From hi-vis to high fashion: Discarded Arco PPE takes centre stage at London Fashion Week

Discarded high-visibility workwear and personal protective equipment (PPE) supplied by Arco has taken an unexpected journey from the workplace to the catwalk, after being transformed into striking fashion pieces showcased during London Fashion Week.

The garments were featured as part of Root Cause, a sustainability exhibition hosted by The Mills Fabrica in King's Cross. Around half of the catwalk designs incorporated innovative garments created from recovered industrial materials, demonstrating how products traditionally viewed as waste can be reimagined and given a new lease of life.

The collection was created by Exiled, the sustainable fashion and textile brand from Arco partner MYGroup. The exhibition brought together designers, researchers and industry partners to explore innovative approaches to textile waste and the future of sustainable materials.

Giving workwear a second life

The Root Cause exhibition included garments and installations made using recovered materials, including high-visibility workwear and PPE that had reached the end of its original working life.

Through innovative upcycling and textile recovery techniques, materials supplied by Arco were transformed into contemporary fashion pieces. Other designs incorporated recovered PPE into linings, insulation and other elements, demonstrating the versatility of materials that might otherwise have entered traditional waste streams.

The showcase provided a striking demonstration of what can be achieved when end-of-life products are considered as potential resources rather than simply waste.

It also highlighted wider research into textile recovery, including projects exploring how workwear and PPE can be reused, repurposed and ultimately recovered as valuable raw materials.

Supporting a more circular approach

The exhibition reflects Arco's ongoing commitment to finding more circular approaches to product development and sustainability.

One example is the Responsible Hi-Vis range, which was developed using certified recycled materials and designed with durability and recyclability in mind. The range was recognised with the Recycled Product of the Year Award at the 2023 MRW National Recycling Awards for its contribution to reducing waste within a traditionally challenging-to-recycle product category.

Arco was also shortlisted for Sustainable Business of the Year at the 2025 Edie Awards and in 2026 achieved EcoVadis Platinum status, placing the business among the top 1% of organisations assessed worldwide for sustainability performance.

Together, these initiatives demonstrate Arco's focus on considering the environmental impact of products throughout their lifecycle, from the materials used to make them through to what happens when they are no longer required.

Challenging perceptions of waste

Jim Harbidge, Head of Sustainability at Arco, said: "It was incredibly encouraging to see the conversation around textile waste reaching fresh audiences through a platform of such a scale as London Fashion Week.

"While fashion and workwear are often viewed as very different sectors, they face comparable sustainability challenges. The reality is that valuable materials are too often discarded before they have reached the end of their potential life, which is incredibly wasteful and unsustainable.

"At Arco, we've been striving to address that very challenge by taking a much more circular approach to our product design, considering not only how our products are made, but how they can be used for longer and crucially, what happens to them at the end of their life.

"The inclusion of recycled workwear materials within the Root Cause exhibition demonstrates a heartening shift in attitudes. Waste is not always waste. With innovative design, creativity, collaboration and well thought out recovery processes, materials can continue to deliver exceptional value beyond their original, intended purpose.

"As businesses across all sectors continue to look for meaningful, impactful ways to reduce their environmental impact, circularity will play an increasingly important role in helping to preserve resources, reduce waste and support more sustainable supply chains."

Rebecca O'Leary, Textiles Manager at Exile, said: "No one expects to find hi-vis workwear at London Fashion Week. That was rather the point. The material we recovered from Arco was shown as it arrived, alongside the pieces it became – visually striking in both forms.

"Hi-vis is among the hardest textiles to bring back, which is exactly why it is worth the effort – and why it sits at the centre of our ongoing fibre-to-fibre research.

"Root Cause was Exiled showing that the problem of textile waste and its answer sit closer together than anyone expects – that every material is made for more."

A future beyond traditional waste

By bringing end-of-life workwear and PPE into an entirely different environment, Root Cause challenged conventional ideas about what discarded materials can become.

For Arco, the showcase is another example of how collaboration and innovation can help move the industry towards more circular product lifecycles – finding opportunities to extend the value of materials while reducing waste and supporting more sustainable supply chains.

Discover more about Arco's approach to sustainability.