The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2019–2023
Hyundai's Re:Style turns car-seat waste into designer fashion at New York Fashion Week
Hyundai had Zero + Maria Cornejo turn leftover car-seat leather into a 15-piece capsule at NYFW — an annual upcycling platform now in its fourth year.
Hyundai Motor Company · Zero + Maria Cornejo
What it had to solve
Hyundai wanted to talk about sustainability beyond fuel economy and product specs, and its Transys seat factories generated leftover leather and textiles. The challenge was to make an environmental message people would actually want to look at.
How it works
In 2019 Hyundai Motor Company was looking for ways to talk about sustainability beyond electric powertrains, and its affiliate Hyundai Transys was discarding leftover leather and textiles from car-seat production. Instead of a corporate report, Hyundai launched Re:Style, a cultural platform that invites fashion designers to turn that factory waste into clothing.
The first edition partnered with New York label Zero + Maria Cornejo: 15 pieces made from leftover Transys seat leather and textiles, upcycled fabrics, and Cradle-to-Cradle Gold certified organic denim. The capsule debuted on September 6, 2019 at PUBLIC Kitchen during New York Fashion Week, with more than 300 fashion insiders and celebrities in attendance, and later moved on to Beijing.
'The whole idea is to do something creative with things that have had a life before,' Cornejo said at the launch. Hyundai's chief marketing officer Wonhong Cho framed it as proof 'that you can create something beautiful and new from something that was once used' — turning an environmental message into an object people wanted to see, wear and talk about.
Why it lands
- Waste became the medium: instead of claiming sustainability, Hyundai showed it by turning real factory offcuts into fashion.
- Partnering with a respected designer gave the idea credibility in a world (fashion) that normally ignores car companies.
- Debuting during New York Fashion Week put the message in front of press and influencers who would never read an automotive CSR report.
- Making it an annual platform let each edition build on the last — by 2023 it was a recognizable Hyundai program in its fourth year.
- The collection was genuinely wearable and desirable, proving eco-messaging doesn't have to look like a lecture.
What it did
Re:Style gave Hyundai a credible, image-rich sustainability story: the NYFW debut drew fashion press and celebrities, the platform returned every year (its fourth edition ran in 2023), and it expanded into retail collaborations with Selfridges in London and L'Eclaireur in Paris.
What you can take
Sustainability sells better as creativity than as sacrifice: letting designers turn manufacturing waste into desirable objects made Hyundai's message worth watching and sharing.
Since then
Re:Style became an annual platform rather than a one-off stunt: the 2019 launch was followed by further editions with global designers, culminating in a 2023 couture capsule by Jeremy Scott built from discarded materials from Hyundai's electric-vehicle production, complete with an archive exhibition in Seoul. By then Hyundai called the program its fourth year, and it had expanded into retail collaborations with Selfridges in London and L'Eclaireur in Paris — cementing the idea that automotive waste could be re-imagined as fashion.
Sources
- Re:Style with Maria Cornejo
- Hyundai to Unveil Clothes Made From Recycled Leather Seats at 2019 NY Fashion Week
- Hyundai Motor Company Debuts Collaborative Collection with Zero + Maria Cornejo, Utilizing Upcycled Car Seat Waste at Re:Style Event during New York Fashion Week
- Jeremy Scott and Hyundai Team on Couture Capsule Collection Transforming Upcycled Automotive Waste Into Fashion
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