Everything for a better world: Hyundai takes responsibility and collaborates with a fashion designer every year for its Re:Style project, who creates a haute couture collection from discarded materials from vehicle production. At the start in 2023: Jeremy Scott.
In the sparsely lit Amsterdam Kromhouthal, a former factory, fashion and sustainability merge in a fascinating way. The rhythm of the beats echoes through the room and creates an electrifying atmosphere. All eyes are on the giant screens showing the latest Hyundai commercials, which transport the audience into a dream world of action and futurism. Suddenly, the perfectly orchestrated box towers rise into the air, revealing avant-garde dresses that immediately arouse amazement and enthusiasm in the audience. An incomparable sight! But Hyundai is not just about looks, as the car brand is underlining its commitment to a sustainable future. By recycling and upcycling ethically sourced textiles and thus contributing to a proper circular economy, the fight against climate change is gaining momentum.
Jeremy Scott for Hyundai Re:Style
Re:Style, Hyundai’s innovative and sustainability-focused platform, celebrated its European premiere in mid-October 2023 after being launched in New York in 2019. The motto: “You don’t drive electric. You live electrically.” In line with this philosophy, Hyundai invites its customers to embrace sustainability as a way of life. Every year, Re:Style collaborates with a renowned fashion designer as part of a capsule collection. 2023 will be the turn of Jeremy Scott. The designer, who is known for his unusual and playful creations, has been causing a stir in the fashion industry for a long time. With his own label and in his ten years as head designer at Moschino, Jeremy Scott has long since proven himself as a creative mastermind. The challenge of the collaboration with Hyundai: to create a complete haute couture collection from materials that are normally thrown away in the manufacture of Hyundai vehicles. This underlines Hyundai’s commitment to using and reusing materials to stimulate discussion about waste and the depletion of our planet’s resources.
The perfect symbiosis
Jeremy Scott has made it from small-town Missouri to the top of the international fashion world. His passion for design and materials has always accompanied him, which is visible in his colorful collections. With this flair for textiles and a head full of good ideas, he is exactly the right partner for Hyundai Re:Style. Scott’s creativity knows no bounds: he even reinvented the wheel and delicately wove it into the front of an elegant black dress, making it reminiscent of Wonder Woman’s defensive shield. The highlight of the collection: a dress made from discarded metal that is twisted and reassembled to create an almost hypnotizing mirror effect, which in turn is reminiscent of the glamour of the former Studio 54. What Scott and Hyundai also have in common is the constant questioning of norms and the courage to push boundaries.
Circular economy in the automotive industry
At the heart of the Hyundai ethos is the Korean heritage of nurturing tradition to create the new. A conversation between Diana Kloster, Head of Hyundai Color and Trim Division, and Maria Cornjeo, who was the first designer to take part in the Re:Style project in 2019, illustrates the conviction to set environmentally friendly thinking as the new standard. Kloster and Cornejo agree: as a society, we are embarking on a journey towards sustainable living as part of the circular economy. The circular economy is a model that involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling materials and products in order to extend their life cycle. Hyundai is setting a good example. For example, natural materials such as biodegradable Italian leather and vegan polyester are used for the IONIQ 5. A cycle that works.
A spin in the Hyundai IONIQ 5 electric SUV
Back to Amsterdam, where the press representatives not only have the opportunity to view Jeremy Scott’s collection for Re:Style, but also to go for a spin in the IONIQ 5 electric SUV. The long range embodies Hyundai’s mission to maximize functionality while reducing waste and inefficiency. However, Hyundai does not stop at optimizing and renewing its manufacturing processes, but actively creates an awareness of sustainability and appeals to its consumers to do the same. With the help of the Re:Style project and an associated platform that goes beyond fashion and also incorporates architecture and music, consumers should be even better informed and motivated to make their contribution to sustainable living together with Hyundai.
The entire collection by Jeremy Scott for Hyundai Re:Style is available here.
Jeremy Scott was Creative Director of Moschino for a long time. You can read all the background here.
Photos: © Hyundai
