Salvaged Seat Belts Recycled into Handbags

Italian designer Paolo Ferrari spends a lot of time in junkyards. His company, 959 transforms seat belts salvaged from junked cars into a line of handbags. Paolo designed the bags to use as much of the seat belt fabric and hardware as possible. The 959 website even lists the percentage of recycled versus new material used in each bag. The 959-793 for example has a ratio of 97% recycled to 3% new fabric. The site also details the design process, which is pretty simple. All the fabric and components get a thorough washing and inspection before they are re-crafted. 959 is experimenting with more product ideas that re-purpose seat belts. The ‘forthcoming’ section of their site shows some concepts for apparel, storage, and home goods.

[via daily icon]