Trash. Garbage. Two seemingly harmless words allowing the reader to conjure up a particular image and feeling based on their previous knowledge. The words trash and garbage seem self-explanatory. What else is there to say? Society uses a product and then once they’re finished with it, they throw it into a bin. It then gets taken to a large piece of ground – also known as the tip – where it is left there until most of it decomposes.
If you are a designer there is more to the story. Sonja Cook is a Tasmanian designer who creates handbags from reused materials. She turns our trash into pieces of art; she gives inanimate objects a new life. “They are like living organisms if you wish,” says Cook.
Through the use of trash our clothes and accessories are imbedded with the past: “Old things have a history and a soul, they’re nice to work with. After the era of making ‘disposables’, we are slowly coming back to using resources sensibly… I hope.”
About 80% of Cook’s materials come from tip-shops and op-shops. She hunts for different fabrics, but most often than not she creates her bags from old pieces of clothing, men’s suits and old leather jackets. For stiffening Cook uses second-hand lino samples and placemats. For the decorative features she finds inspiration from picking “bits and pieces up from the ground. It’s fun to see what one can find on a simple walk up-and-down the road”.
But how do you take these products and make a bag?
“First I think of the size and the shape of the bag I want to make. Secondly, I roughly put together materials I think I might use. I make the shape of the bag in the background fabric and then design the bits to make it interesting. I do this very quickly and spontaneously. Once this is ready I make the lining and put everything together.”
Seems simple. Some might go as far as say it’s cost effective, but in-fact it’s quite the opposite. “The whole process takes longer and the logistics of ‘how-to’ are more challenging. This means fun in my language and makes my bags unique.”
Designers who use re-used products are passing on an important message, which hopefully will be acknowledged on a bigger scale. Many poorer societies have already worked out the benefits of reusing and recycling; perhaps we should follow Cook and admire this instead of seeing trash as useless and disposable.
So what do you think of Cook’s bags? And have you ever created something from trash?
Sonja Cook Bag
Sonja Cook Bag
Sonja Cook Bag
