Are you looking to get your hands on some handsomely upcycled Gucci and pre-loved pieces, all whilst being shockingly affordable?—listen up!

Gucci has long been renowned for its timelessness and craftsmanship. By its very virtue, luxury pieces already have somewhat built-in circularity, but much more is needed. Despite the fashion house looking forward to a fresh start on the runway with new creative director Sabato De Sarno's debut ready-to-wear show, Gucci remains committed to sustainability, collaboration and circularity. 

New initiative: Gucci deadstock revived

Launching its latest creative venture on 16 March 2023, Gucci Continuum gives deadstock and previous-season pieces a new lease of life, making them available to independent designers, niche labels, creatives and artistic talent to incorporate into their own designs and turn archived materials into new creations.

"The fashion industry needs to accelerate and launch serious actions to catalyse deep change, rethinking the way we produce and use resources as well," Marie-Claire Daveu, Chief Sustainability and Institutional Affairs Officer at Gucci's parent company Kering said in a statement. 

The Continuum aims to promote circularity, reduce waste, and educate consumers and the fashion industry on the benefits while spotlighting the designers of tomorrow. "Circularity promotes a vision that involves the entire production cycle starting from raw materials: it presents a great challenge and an opportunity to make Made in Italy even stronger and more competitive," said Antonella Centra, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability at Gucci.

It isn't the first sustainable initiative to be launched by the Italian label. In 2009, Gucci had already achieved the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, a globally recognised building certification symbolising sustainability excellence. In 2021, the fashion house founded Gucci Vault, a platform blurring the lines between the past, present, and future to create truly one-of-a-kind items and curated capsule collections by inviting designers, brands, and artists to collaborate. The aim was to give each piece a new chapter, extending the life cycle of the House's designs. The Circular Hub followed in February 2022 to facilitate the luxury industries' transition to sustainability and the circular economy. 

Gucci was also one of the first to make a move into pre-loved. In a bid to extend the life of its products, Gucci partnered with Vestiaire Collective. The Gucci Pre-loved service employs Vestiaire Collective's SaaS platform to offer a personalised service whereby customers can take their bags to participating Gucci stores to be evaluated and valued. Customers wishing to trade their pre-loved items receive credit at selected European stores. 

The announcement of Gucci Continuum joins a growing roster of companies recirculating deadstock. The LVMH Nona Source opened its first London showroom in May 2022, offering a range of deadstock materials from the luxury Maisons, including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi, Loewe, and Givenchy. But Gucci's ongoing initiative focuses on circularity and welcomes various creative voices to give upcycled clothes and leftover materials a new life through their distinctive creative lenses. Ten designers have already made the cut, including EGONLAB, Hodakova, Rave Review, Alice Pons, Vans, Alpha Industries and Collina Strada. 

Gucci will not stop with this initiative, aiming to offer new collections regularly. Each stage of production is considered to optimise a responsible approach, from eco-packaging to the traceability of each model, through the choice of eco-compatible materials. If successful, Kering plans to gradually involve the other houses. So watch this space!

The importance of deadstock for circularity

Using deadstock fabric is vital part of improving sustainability and circularity in the fashion industry. Deadstock fabric, or deadstock clothing, is usually brand-new but left unsold by a company. This may be due to over-production or discontinued lines. Using these leftover clothes or fabric to make new clothing is considering a viable and sustainable alternative to using virgin materials. 

Gen Woo's use of deadstock fabric

Gen Woo actually started out by using deadstock fabric in all of our designs! And we still utilise deadstock fabric in some of our collections today, like the ‘City Girl’ capsule.

At Gen Woo, sustainability is also at the heart of our brand. From producing all products in our own GOTS-certified factories to using BSCI or 100% organic cotton, we put ethical trading, sustainable sourcing and animal welfare at the core of our corporate responsibility.

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