Hyundai Partners with Zero + Maria Cornejo for Reusing Car Leather

Hyundai partnered with new-York based fashion label Zero + Maria Conejo to draw attention to sustainability at the New York Fashion Week. The automotive company collaborated with the label to launch a new upcycled capsule collection called Re:Style, that comprised garments made from repurposed car seat waste. The collection was showcased at a showing at Public Kitchen in New York.

Recently, Hyundai had launched “Stylenite” in Los Angeles and the event served as a platform to highlight the advances the company has made from a cultural and environmental perspective. Hyundai has used its lifestyle platform in the past to draw attention to its brand vision to consumers through avant-garde fashion, according to Dean Evans, chief marketing officer of Hyundai Motors America.

In 2018, Hyundai’s fashion collection was done in collaboration with American celebrity stylist Ty Hunter and South Korean designer Younhee Park of the women’s wear label Greedilous.
This year, the designer of choice was Maria Cornejo, who is known for her locally produced fashion wear and her focus on sustainability. Maria Cornejo has been in the news for her long-term commitment to local manufacturing and her responsible design practices.

The outcome of the collaboration was a capsule collection that comprised 15 pieces. These items incorporated a limited amount of leftover Hyundai Transys car seat waste which were used along with Cornejo’s choice of responsibly created textiles, including 100 percent organic cotton bearing the Cradle to Cradle denim certification.

Sustainability has started becoming a key focus area both in the fashion and automotive industries and hence it is only natural that they should overlap. For Hyundai, the goal was to make an impact on the fashion scene and to reduce its eco-footprint. The recent debut of the Hyundai Nexo, its first dedicated fuel cell electric vehicle that produces zero carbon emissions is a case in point. The collaboration with Cornejoaligned well with Hyundai’s greater “brand vision,” but Evans said it was “just the beginning”.

“I’m always inspired by the idea of getting creative with less and that was really the whole idea behind this collection,” said Cornejo who added that designing with Hyundai’s leftover waste materials and the brand’s own leftover, archival fabrics gave the textiles “a new lease on life,” in the effect of patchwork detailing on leather jackets or unexpected pockets on jackets or dresses.