Tired of wearing shoes that were probably manufactured in sweat shops? Want to look hip and historically aware?
Eco-conscious footwear company, Above+Below London, is now selling shoes made from material that once adorned seats on London’s transport system. The shoes’ leather upper parts are made from discarded wallets and the soles from used car tyres. They are assembled in Portugal in non-sweaty shop conditions.
To quote the site:
The collection exclusively incorporates rare, vintage and ultra rare iconic retro textiles from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s reclaimed from seats on London’s Underground tube carriages and buses.
Realising these visually striking fabrics were genuine relics of London’s design heritage, Central Saint Martin’s college graduate Robert Taylor and music promoter/film maker Caroline Read collected and preserved them before they were lost to landfill or incineration forever!
London’s urban chic has been a premium cultural (and commercial) export for decades, so there’s no doubt this authentic, eco chic line will be a hit with today’s incarnations of yesteryear’s Mods, Rockers, Punks, Skins, Ravers and New Wavers.
Via Inhabitat.com.