Upcycling: Waste is turned into fashion

Plastic, old seatbelts or organic waste do not necessarily belong in the bin. From waste products like these, raw materials can be extracted which are useful  and stustainable alternatives for the fashion industry. Written by: Anna Flaschberger

 

“Unfasten your seatbelts”

The Italian fashion label 959 is fully committed to recycled seatbelts. The brand name itself can be traced back to 1959, when the car manufacturer Volvo introduced seatbelts as standard equipment. Since 2009, designer Paolo Ferrari has been using them as his main material to create bags in all shapes and sizes. About 10 meters of belt are needed per bag model. In addition, he works with recycled plastic bottles and vegetable fibers. 959 takes not only sustainability but also aesthetics into account. Therefore, unique bags are created which you can carry with a clean conscience!

 

       

Besides bags, 959 also produces all kinds of cool storage boxes! © @alexaschempers, © 959

 

Oranges to put on – made possible by Orange Fiber

Italy’s citrus industry produces 700,000 tons of waste every year. A quantity that overwhelms both the manufacturers and the environment. Luckily, the two Sicilian women Adriana Santanocito and Enrica Arena were able to find a use for the remains of the orange juice production. They invented a production process which turns parts of the waste into yarn. This special yarn is supposed to feel like silk. Thanks to their label Orange Fiber, garments can now be made from this upcycling product since 2016.

 

    

Outfits out of Orange Fiber by H&M (left) and Salvatore Ferragamo (right). © H&M, © Ferragamo

 

Vegan leather out of pineapple

The Spanish designer Dr. Carmen Hijosa's specializes in the waste products from the pineapple harvest. She was looking for a leather alternative. It was important to her to find a similar material which she could produce sustainably and without animal suffering. On a pineapple farm on the Philippines, the designer finally found what she was searching for: The fibres of the leftover pineapple leaves can be processed into a raw material which resembles leather. That was the beginning of the material “Piñatex” and her label Ananas Anam Ltd.

 

      

The Spanish label Sannas Barcelona creates bags from pineapple leather (left), MARI MADA makes shoes from it (right). © @sannasbarcelona, © @marimadauy

 

The Viennese brand @saborka designs accessories from Piñatex as well! © Saborka/Bekki Hoffmann

 

As you can see, not every waste product is useless – some can be recycled into great materials and look amazingly unique!

 

Links:

959: https://www.959.it/en

Orange Fiber: http://www.orangefiber.it/home/

Ananas Anam Ltd: https://www.ananas-anam.com/

Sannas Barcelona: https://sannasbcn.com/

MARI MADA: https://international.marimada.uy/

Saborka: https://www.saborka.at/

 

 

Anna Flaschberger, FashionTouri Editorial Team

 

Header: © Pixabay/Michael Schwarzenberger