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The designer bag made from old plane seats
Mark Prigg, Technology Correspondent05.09.08
Designer bags made from discarded plane seats and seatbelts go on sale this week.
The Worn Again Virgin range, including a washbag as well as men's and ladies' carriers, will be sold at boutiques and branches of John Lewis.
The Bethnal Green-based firm is working with Virgin Atlantic, which has given it thousands of old seat covers and seatbelts from passenger jets.
Cyndi Rhoades, 39, who founded Worn Again, said: "We realised that every time a plane is refitted the seat covers are ripped out, so we spoke to Virgin and they were very keen to do something with what is effectively their waste.
"We spent six months with them and came up with a series of designs. We use seat fabric for the bag and seatbelts for handles.
"We can't use all the covers - we found coffee stains, for instance, are tough to get out, but we've found that most seat covers will give us enough material for two bags." The company has also used discarded tents from the Glastonbury festival as lining along with old bicycle tyres and inner tubes to provide tough corner material.
It has initially produced 2,000 bags, which are handmade in Portugal, and plans to work with other Virgin companies to try to reuse their waste as well.
Lysette Gauna, creative director at Virgin Atlantic, said: "We are committed to taking practical steps to make us as sustainable as possible.
"This is a fun and creative way to recycle our waste and we are sure these limited edition bags will be very popular, as well as giving people the chance to own a little piece of Virgin Atlantic history."
The collection includes the £25 Ollie wash bag, the £65 Sherman male messenger bag and £60 Romero handbag.
