If there’s a single, defining feature that encapsulates the efforts of the 21st Century, it is the capacity to produce waste on an immeasurable scale.
Whilst the general public are aware of the impact that modern day humanity has on the planet, the road to global change is frustratingly slow. The economy, in its current mode of being, is rather apprehensive to change and this means that industry and policy operate at a delayed pace.
Whilst no solution is simple, Ethilution believe that by blurring the boundary between waste and beauty, they can create a fashion brand that stands for a different future: a solution-based one that works toward alleviating the pressure of a linear economy.
The idea that you buy something, use it and dispose of it is dated. Ethilution, by acting as an intermediary node between the disposal of something and landfill, believe that a range of products designed from discarded aluminium coffee pods – amongst other things – will bring new life to what is traditionally understood as waste.
This, in essence, is the commitment of the circular economy, which exists to challenge the preconceived idea that items that have had their intended usage are finished.
Ethilution breathes new life into the discarded: the shiny, overlooked exterior of coffee pods find a new purpose layered on the outside of leather bags, laptop cases and purses. In a stroke of aesthetic genius, their signature weave means the final products don’t explicitly conjure images of what they once were: it is only under visual scrutiny that the objects begin to elicit memories of their past.
“Our core foundation is implementing solutions to rescue and redesign products through a zero waste process and circular mindset.”
Says Rhys Ellis, founder and designer at Ethilution, before going onto describe the depth of ways in which Ethilution commit themselves to zero waste policy.
By running a free collection for any waste coffee pods that restaurants, hotels, cafes, or even households might have, they’re able to obtain their core resource whilst donating coffee – of which contains untapped aromas and compounds – to Bio-Bean, who turn it into the foundations for fragrances and perfumes, or dense logs designed for efficiency and eco-friendly burning.
With a core commitment to transparency, Ethilution allow you to share in the satisfaction of diverting products from landfill.
Each item, be it the 362 Space Bag, the 72 purse, or the 490 Multitasker, is a constant reminder of the behind the scenes work. The numbers corresponding to the amount of coffee pods carefully handcrafted onto each item at their workshop in Birmingham and their online descriptions offer breakdowns of the other materials involved.
All of the base materials that Ethilution use are intercepted on their way out: they use fibres derived from plastic bottles; leather offcuts from the furniture industry, supplied by HF Contracts, and waste cardboard for their packaging by reclaiming Amazon deliveries.
Additionally, Ethilution offers the flexibility to provide custom made items. An iPad sleeve, a shoulder bag, maybe a naglene carrier. Ethilution’s in house wizards are there to help.
As well as having positive impacts on the environment, it means that each product has internal variation: no two items are ever the same. Their products are like their owners, unique, and this is a cause for celebration.
Ultimately, Ethilution is committed to upholding the principles of the future. They stand for an imperative vision where waste is never waste, finality is never final, and the future is never set in stone.
Ethilution reminds us that the future we want stems from the changes we make.
Shop the collection online at ethilution.com