Yoox launches upcycling initiative tapping Italian Indie designer

Italian online high-end fashion retailer, Yoox, has added a new section to its YOOXGEN space to showcase a variety of recycled items made from fabrics that would otherwise be discarded.

The new space has been dubbed “RETHINK WITH <3”, which will be curated by a group of designers and stakeholders. Each piece selected will be “worth more than the original materials.”

Caterina Gatta, an Italian designer, will be the first in a series of collaborators who will collaborate with Yoox to develop an exclusive collection using materials rescued from local Italian artisan workshops. The designer, who is from Rome, has always been inspired by vintage textiles and creates her creations from found materials.

The CATERINA GATTA X YOOX collection will include ten miniskirts and ten tops made from leftovers of fabrics from the 1980s and 1990s, which will give the collection a “contemporary” aesthetic with a “pop-inspired twist.” Yoox said that for Gatta, “Fashion is inspired by the past that looks to the future.”

RETHINK WITH 3 is a new chapter in Yoox’s path toward more conscientious consumerism, according to the company. “There’s a new spirit in the air,” Yoox wrote on the new page, “from research comes creativity, from the past comes invention.”

Yoox’s plan to add more categories to its platforms, such as pre-owned items and beauty, was first announced in January 2022, with the launch of Marketplace, a location that provided users access to over 700 additional companies.