Ecouterre » Reused / Recycled Eco-Fashion

Montreal Artists Transform Post-Consumer Trash into High-End Fashion

Lori Zimmer — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:00:02 +0000

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Mariclaro Upcycles Car Upholstery, Air Bags Into Durable Carryalls

Jasmin Malik Chua — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:23:42 +0000

Where do exploded air bags go to die? If you ask Mariclaro, they don’t. The Toronto-based accessories label salvages truck tarps, leather upholstery, seat belts, bicycle inner tubes, boat sails, and yes, exploded air bags, to create a range of road-tested laptop sleeves, messenger bags, briefcases, and backpacks. Of the materials that comprise each piece, roughly 99 percent was landfill-bound, according to co-founders Sven Schlegel and Willa Murray, who intercept the materials within 300 miles of their workshop. (“1 percent is made of notions and our logo, still unavailable in recycled,” Schlegel says.)

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Made in Forest Hills: MoMA-Inspired Bow Ties Recycled From Trash

Amanda Coen — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:00:13 +0000

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Represent Your City with Hanger 3′s Recycled Subway Token Necklaces

Lori Zimmer — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:00:40 +0000

Fashion and transportation history collide with Hanger 3′s line of quirky necklaces, which designer Dustin Wood fashions using vintage subway tokens from around the country. Representing cities from Conestoga, PA, to Beaumount, TX, each piece of ephemera bears a unique, city-specific design, courtesy of the transit designers of yesteryear. Wood pairs the tokens with a well-worn ball chain that complements their vintage patina. Not a bad way to add some local color to your wardrobe or to show your allegiance to greener commutes.

+ Subway Token Necklace $13.99-$39 (originally $19.99-$42) at Fab.com
+ Hanger 3

Ivano Vitali Creates Zero-Waste Garments From Recycled Newspaper Yarn

Amanda Coen — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:00:11 +0000

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Hot Off the Presses: Necklaces Made From Vintage Letterpress Type

Jasmin Malik Chua — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:00:24 +0000

Typography geeks, wordsmiths, and lovers of the alphabet will fall for the charms of Gwen Delicious, a Canadian accessories label that fashions necklaces from vintage printing-press type. Burnished with scuffs and other imperfections that make each piece unique, the repurposed brass blocks are strung from a gunmetal chain and secured with a toggle clasp for ease of wearability. Dangled around your neck with the type obscured, the pendant’s identity isn’t immediately obvious. Then again, do you really need to spell everything out?

+ Letterpress Necklaces $37
+ GwenDelicious

Fonderie 47 Recycles Confiscated AK-47 Rifles Into Luxurious Jewelry

Helen Morgan — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:00:32 +0000

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Upcycle Broken Christmas Lights into Sparkly Holiday Accessories

Tiffany Threadgould — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 20:00:55 +0000

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18-Year-Old Creates Couture-Inspired Bustier From Recycled Drink Cans

Jasmin Malik Chua — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:00:45 +0000

Eighteen-year-old art student Hannah Sykes isn’t one to color within the lines. And boy, has it paid off. The budding designer, who unveiled a gleaming couture-inspired bustier made from repurposed drink cans, snagged first prize at a competition that encourages canned-beverage aficionados to get creative with their empties. But that’s not all she wrote (or, in Sykes’s case, drank): The bustier was later auctioned online to benefit The Art Fund, a leading U.K. charity that buys, saves, and shows great works of art. Can you dig it?

+ I Luv My Can
+ Hannah Sykes

JoannaJohn Turns Vintage Dowry Quilts Into Vibrant Reversible Jackets

Jasmin Malik Chua — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:00:50 +0000

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Lexus Fashion Workshop Turns Recyclable Hybrid Parts Into Haute Couture

Kirin Rinehart — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:00:16 +0000

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Valérie Pache Creates Whimsical Dresses From Recycled Paraglider Sails

Jasmin Malik Chua — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:00:40 +0000

Valérie Pache is the wing beneath our wings…paraglider wings, that is. The French designer turns castoff parachutes, retired paraglider sails, and end-of-roll fabrics into sartorial flights of fancy. “This material is there, there’s a lot of it, and it’s free,” Pache says in a video interview with Shamengo. “And to offer it a second life—a good life—is something I can really put a lot of myself into.”

