Making something new out of waste materials

Coined in the 90s in Germany, the term upcycling means “recycling from above“. Although it has actually existed for much longer, it was born out of a real awareness of the amount of waste we produce every day, which in the end could be reused by upgrading it without transforming it. A concept that minimizes the carbon footprint and extends the life of each upcycled product. As you understand, upcycling consists of giving a second life to an unsold or unused product with no impact on the environment. Opposed to upcycling, recycling involves the destruction of waste in order to create something new.

The difference between upcycling and recycling

Recycling avoid the waste of natural resources and energy, and reduce the impact we have on the environment. Unlike upcycling, recycling refers to the transformation of a material by destruction. While the benefits of recycling are numerous and indisputable (it minimizes pollution and global warming and protects the environment), the destruction process can be costly, requires a considerable amount of energy and can be polluting with high greenhouse gas emissions.

At MAURICE we are committed to being and remaining a caring company and we place at the very heart of our strategy the well-being of all animals, the respect for the planet and the environment. We favor materials from food recycling but also upcycled materials. Developing and manufacturing high-end accessories made from responsible materials is neither impossible nor incompatible today.

Upcycling : an inspiring ecological approach

Integrating upcycling into our daily life challenges us and pushes us beyond our comfort zone. It is a real awareness of the amount of waste that we generate every day. Our selection of upcycled leathers allows us to create responsible, unique and short collections.

Because we don’t like waste, we also try to find some useful purpose to the smallest piece of leather or fabric that we have left at the end. Several ideas were born as a result of this awareness…what if we offered a nice useful gift, to each of our customers, made locally from the small scraps that we could no longer use? Upcycling is actually a simple, accessible, a rather cool approach that allows us to please and at the same time to educate our customers about upcycling.

Recovering the waste turns out to be very inspiring in the end, pleasantly challenges us and allows us to reinvent every day the way we live and work. Integrating upcycling means moving towards a reasoned, more sustainable and less polluting consumption.

Tell a new story

We enjoy unearthing beautiful scraps of new leather, from major fashion houses, which we revalue and with which we like to tell a new story. Repurposing a product from its initial function provides a feeling of well-being, it is a way to fight against overconsumption and to bring emotion into each of our creations.

A social dimension

The upcycled materials we use are all purchased in France. All of our products are developed and manufactured locally in Sarthe in very small quantities. Upcycling allows us to offer limited editions accessories all handmade by French craftsmen with excellent know-how. We are proud to involve local players into our adventure and to divert materials from its current state.

The following MAURICE accessories have been designed from upcycled leathers:

• Danaus Plexippus dog bow ties, Red Sunset and Rainforest colors;
• Panthera Pardus Orientalis cat collars, Black Snake and Pink Glitter prints;
• Gorilla Beringei Beringei dog collars, Mister Dog print.