Challenge

The fashion and automotive industries are unlikely allies but share a common concern; waste.

Whilst 80% of materials from Hyundai’s manufacturing and scrapping process are now upcycled or recycled, 20% still end up in landfill and fashion ranks only second to the oil industry in the list of global polluters. Hyundai needed to find new ways to demonstrate their commitment to building a more sustainable manufacturing process and future for all.

In 2019 the brand created Re:Style, a pioneering fashion upcycling program to showcase new uses for materials that are otherwise headed for landfill. Following a successful brand-run pilot via a presentation event with New York’s Zero + Maria Cornejo, Spring was tasked with elevating and expanding the program on a global scale for 2020. 

With consumers wary of green-washing and programs that pay lip service to impact in favour of snappy marketing headlines, Re:Style 2020 needed to be a tangible program, presenting upcycled fashion not just an conceptual experiment, but a sustainable, commercially viable endeavour.

Insight

Three insights informed our strategic approach and campaign development:

Younger consumers want to buy based on shared values and actions.

Younger consumers, when given a choice, will choose a brand aligned with their values, and sustainable behaviour is at the forefront of their agenda. They want to buy into brands whose ethos is demonstrable and reflects their own.

The more we know about being green, the less we believe.

As more and more brands and consumers are talking about the need for responsible actions, it’s becoming less easy to decipher what, if anything, will deliver lasting impact. 

Culturally, we see that change is increasingly born from collective action.

People around the world have become increasingly aware of the impact of collective action on social matters. As the general public became increasingly aware of the complexity of sustainability, it became equally apparent that change would be born through equally championing everyone taking action.

Strategy & Approach

For 2020, Spring challenged a diverse group of six conscious fashion designers from across the globe - Richard Quinn, Public School, Rosie Assoulin, Alighieri Jewellery, pushBUTTON and E.L.V. DENIM - to recreate their signature pieces by upcycling, reworking and reinventing materials that would otherwise end up in landfill, creating a ‘new’ piece indistinguishable from their already celebrated work. 

Available for sale online at Selfridges, and in-store as part the store’s Project Earth campaign, via a world-first retail partnership, the limited- edition collection not only highlighted the creative possibilities that come from rethinking our existing processes but proved the commercial viability of re-examining how we make the products we love. 

With all proceeds going to the British Fashion Council’s Institute of Positive Fashion, the proceeds benefitted those advocating for and delivering wider change in the industry for the benefit of us all. 

Solution

Commissioned and executed just as the COVID-19 lockdown took hold, we pivoted to a digital first proposition, with Re:Style focussed on galvanising the online communities surrounding our designers, Selfridges, the British Fashion Council and key sustainably focussed fashion personalities to inspire a fresh global conversation around the possibilities of waste. 

From October 8th, a global coordinated launch announcement connected 6 designers, our 2 partners, and over 20 diverse influencers from Seoul, London, New York and other capital cities in between, taking viewers behind the scenes of the creative process, and the transformation of discarded car materials to viable collections through films, interviews, images, sketches and live styling shoots unveiling the pieces for the first time. 

An exclusive launch feature in fashion bible WWD appealed to the core industry to see Re:Style as a credible program and spark a new media conversation that rolled out over key fashion titles such as Marie Claire and Vogue and into innovation-centric platforms such as Fast Company, cementing the forward-thinking intent of the program. 

IGTV Live interviews between designers and sustainably minded personalities, such as Lauren Singer of Trash Is For Tossers and Public School, invited audiences to speak to the designers directly on launch day, increasing reach into micro-communities already exploring new solutions in sustainability. Respecting socially distancing rules, select designers hosted one-to-one unveilings of the core collection in-store at Selfridges, further igniting a growing online conversation around the creative visions of our participating designers. 

The in-store pop-up at Selfridges detailed the innovative manufacturing processes next along with the collection. Online, a home page takeover embedded into dedicated Project Earth pages featured designer interviews and guided consumers through the creative process as they shopped for their exclusive pieces. 

Results & Learning

Re:Style 2020 reached over 250M people around the world, spreading a positive message to creative communities, consumers and the fashion and automotive sectors.

Social engagements reached 31.8 million.

All proceeds went to the British Fashion Council’s Institute of Positive Fashion, benefitting those advocating for and delivering wider change in the industry for the benefit of us all.

The campaign received accolades from press as well as sustainably minded creatives and consumers:

“I love seeing brands find creative ways to make fashion more sustainable and unique” influencer @jimchapman - Instagram 1.9M followers

“This project shows when brand ambitions align, industries can collaborate to reimagine waste” Anna Foster, Founder, E.L.V. Denim @elvdenim 

“Hyundai Motor is solidifying its position as a world-leading sustainable lifestyle brand” Elle.com (10.95M reach)