Upcycling as a Tool for Participatory Critical Reflection

In recent years, there has been an increase in the integration of upcycling as a strategy to minimize the volume of textile solid waste, which has motivated alternative ways of producing clothing, as well as new business models. Although the common factor of this type of undertaking is the approach to upcycling as a technique of remanufacturing garments, many of these proposals take it as a mean of critical reflection towards the contemporary ways of making and consuming fashion. In this way, the simple production and sale of garments ceases to be the central activity and other actions such as co-design, open source platforms, user participation in production processes and critical reflection of the structures of fashion, become part of the main purpose. This chapter presents three cases of clothing upcycling ventures in Latin America (12NA in Chile, COMAS in Brazil and Estampa Critica #TEXTOURGENTE in Uruguay), which works through the intersection of design, art, social projects and education. In all three cases, user participation in garment making is nodular, generating critical audiences that detach from the passive role of the postmodern consumer. In this type of projects, the integration of the local community becomes relevant and technical knowledge is not exclusive property of the designer or the brand. Instead, what is relevant, is the dissemination of tools that contribute to collective awareness and the reduction of the environmental impact associated with the fashion industry.