Marine Serre's Upcycled Paris Show
At Paris Fashion Week, designer Marine Serre's Fall 2026 collection interrogated the boundary between fashion and art with a focus on sustainability. The collection featured upcycled materials and sculptural tailoring, framing eco-conscious craftsmanship as a creative opportunity rather than a constraint.
Marine Serre's commitment to upcycling isn't a recent development; it has been the foundation of her brand since its launch in 2017. That same year, she won the prestigious LVMH Prize for young fashion designers for her graduate collection, "Radical Call for Love," which was her direct response to the 2015-2016 terror attacks in Paris and Brussels. The brand's dedication to sustainability is reflected in its production numbers. Around half of all her collections are created through an upcycling process. For her Autumn 2022 collection, 92% of the pieces were made from either regenerated materials (70%) or certified sustainable fabrics (22%). Her creative reuse of materials goes far beyond typical fabric recycling. Serre is known for transforming unconventional items like household textiles, including bedspreads, dish towels, and carpets, into her designs. Past collections have featured slinky dresses made from salvaged silk scarves and slick jackets spliced together from tartan scarves. This method is incredibly labor-intensive, standing in stark contrast to mass production. Serre's atelier can produce pieces for roughly 15 pairs of upcycled trousers in a day, whereas a conventional brand might produce 300. This approach has been described as industrializing the inherent inefficiency of sustainable craftsmanship. The designer's signature crescent moon logo is a key element of her brand's identity, often appearing on her "second skin" pieces. The brand is structured into different segments, with the "Green Line" specifically designated for all upcycled garments. Serre often uses her show venues to make a statement. For her Fall/Winter 2025 collection, she presented at the Monnaie de Paris (the Paris Mint), a historic institution that produces France's currency. The show featured couture looks crafted from upcycled coins and antique watches, questioning the nature of value in fashion.
