Case study · Retail · Argentina

The uniform that came back as Christmas.

When Easy changed its uniform, 3,120 fleece garments were retired at once. Transformed into Christmas hats, stars and boots, they returned to the season as pieces people keep and bring out year after year.

7,956 m²Fleece recovered

3,120Uniforms retired

10,396Pieces produced

25People in the process

01 · Challenge

A uniform means thousands of identical garments that expire at the same time.

When a retail chain changes its uniform, the old one does not wear out gradually: it becomes obsolete all at once, in every store, in the same week. 3,120 garments, red and grey fleece, all of them serviceable.

The scale that makes it a disposal problem is the same scale that makes a seasonal collection possible.

Easy is the home improvement division of Cencosud and operates around 108 stores across the region.

02 · Strategy

Use the volume instead of fighting it.

Easy invested in transforming the material rather than paying for its disposal, putting the budget into craftsmanship, durability and a product with genuine material value.

01 · RECOVER

One intake, one colour

3,120 uniforms recovered and measured as a single batch: 7,956 m² of fleece.

02 · REDESIGN

Seasonal, so it is used

Christmas hats, stars and boots come out once a year and get kept for the next one. Fleece is the right material for all three.

03 · REPORT

It is not just about metrics

It is about changing the story of the material and the people behind it: 3,120 uniforms that returned as Christmas, and 25 people trained in sewing along the way.

03 · Process

From 3,120 uniforms to 10,396 pieces.

It is not about hiding the material or recycling it until it becomes unrecognisable. The material is the value. With creativity, innovation and a trained eye, what others see as waste can be recognised for what it still has to offer, then redesigned around a new purpose without losing the story of where it came from.

Material and production for Easy Cencosud

Work at the social workshop — Easy Cencosud

04 · Evidence

Making Impact Traceable, Transparent & Verifiable.

7,956 m² of fleece from 3,120 retired uniforms, transformed into 1,516 hats, 6,600 stars and 2,280 boots.

The figures in this case are checked and the record is managed by REZET Hub.

One batch, many Christmases

3,120 uniforms. Decommissioned, destined for destruction, and intercepted before landfill. What was about to become waste became the raw material for a new collection.

7,956 m² established at intake

Before a single cut was made, the material was measured and recorded, creating a traceable baseline for everything it would become.

One pattern, thousands of times

Identical garments mean no sorting and no colour matching: the fleece is cut to a single repeatable pattern, which is what made 10,396 pieces viable.

The training counts as output too

1,516 hats, 6,600 stars and 2,280 boots reconciled against the recorded input — and 25 people trained in sewing on this project, recorded as part of the result.

Behind each of these figures there are families. The people who cut and sew in these workshops are not a line in our metrics: they are heads of family who have come through hard circumstances, and paid, skilled work is what lets them be the ones who provide.

05 · Outcome

Ten thousand pieces from one wardrobe change.

From 3,120 discarded fleece uniforms — 7,956 m² came 1,516 Christmas hats, 6,600 stars and 2,280 boots. The project trained 25 people in sewing, in a vulnerable community where a former industrial site now operates as a hub for inclusion and employment. Made by 25 people in social impact workshops.

Why repurpose

If you are going to spend money, spend it well.

Be smart about where you put your budget. Instead of buying the same merch everyone replicates, invest in merch with a true impact story.
And instead of taking the easy, often costly route of recycling by destroying the material, repurpose it. Preserve its value. Give it a second chance.