Virgin material

BRITAIN: “Our fashion is rubbish,” boasts Worn Again in its slogan. The fashion company creates products from recycled materials, and the latest in its range are accessories made from Virgin Atlantic seat covers and seat belts.

By 2012, the airline wants to reduce the waste it sends to landfill sites by 50 per cent. After refurbishing its economy cabins in 2007, it donated the old materials to Worn Again. The resulting products, called Worn Again Virgin, include trendy toiletry cases, handbags and carryalls. “First and foremost, the design has to speak for itself,” says Cyndi Rhoades, CEO of the fashion outfit. “No one wants to buy a product just because it’s got eco-cred — it needs to look good and wear well.”

The company's head of product design, Mike Corbett, has worked for international shoe brands such as Timberland, Merrell and Clarks. Now, he uses inner tubes for bag handles, bicycle tyres for toe protection and scrap car-seat leather for uppers.

The firm claims that the US airlines industry discards enough aluminium cans each year to build 58 Boeing 747s. Worn Again says that, in 2004, airlines threw away 9,000 tons of plastic and enough newspapers and magazines to fill a football field to a depth of 70 metres. This rubbish, says Cyndi Rhoades, could be used to create “achingly stylish products”.