If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to sit on a cloud, wonder no more.
Two Icelandic designers have created a pair of stools using recycled puffer jackets. Each stool is made of a sinuous metal rod and three parkas threaded around it like sleeves. Called Erm, Icelandic for “sleeve,” the project was recently displayed at DesignMarch, a design festival in Reykjavik that usually runs in March but was postponed due to COVID-19. Erm is part of a larger exploration of the circular economy and the potential to turn discarded clothes into something completely unrelated. It’s a promising endeavor, considering the fact that the United States generates about 25 billion pounds of textile waste per year and only 15% of that gets donated or recycled.
Ever since it was invented in the 1930s, the puffer jacket has grown into one of the most utilitarianstatus symbolsof all time, but the garment isn’t without flaws. Puffer jackets are typically made of polyester, which is made from petroleum (a fossil fuel), and it takes a lot of energy to produce, though recycled polyester is becoming more common. Historically, puffer jackets were also filled with goose down, which raises ethical concerns, though more and more brands are using synthetic or recycled down.Ingi explains that a stool felt like a natural starting point, but the designers have more products in mind, starting with chairs with backs. Whatever the final collection looks like, the designers are hoping the project will inspire companies to think about recycling and upcycling beyond their immediate industry. “Everybody is trying to close the loop of their product cycle, but how can you expand it?” Ingi asks. “This ceased its function as clothing, but it doesn’t mean it ceased its function altogether.”
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