By Cassell Ferere originally for Forbes.com

Fuse is reimagining design competitive series’ with its take on fashion production. “Upcycle Nation” is a competition series that showcases three designers, per episode, to compete in challenges where they are tasked with transforming previously ‘loved’ items into new styles with a unique aesthetic. Items like discarded denim jeans will be transformed into a new functional jacket or repurposing old Oreo bags into a new couture handbag, displaying the talents of 24 designers of this generation and the future of fashion.

Hosted and executive produced by Emmy Award-Winner Karrueche Tran, who is an actress and model, as well as hosted by upcycling designer Peder Cho, and fashion savant and mogul Jérôme LaMaar will be guiding contestants and judging each designer's competitive entries or upcycled t-shirts into bags and various garments into new pieces of clothing. Upcycle Nation features aspiring "upcyclers" who are trained and untrained fashion designers from around the country who are capable of turning everyday items into fashion-forward streetwear. Their raw talent is fostered to create a beautiful fashion of the future from garments of someone’s past.

“Upcycling is the next wave. What’s so great about upcycling is that it is very accessible to everyone and is ethical. I believe this show will shift the conversation around what competition shows could become,” says LaMaar. “We no longer should be producing garments or goods without thinking about how it will affect our planet in the long run.“

Upcycled fashion has been on the rise, infiltrating the streetwear and high-end fashion markets around the globe. Upcycled fashion is finding homes in places like Portugal, where a lot of fashion production happens, highlighted by the trade show Modtissimo. Product Manager and Sustainability Strategist Max Attermeyer, has devised plans to localize luxury production for his brand, New Optimist. Manifesting a regenerative world, and decentralized, as the catalyst for fairer trade and minimizing the carbon footprint of fashion, upcycling is now a sport for all to partake in - with a greater sense of awareness of what upcycling is.

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