The reuse market continues to grow steadily with the democratization of flea market apps. Its size is estimated to be about 3 trillion yen in recent years . . With the crisis of climate change and the growing interest in sustainability and the SDGs, our awareness of reuse may be changing as well.
It is against this backdrop that LACOSTE launched a new project called "REGENERATION" this year. Under the theme of "giving a second life to LACOSTE's old clothes," the project is an attempt to remake and sell clothes collected from customers. First, please take a look at the manifesto.
REGENERATION," which is the philosophy of this project, has two meanings: "to regenerate old clothes" and "to pass them on to the next generation" (RE-GENERATION). The time when used items are simply thrown away is over, and now is the time for each of us to think about what we can do for the future and for the next generation, and to act accordingly. Elegance, as defined by Lacoste, is not limited to external beauty; it is a philosophy that is accompanied by a sense of essential beauty.
. This project has two steps, with step one being the collection of used clothing. From April to June of this year, collection boxes created by cardboard artist Fuyuki Shimazu were installed at the Lacoste Shibuya store. Step 2 is the focus of this article. The collected used clothes are remade and sold.
The remake was created by two artists. One is Marie, a fashion designer and radio navigator. She dismantled old clothes and sewed them together one by one, creating items with a streetwise tie-dye feel. One of the cutest items is a stuffed alligator made of different fabrics.
Another painter, Hikaru Matsubara, creates humorous works with simple lines and colors. He produced a total of 80 T-shirts and polo shirts, each silk-screened by hand with his newly drawn artwork.
Their items will be available at the Lacoste Shibuya store from Thursday, September 16 to Tuesday, September 28, and at the Lacoste Kyoto store from Thursday, September 30 to Sunday, October 17. A video interview with Marie and Matsubara is available on the brand's official website . A portion of the proceeds from this project will be donated to the Japan Diversity Sports Association, a non-profit organization.
Lacoste has been actively promoting environmentally friendly measures for some time. This project has the potential to grow into a sustainable initiative in the future.
