Re-Waste. Designing Futures from Textile Scraps

This paper presents the outcomes of RE-WASTE, a design-led re-search project initiated in 2023 by the University of Florence, in collabo-ration with academic and industrial partners. The project explores how design can reframe preconsumer textile waste, not as a problem to be hidden or outsourced, but as a material and cultural opportunity. Through a transdisciplinary and practice-based approach, RE-WASTE combined design education, material experimentation, and co-design with startups and local enterprises. The project adopted a situated me-thodology involving workshops, prototyping, and the creation of hybrid semi-finished materials. Results highlight the potential of design to act as a catalyst for systemic change, shifting perceptions of waste, gene-rating new aesthetic and symbolic values, and fostering relational infra-structures across the fashion system. By adopting the paradigm of “prosperity by design”, the project positions waste as a critical entry point for rethinking production, value, and collaboration. Ultimately, RE-WASTE advocates for a regenerative and context-sensitive design cul-ture, where waste becomes the starting point for imagining more inclu-sive and sustainable futures.