Austrian Post is helping advance the transition to a circular economy through its innovative uniform re-use initiative. Having equipped its employees with new uniforms this year, Austrian Post collected the old uniforms to ensure they were not simply disposed of. Rather, they will be re-used, as part of an upcycling and recycling concept being developed within the context of the Re:Post Generator.
The objective of the Re:Post Generator is to develop creative ideas, concepts and designs on how to recycle or put decommissioned uniforms to good use. Among other utilities, designs for clothing, fashion accessories and objects of everyday use are to be created. The interdisciplinary design laboratory will focus on the re-use of garments in combination with other materials and the development of completely new products for series production and sale.
As part of the initiative, 18 students from all creative fields (such as fashion design, textile and product design, industrial design) will work on designs with the support of the laboratory management and present them at a one-day exhibition. Subsequently prototypes from select projects will be created in cooperation with workshops striving to employ people with a special need for support.