12-NA + Greenpeace Chile: the collaboration that elevates circular fashion

(Re)VogueThe environmental organization and upcycling specialist firm join forces in a collaborative collection that carries the message of both brands.

By Pia Rey

Sustainable fashion and environmental activism finally met in the recent collection launched by the firm 12-NA (dozen) together with Greenpeace Chile. The masters of textile upcycling and the renowned environmental organization joined forces to combat fast fashion, inviting us to rethink the way we consume clothes, promoting respect for the environment and for all the people who are part of the processes.

By Pia Rey

TRANSHUMANTES is the name of the project that finds them working together, an activation based on the 5 Rs of sustainability that seeks to promote textile recycling, giving a new life to textile discards from the Greenpeace Chile archive. The purpose of this collaboration is to be able to talk about the environmental problems that revolve around fashion, from the excessive consumption of water to the use of plastic fabrics and the serious impact that this has on our planet. Fast-fashion or fast fashion has caused (and is still doing so) a serious impact on the environment as well as on the people who work in it. The logic of low-priced, low-quality garments, wasting resources and time just to save costs by producing disposable garments is no longer sustainable for our planet. We know that today the alert on climate change has been pronounced and fashion is and must be an agent of positive change to reverse it.

The time to take action is now, which is why this type of collaboration is so valuable, since it marks the path forward so that the future of our planet, and of our life on it, can be more encouraging.

What is the TRANSHUMANTS project about?

'Transhumantes' is a transmedia campaign launched by Greenpeace Chile together with the firm specialized in upcycling 12-NA that seeks to promote new approaches to fashion consumption that are sustainable, conscious and responsible with our planet. To do this, Greenpeace Chile invited Mariano Breccia and Mercedes Martinez, creators of the firm 12-NA, to make a capsule collection reusing and recycling the flags that were the emblem of the last campaigns of the environmental organization in that country, to give them a new look. use and reinforce your message.

Somehow, these are two types of activism manifesting themselves in the same language and for the same cause. The idea behind the fashion-film created by 12-NA for the launch of this project explores the hybrid language of digital fashion and virtual fashion, the tangible and the elusive, and the infinite number of possibilities that open up along the way.

What is the collection inspired by?

The most successful campaigns of the environmental organization in Chile gave rise to this collection, which was created from the upcycling of the flags used in these activations. These large-scale fabrics were combined with used or second-hand clothing under the watchful eye of 12-NA, who imprinted their street sportswear imprint on each of the looks. As if it were some kind of superhero clan, each of the looks created tells a story, referring to the 5 power animals that represent the Greenpeace Chile campaigns: the condor, the owl, the jaguar, the shark and the llama. The use of black and white in contrast refers to the polarity or bipolarity that we are experiencing, the ambivalence that prevails today.

Where can you see this latest campaign?

This collaboration between Greenpeace Chile and 12-NA came to light on September 8 with the projection and presentation on YouTube of the fashion-film and digital parade of the brand, where the looks created for this collection were shown. The film, which is available to view on Greenpeace Chile's YouTube channel, was the kickoff of a series of events and activations that will be part of this campaign, which will include an open source design bank created by SUPRA, the collective of suprarecyclers in Latin America, and an online store where you can buy pieces from entrepreneurs and sustainable brands in Latin America.