Upcycling Brand 'Raekodeu' Operated for 11 Years
Transforming 3-Year-Old Clothes with New Designs into New Products
Also Interested in 'Circular Fashion' Extracting Threads from Discarded Clothes
Kolon Industries FnC Division (Kolon FnC) is strengthening its efforts in the eco-friendly fashion business. It transforms over 30,000 pieces of old clothing that were about to be discarded or out of fashion into new products, and spares no investment or research and development in developing new products by extracting yarn from discarded garments. Aiming for 'sustainable fashion,' it is attracting attention with differentiated attempts in the industry.
According to related industries on the 20th, the upcycling fashion brand 'RAKCODE' operated by Kolon FnC revived 30,027 pieces of inventory clothing and upgraded them into new products as of the second quarter of this year. This is the result achieved over 11 years since launching Korea's first upcycling brand in the fall of 2012. Upcycling means creating new products by adding design value rather than simple recycling. RAKCODE designers use three-year-old inventory clothing from Kolon FnC brands and add design elements.
Products that have passed through designers are not mass-produced in factories like ready-made clothes but are characterized by one maker handcrafting a single garment from start to finish. For this reason, the three-person RAKCODE production team is all called 'masters' internally. A Kolon FnC official explained, "Sewing manpower has become difficult to find in Korea and is often perceived as easily replaceable by cheap overseas labor," adding, "We wanted to continue our relationship with skilled domestic makers and show craftsmanship through RAKCODE's clothes."
Since 2016, RAKCODE has also operated a 'Recollection' service that redesigns clothes personally so that consumers can wear their clothes longer. If customers request RAKCODE to upcycle clothes such as their parents' garments or out-of-fashion items they no longer wear, designers create upcycled products considering personal preferences and trends.
In March this year, a box atelier specializing in repair and remodeling was opened at COEX in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. A professional 'remaker' resides here, providing customized remodeling services that not only repair but also transform old or disliked clothes into new designs. Since the opening of the Box Atelier COEX branch, 1,549 repair and remodeling requests have been received.
Kolon FnC is also focusing on the 'circular fashion' business, which extracts yarn from discarded clothing to make new garments. Earlier, Kolon FnC signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the 12th with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) through its subsidiary KOA for the 'Mongolia-Vietnam Circulation Center Establishment Project.'
Inspired by KOA's sustainable cashmere material project in Mongolia, the plan is to develop a textile circulation center that collects cashmere single-material discarded garments, leftover fabrics from garment production, and inventory clothing, sorts them by color and use, and reuses them. In the future, they plan to promote the establishment of a circulation center in Vietnam and expand the business to materials other than cashmere.
Yoo Dong-joo, Director of Kolon FnC ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) Impact Office, said, "Currently, the use of discarded plastic as clothing material, which is widely practiced, itself leads to a considerable increase in carbon footprint," adding, "We will establish a circular fashion system and discover new businesses with social and environmental impact."
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