Why Upcycling Works — And Why It’s Personal to Me by RawReturn Upcycling isn’t something I discovered in a trend report or a sustainability workshop. I grew up doing it before anyone around me used the word. When Brazil won Olympic gold in men’s volleyball in 1992, kids my age wanted to play. But we didn’t have a net. So I made one. Every week I collected discarded plastic fruit sacks from the markets, cut them open, tied them together, and built a net by hand. No tools. No tutorials. Just necessity. That was my first experience turning rubbish into something that worked and it shaped the way I see materials even today. RawReturn comes from that mentality: If it exists, it can be rebuilt. If it’s worn out, it can be reimagined. If it’s forgotten, it can return. I take second-hand pieces and give them structure, purpose, and identity. The fabric changes, but the principle stays the same: don’t waste what still has life. Upcycling isn’t a trend.It’s a skill. It’s a way of thinking. It’s how I learned to build things long before I had access to studios, machines or new materials. RawReturn is simply the grown-up version of that first volleyball net — built from scraps, held together by persistence, and made to last.w Designed, reworked, and reimagined in London by GL Martins.