Berlin

Puncture chic

In this age of ecological correctness, it’s hard not to slip up somewhere. Travelling by train, not plane, may score you some green points, but if you’re a meat-eater, your carbon footprint will be running rings around you.

Image for Puncture chic
Photo courtesy of Puncture Bags

In this age of ecological correctness, it’s hard not to slip up somewhere. Travelling by train, not plane, may score you some green points, but if you’re a meat-eater, your carbon footprint will be running rings around you. Electronic cars, it’s purported, are an environmentally friendly antidote to gas-guzzlers – bar one inconvenient truth: electricity often comes from burning coal. And trading four wheels for two offers a simple solution to pollution… but what if those wheels end up on the scrap heap?

Jaap Wijnants’ Puncture Bags range adds a poetic twist to the concept of re-cycling: he resurrects defunct bicycle inner tubes by refashioning them into everyday objects. From wallets and laptop bags to bike saddles and furniture upholstery, each item bears the subtle hallmarks of its former life: puncture repair plasters, logos and serial numbers make the designs genuinely unique. The tomDK pencil case is particularly eye-catching: its curving lines and accentuated corners tame industrial materials into a precise, rounded form.

Puncture Bags is ‘trashion’ as it should be. It’s environmentally aware yet tailored to consumers’ needs: a far cry from the bombasticconstellations of bin liners and tin cans that have littered the catwalks since the 1990s. Puncture Bags bridges the difficult gap between elegance, functionality and durability. Jaap’s products appeal to the minimalist in all of us, but are also particular enough to be distinctive. They’re much too special to ever throw away.

Puncture Bags | www.puncturebags.com. Stockists: Schoene Schreibwaren, Niederbarnimstr. 6, Friedrichshain, U-Bhf Frankfurter Tor.; Not A Wooden Spoon, Oderberger Str. 2, Prenzlauer Berg, U-Bhf Eberswalderstr.; ETSY, www.etsy.com; DaWanda, www.en.dawanda.com