Open AccessA Romanian case study of clothes and accessories upcycling
Author(s) -
Manoj Kumar Paras,
Antonela Curteza,
Rudrajeet Pal,
YAN CHEN,
Lichuan Wang
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
industria textilă
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.281
H-Index - 14
ISSN - 1222-5347
DOI - 10.35530/it.070.03.1547
Subject(s) - clothing , romanian , clothing industry , business , profit (economics) , textile , process (computing) , marketing , textile industry , engineering , computer science , political science , economics , philosophy , linguistics , archaeology , law , microeconomics , operating system , history
The present paper aims to investigate the practice of upcycling and redesign. The study draws on the multipleorganizations involved in the redesigning activities. The organizations selected for the study are located in the northernpart of Romania. Semi-structured interviews along with direct observations were used to collect information. The paperprovides practical insights to upcycling process.Various kinds of redesigned products are made out of consumer andindustrial wastes such as redesigned clothes, accessories for ladies, handbags, ladies purses and office stationery.Upcycling is generally considered as economically non-feasible. However, this study has found contradictory results. Thedemand-based redesign activities can help an organization to earn a profit. Two out of three selected organizations areable to self-sustain. One of the organizations is newly entered into the Romanian used clothing markets and ables tocompete with existing players. This study could be seen as one of the early attempts to empirically explore the practice oftextile and accessories upcycling practice in Eastern Europe. The findings from the current case study can provide severaluseful insights for other similar companies to make redesign activities profitable.