Julie Pelipas is leading an upcycling revolution. Through her technology-led system Bettter, the former fashion journalist is breaking the status quo with capsule collections that transform deadstock men’s suits into womenswear at an industrial scale.
After 15 years in the media industry backed by experience as a consultant for fashion brands, Pelipas was hit with a stroke of genius: why don’t we absorb excess inventory and create exciting new products? Following two years of deliberation, the soon-to-be sustainability warrior took the leap of faith to start Bettter in 2019. By 2023, the designer-entrepreneur was a coveted LVMH Prize semi-finalist who eventually took home the design award’s Karl Lagerfeld Prize.
Along this fight to “engineer a better future”, Bettter has launched limited-edition upcycled pieces with sportswear giant FILA, Savile Row’s Gieves & Hawkes, and Dsquared2 for its 30th anniversary fall-winter 2025 collection that debuted at Milan Fashion Week. Beyond sustainability, Pelipas strives to cater to and build community of female changemakers.
Tatler caught up withPelipas during the upcycling system's first showcase in Hong Kong at the Lane Crawford Open House—a multi-day celebration that unites emerging designers from across the globe. Apart from delving into her latest Icons collection and exclusive designs for Lane Crawford, the trailblazer unearths her vision for a Bettter world.
Julie Pelipas (Photo: Lane Crawford)
Congratulations on your first showcase in Hong Kong with Lane Crawford. How do you feel? It’s exciting. It feels like a new era for Bettter. We upcycle menswear into womenswear so it’s going to be interesting to see how this market accepts this special offer. Especially with Lane Crawford, it’s a partnership with a long-term vision. That’s why I’m here: to meet the clients and educate myself on their values, tastes and what they are looking for when they walk into the store.In the future, we hope to deliver something special for them because we actually have the opportunity to create limited-edition collections like the silk scarves capsule that we exclusively have in the store today. There are so many cultural codes that we could translate in our products. Each capsule will speak more and more to the customer here.
What sets Bettter apart from any other offering in the industry?We work with what already exists, so we only have very limited capsules. In this sense, it’s almost like collectible art. You’re going to have like one piece out of five, seven or ten, which I think is a luxury that it’s not available with any other conventional brand because they are profit-driven.
By default, we’re a 100 percent sustainable brand. I really believe that upcycling is the most green approach because it’s transparent. You cut so much carbon footprint and waste. We actually save natural resources because we don’t produce garments from new materials.
Did you always have an affinity for sustainable fashion? If not, what was the turning point? I remember my very first encounter with upcycling was in Paris. There was a brand that laid out all the raw materials on the floor of a studio with the final product next to it. It was all about hybrid pieces where they combined a few pieces into one. It was very playful, unusual, very cool and 100 percent sustainable. That’s when I think my brain started to conceive Bettter.
Is there a lesson from your time in the media industry that you carry with you today?Never take no as an answer! Whatever dream you have, it will never be easy to execute especially if it is disruptive. But it will happen if you work hard enough and if you believe in yourself. In one hundred “no”, there will be one “yes”. You will make it.
Tell us about the technology that drives Bettter.I think [the technology] will never be finished. It’s an evolving process, especially with all the tools that we have now in the AI sector. Basically, we split the whole upcycling process into three stages. Each has its own unique software that we developed called Smart Design Algorithms. This automates the process, allowing us to shrink the [production] timeline and maximise efficiency using the least amount of manual work.
If you do upcycling the orthodox way, it’s going to cost the same as couture but then it’s not valuable for markets and it’s not scalable. Thankfully, we have AI—it’s made the possibilities of what we can do exponential. But of course, human touch will remain there forever because taste will always be the privilege of people.
Bettter’s Icons collection (Photo: Lane Crawford)
Bettter’s Icons collection (Photo: Lane Crawford)
Tell us about Bettter’s new Icons collection. Icons is a collection of our most beautiful and elegant staples that we’ve managed to create since we started, from our bestsellers to the unique designs that our customers keep asking us to bring back. Again, the beauty of it is that with each new stock, even if we replicate the design, it’s going to be different.
What about the silk scarves collection made exclusively for Lane Crawford? We integrated these very unique scarves that were sourced exclusively for this capsule. It’s funny because they’re so versatile. You actually can detach those scarves and wear them as a skirt, top or just a scarf.
Bettter’s Icons collection (Photo: Lane Crawford)
Bettter’s Icons collection (Photo: Lane Crawford)
What was the design process like? In this case, it started as a dialogue with partners and research on [this region’s] culture. However, I usually start with the analytics of the raw materials that I have on hand.
I have a very long list of codes I want to implement with upcycling and that’s where the two worlds merge—this data from my brain and the data of raw materials. It’s different from the conventional model because usually you start with abstract ideas. In my case, I start with something already made and translate it into something new. It’s challenging, but that’s the beauty of it. Maybe it’s my personality, I’m bored when it’s too easy or too simple. But at the same time, simple things should still be there as they are not easy to develop.
What has been the biggest challenge that you’ve faced and how did you overcome it? The biggest challenge is to break the industry status quo. The industry is very reluctant and tends to work with conventional models. Fashion should be modern but the paradox is that the industry is very old school. I have to put the truth on the table but no one wants to hear it.
But then again, the beauty of overcoming these challenges is when the people who questioned it start to love it. When they see the final product, they’re amazed. We not only bring aesthetics but also new revenue streams for them because we convert their waste into something new. It becomes a celebration of innovation, taking risks and being the first to pioneer something.
Bettter’s Icons collection (Photo: Lane Crawford)
Bettter’s Icons collection (Photo: Lane Crawford)
What are your hopes for Bettter? It’s a beautiful future for all of us because it’s going to be a global system. To be sustainable, we have to source, upcycle and sell locally. This means we’ll build Bettter stations. These will be centres for absorbing the maximum amount of local stock and converting this into new products. There are so many benefits when you cut out logistics. That’s why I believe it’s going to be big. It’s not because I have this big ambition to make it big but I feel it should be big to make a real impact. Otherwise, it’s going to be just a marginal initiative which is the worst-case scenario for me to be honest.
Did you imagine that Bettter would become what it is today? No! With AI, what we projected to happen in two years happened in half a year. All the possibilities that we have on hand now because of AI is just amazing. My team and I also developed pillars of Bettter together. Everyone in my team became obsessed with this so they really want to innovate. I now think Bettter to be much bigger than what I had first imagined.
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