Clever and kooky - inspired by jacobian ruffs & natural structures such as: fruit & coral KA/POW/WOW neckpieces are exquisitely organic in form and spirit. Each piece is meticulously hand crafted from reclaimed textiles sourced from charity shops & via the vast london on-line network: freecycle. So easy - so great!

Photos via Ka/Pow/Wow

Nor is Otto von Quast a long-term professor of philology, neither a member in the club for handlebar moustaches - Otto von Quast is the name of a Berlin-based design studio runned by two sassy designers - Verena Kern and Britta Knüppel - who design unconventional jewelry, develop inventive products and fiddle about pulsating art projects.
Originally, the 24 Carat Pets vegetated as worthless, discarded toys, collector´s items or dust catchers. Gilded with 24 carat hard gold, the pieces transform into magnificent pendants and brooches that find their path back to the world as stunning unicums.
Maybe, I should step by with the box I host my childhood memories in. From deer to rabbit, there´s a lot to find. I dimly remember a penguin…. To say nothing of some ugly figures from kinder surprise eggs that I didn´t dare to depollute yet.

Photos via Otto von Quast

London-based fashion designer Avsh Alom Gur designs and creates REALLY unique collections of Womanswear that in the truest sense of the word challenge glamour while blending luxury and poverty, rubbish and couture, waste and luxury garments.
For his Spring/Summer 2008 collection Avsh Alom Gur collected rubbish from the London streets to convert it into his clothing.
Constructed between jewel colored silk and chiffon fabrics are Fox’s sweet packets and plastic shopping bags while red bull cans were used as medallion details in some of the garments. At a closer look, one can see that plastic caps were used as buttons and necklaces were constructed out of empty water bottles and strings. And, belive it or not, it works out very well. Who would have imagined?

Seen at/Photos via Trendhunter

Photos via Martine Camillieri

High spirits dresses out of the recycling pot. Already in 1997 (more than 10 years ago) the London based designers Orsola de Castro und Filipo Ricci started with their small label “From Somewhere” to develop fancy collections from industrial waste-products. Therewith the designers pole position in recycling-heaven should be save. The colorful patchwork dresses of the spring/summer collection evolve from sewing fabric remnants and second quality fabrics in an artistic manner. The cuts are clear and pure, the fabrics bright and joyous. Soon the dresses will be available in the “From Somewhere” Online Store - then, nothing stands in the way for the summer-sun-dresses-pleasure.

Photo credits: From Somewhere

When I think of social fashion projects, inevitably images of grandma´s knitgroup and their christmasbazars or woven, gaudy textiles in Third-World Stores cross my mind - The social fashion-project Affentor disabuses me in having nothing in common with that.
Themed with “Holly Golightly meets Mary Quant” the label Affentor shows a high quality, well elaborated und at the same time enchanting beautiful spring/summer bag collection, composed of laptop-, pouch-, handle- and tote-bags for ladies and gentlemen. Alone, the collection is mentionable - especially the notebook bags are outstanding beautiful, but if you pay attention to the fact, that but that there´s a exciting social-fashion project behind Affentor it makes the brand even more attractive and recommendable.

In 2001, Eve Merceron and Christian Jungk founded Affentor based on the idea that emerging designers should be supported in producing and merchandising their products. But Affentor is way more than an umbrella brand for young designers pieces - Germ cell from Affentor is the socially conscious project run by the non-profit organization Werkstatt Frankfurt. Affentor, which developed out of the Werkstatt Frankfurt sewing workshop, offers long-term unemployed people the opportunity to become qualified in fashion-sewing, and consequentially improve their changes to find reemployment. The in-house workshops produce items designed by emerging designers, who have been selected on the basis of their creative merit. The sustainable concept is fulfilled by the use of fabric remains and old drapery stockings for limited editions and unicums and shows, how fashion biz could work it out for better.
Affentor embraces the philosophy that there should be a more conscious attitude towards social and ecological issues in regard to individual consumer patterns and the fashion world as a whole. When style does good - it´s Affentor!

Photo credits: Affentor

Gym teacher Bernd Dörr is the only one who make bags from recycled sports equipment leather and gym mats. His new brand “Zirkeltraining” (Ciurcit Training) is since October 2007 on the market and was presented on the “Blickfang” in Tokyo. Retro gym teacher reinforced his efforts about the gym equipment, so the collection grew bigger with models like handstand, crouch, roll, pommel horse and buck. Every piece is handcrafted and unique, extreme resistant, carries sweat - inducing and informatory memories with it and is not only interesting for sport freaks.

You can buy “Zirkeltraining^TM” in selected bag shops in Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Japan and Austria. My personal favorite is the laptop sleeve made from old gymnastic mats. It brings my first kiss on my mind. In second grade. Covert. In the room for gymnastic mats at elementary school. Do you think, the bags smell like these old gymnastic mats? Mmmhhh…I should feel it out…

Photo credits: Zirkeltraining

In the Abteil atelier in Stuttgart, Germany, new and recycled truck tarpaulins, air mattresses, mail bags and other inventive materials are used to craft high quality, handmade bags in various designs and sizes. There are day and night bags, bags for notebooks, bags for travelling and for shopping. Custom orders are also always possible. On the photos, there are the shopping-bags made from new truck tarpaulins, with a special latch, two small pockets and one pocket for mobile phones, and…last but not least, a carabiner for keyrings. Huuuu….they produced with brain! Here, you can get the perfect citytravelbeach-companions.

Photo credits: Abteil