In today’s era of sustainable fashion, eco-friendly garments take on many forms: there are sequins made from plant matter, fabric dyes made from fruit, and even thread made from bread. But repurposing natural materials isn’t the only avenue to climate-conscious clothes; recycling manufactured products—already present on our planet—are worthy ingredients too. Benjamin Benmoyal, a fashion student at Central Saint Martins in London, recently unveiled a collection entitled “It Was Better Tomorrow.” In an exciting twist, all of the clothes he designed are made of discarded video and cassette tapes.
The colorful and highly textured garments were hand-woven by Benmoyal; he used a combination of recycled yarn, the metallic grey tape that slithers through the spokes of VHS tapes, and Tencel (a wood-pulp-based fiber) to create the collection. The designer’s garments not only depend on recycled tapes but also on the historic tradition of weaving on a loom, making his clothes a uniquely wearable timeline of creations old and new.
“Many people and companies wanted to get rid of the tapes, as the digital age has made them useless,” Benmoyal said in a statement to Dezeen. “I feel that using VHS (video) tapes from my favorite childhood Disney movies ties to this nostalgic idea of my lost naivety—recovering the tapes into something new.”