Garbage Jacket

Made from plant waste, recycled brass and polyester, and discarded firefighter suits.

$645.00 $322.00
Size

Model is 6ft 1 / 185cm with a 39 inch / 99cm chest, and wears size Medium.

  • Jacket made from old firefighter suits
  • Zippers and cuffs made from plastic bottles
  • Fire resistant
Made with everything from plant waste and discarded firefighter suits, to recycled brass and polyester, the Garbage Jacket is a soft, lined, fireproof jacket that reimagines garbage at the very centre of the supply chain, not the bit at the end that no-one wants to look at. Every single second, a garbage truck’s worth of clothing is dumped into landfill somewhere on Earth. So if we want to avoid trashing our planet, we have to start figuring out how to re-use the stuff we already have.

That’s why our Garbage range started with a very simple idea. What if garbage isn’t garbage? What if it’s simply pre-assembled raw materials that we can use to make new things. The Garbage Jacket comes with zippers and cuffs built from old plastic bottles, cord locks made from grain husks, and an outer material built from old firefighter suits that were destined to spend the next few centuries on a rubbish pile.

Technical Details

Outer material made in France: 70% recycled meta-aramid, 30% para-aramid
Lining made in Italy: 100% recycled polyester
Cuff material made in Portugal: 50% recycled cotton, 47% recycled polyester, 3% other fibres
Two side pockets with zippers made from recycled polyester
Zipped inside chest pocket made from recycled polyester
Front zipper with storm flap and metal snap fasteners
Front zipper is made from recycled polyester
Metal snap fasteners made from 80% recycled brass
Elasticated cord adjustment at back of the hood made from recycled polyester
Elasticated cord adjustment at the hem made from recycled polyester
Cord locks at hood and hem made from 50% plant waste
Thread made from recycled polyester
External hanging loop
Jacket weighs 950g
Machine wash 30°C
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A soft, fireproof jacket made from old firefighter suits

Made with everything from plant waste and discarded firefighter suits, to recycled brass and polyester, the Garbage Jacket is a soft, fireproof jacket that reimagines garbage at the very centre of the supply chain, not the bit at the end that no-one wants to look at.

Inspired by… Rambo

40 years ago Sylvester Stallone was freezing his butt off during a bitter Canadian winter on the set of Rambo First Blood. So when he spotted a derelict truck with a piece of rotting canvas stuck underneath it, he yanked it out, cut a hole in it with his knife, pulled it over his head to keep himself warm, and accidentally created one of the most iconic outfits in cinema history. It shows how easily our perception of what is and isn’t garbage can be altered.

The Garbage Jacket reimagines garbage at the very centre of the supply chain, not the bit at the end that no-one wants to look at.

70% of the material is from firefighter suits 

Firefighter suits are typically built out from meta-aramid which is highly flame resistant, doesn’t melt and has powerful thermal resistance. Its properties aren’t reserved just for firefighters either. Make a list of some of the most extreme and demanding jobs in the world, from astronauts and F1 drivers to military pilots and tank operators, and you’ll find them wearing clothing built from meta-aramid.

It's not bulletproof yet

Depending on the type, weight and velocity of a bullet, bulletproof vests normally need a minimum of 8 layers of para-aramid to provide sufficient protection. These layers of super strong fibres act like a net, catching the bullet and suppressing its kinetic energy. Bigger, heavier and more powerful bullets sometimes need more than 50 layers of para-aramid to be stopped. So while the Garbage Jacket is made with 30% para-aramid, and blended into a single layer with meta-aramid to add strength, it’s not bulletproof.

How we make fabric out of garbage

All this means that building a Garbage Jacket requires a totally different process to how you would build a regular jacket. It starts by gathering a huge pile of trash made up of old firefighter suits and unwanted fabric scraps that were produced during their original manufacturing processes. This pile is then shredded so that all of the fibres can be pulled out. These fibres are then ground before being blended and spun with para-aramid to make the new material. It’s then washed and brushed to give it a fleece texture.

We use fabric scraps to make the lining

Underneath the hoodie’s outer layer there’s a super smooth inner lining that feels a bit like rugged silk. The material is made entirely from recycled nylon which we get from fabric scraps that were produced during the manufacturing processes of other clothes. Even the thread we use to stitch the whole hoodie together is made from 100% recycled polyester.

We replace plastic with plant waste

There are recycled polyester drawcords at the back of the hood and at the hem so you can tighten the jacket up in harsh weather. The cord locks look and feel like regular plastic, but they’re actually made from 50% plant waste that comes from grains. Grains like rice grow inside a woody shell – called a husk or a hull – which is often thrown away after harvesting. Rather than let them go to waste we keep the husks and use them to make the cord locks, halving the amount of plastic that would normally be needed.

Where the future of clothing is going

There are three ways to tackle sustainable clothing. You can use advances in material technology to make clothes with a longer life expectancy than the people wearing them. You can go back to using nature to make clothes that require as little energy as possible and leave no trace of their existence at the end of their lives. Or you can start digging into waste streams to use the stuff people have already generated and discarded. With our 100 Year range, our Algae range, and our Garbage range, we’re now tackling all three routes at the same time.

Size + Fit

The Garbage Jacket is designed with a regular fit.

Size XS S M L XL XXL
Fits chest 83 - 90 91 - 98 99 - 106 107 - 114 115 - 122 123 - 130
Fits waist 71 - 76 76 - 81 81 - 86 86 - 91 91 - 96 96 - 101
Size XS S M L XL XXL
Fits chest 33 - 36 36 - 39 39 - 42 42 - 45 45 - 48 48 - 51
Fits waist 28 - 30 30 - 32 32 - 34 34 - 36 36 - 38 38 - 40