollection program is an expansion of The RealReal’s work to keep luxury items in circulation. Building on its roots in resale, the company introduced repairs services in its retail locations to help preserve apparel, accessories, fine jewelry and watches. ReCollection extends that work to address the large volume of goods that can’t live on in their current state and are at higher risk of being part of the garbage truck’s worth of textiles that are landfilled or burned every second*. This upcycling program is possible because the quality and craftsmanship behind luxury goods means they can have many new lives.
“For the past decade, The RealReal has championed the circular economy, extending the life of luxury goods through resale, repairs and now our ReCollection upcycling program,” said Julie Wainwright, founder and CEO of The RealReal. “To have such a dynamic group of luxury brands join us for our first collection sends an incredibly powerful message about the importance of circularity and the opportunity we all have to support a more sustainable future for fashion. Our hope is that ReCollection will inspire people to think about the afterlife of what they own and embrace more conscious consumption.”
The RealReal ReCollection 01 features more than 50 one-of-a-kind pieces, from women’s and men’s ready-to-wear to accessories to quilts that are a nod to the American craftsmanship that inspired the collection. Each piece was created using items donated by the collection’s eight brand partners. Prices range from $195 to $2,450, and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of each piece will be donated to One Tree Planted to support its global reforestation work.
