Re-Waste. Designing Futures from Textile Scraps

In the context of the climate crisis and resource scarcity, the fashion industry faces increasing analysis due to its linear production model and significant generation of textile waste, particularly in the pre-consumer phase. This paper presents the outcomes of RE-WASTE, a design-led research project initiated in 2023 by the University of Florence, in collaboration with academic and industrial partners. The project explores how design can reframe pre-consumer textile waste—not as a problem to be hidden or externalized, but as a material and cultural opportunity. Through a transdisciplinary and practice-based approach, RE-WASTE combined design education, material experimentation, and co-design with startups and local enterprises. The project adopted a situated methodology involving workshops, prototyping, and the creation of hybrid semi-finished materials. Results highlight the potential of design to act as a catalyst for systemic change, shifting perceptions of waste, generating new aesthetic and symbolic values, and fostering relational infrastructures across the fashion system. By adopting the paradigm of “prosperity by design”, the project positions waste as a critical entry point for rethinking production, value, and collaboration. Ultimately, RE-WASTE advocates for a regenerative and context-sensitive design culture, where waste becomes the starting point for imagining more inclusive and sustainable futures.