From circular economy to upcycling: the case of an engaged piece of garment

This paper investigates the notion of mending in connection to the process of engagement of the fashion industry. In the context of the ecological transition, mending is being instrumentalized by public policies to implement the circular economy in fashion while the slow fashion movement uses it to fight and resist the violence of a system. The processual analysis focuses on the know-how of transformation (upcycling) which politicizes the experience of the designer’s work through the mobilization of the haptic function, by incorporating the object’s design.