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101 Hilarious Ways to Reuse Your Ex-Wife’s Wedding Dress

Lori Zimmer — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:00:35 +0000

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Bullets2Bandages Recycles Fired Military Ammunition Into Jewelry

Jasmin Malik Chua — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:00:42 +0000

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Lisa Våglund Upcycles Festival Tents Into Stage Costumes

Cecilia Culverhouse — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:00:08 +0000

Music festivals create more than merriment and boozy afterglows; they also generate a prodigious amount of trash. Lisa Våglund, a recent graduate of the Danish Design School, pitched a solution, transforming discarded tents from the Roskilde Festival—one of the six biggest annual music festivals in Europe—into stage costumes for singer and festival staple Kissey Asplund.

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7 Last-Minute Halloween Costumes Lurking Inside Your Closet

Yuka Yoneda — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 16:00:11 +0000

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Manolo Blahnik, M. Patmos Make Eco-Friendly Shoes From Waste Tilapia Skins, Cork

Jasmin Malik Chua — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:00:33 +0000

A eco-friendly Manolo Blahnik shoe isn’t something we expected to see in our lifetime, but stranger things have happened. The luxury shoemaker, name-checked by Sarah Jessica Parker on Sex and the City, has teamed up with award-winning designer Marcia Patmos to create a collection of sandals for spring. Made from discarded tilapia skins, cork, and raffia, the two styles—a double-strap flat and a sophisticated open-toed pump—will be available in a combination of electric blue, black, ecru, and fluorescent yellow.

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Stefanie Nieuwenhuys Recycles Wood Chips Into Snakeskin-Like Couture

Kirin Rinehart — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:00:34 +0000

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Artist Billie Achilleos Turns Louis Vuitton Bags Into Amazing Animal Sculptures (Video)

Yuka Yoneda — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:00:38 +0000

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Make Do and Mend, World War II-Style (Video)

Kestrel Jenkins — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 20:00:50 +0000

“Make do and mend” was an oft-repeated mantra in 1940s Britain, when manufactured commodities were in scant supply and clothes rationing became a vital part of the British war effort. Coinciding with a Board of Trade exhibition at Harrods in London, the Ministry of Supply produced a clip that demonstrated the new “substitution and conversion” economy, including a patchwork dressing gown made from scrap material, a shift-dress derived from old plus-four trousers, and a baby cot improvised from sackcloth slung between a pair of chairs. Our forebears displayed the stiff upper lip with a dash of humor and wit. “For the ladies you may be reassured that all garments made in ‘make do and mend’ are entirely exclusive,” the female announcer exhorts. “To the men, lock up you favorite old clothes before you leave home in the morning.”

Mark O’Brien Makes Cardboard Shoes From Recycled Beer Packaging

Kirin Rinehart — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:00:19 +0000

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Uses for Spare Buttons #912: Build Your Own Sith Lord

Jasmin Malik Chua — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:00:01 +0000

Well played, Noah Scalin. Impressive; most impressive.

+ Star Wars Remix

New Balance Creates NewSky Sneaker From 95% Recycled Plastic Bottles

Lori Zimmer — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 12:00:32 +0000

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Knit From Undies, Antoine Peters’s Knicker Dress Reimagines the Everyday

Kirin Rinehart — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 19:00:35 +0000

One way to make sure celebutantes keep their panties on? Make them wear a dress composed entirely of underwear. Designer Antoine Peters gathered as many unmentionables as he could, cut them into strips, and knitted a thigh-grazing shift designed for flashing in public. Peters salvaged every component, leaving almost zero waste behind. “From a distance, you see an elegant dress,” he tells Ecouterre. “But up close you experience the surprise that the dress consists of knickers only.”

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Papier Couture’s Lia Griffith Makes Stunning Gowns From Recycled Paper

Kirin Rinehart — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:00:29 +0000

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