August 2020
The Wardrobe Crisis
MAKE TABLES OUT OF THEM OBVS. SWEDISH STOCKINGS TO THE RESCUE!
“We decided we could create more things of value with something that at one point becomes waste,” say the founders of sustainable hosiery brand Swedish Stockings. Their latest venture? These very glamorous tables made out of recycled fiberglass and ground-up tights waste.
The company is on a mission to “change and influence the entire hosiery industry” - which is both wasteful and uses unsustainable raw materials.
Nylons got their name from the nylon yarn they’re knitted from. Once considered a wonder fabric, today it’s recognised as a materials challenge - derived from non-renewable petroleum, its production emits harmful carbon emissions and the tights themselves (prone to laddering, easily snagged etc.) often end up in the bin after just a few wears.
Swedish Stockings uses pre- and post-consumer nylon waste to fashion their tights. They also run a zero-waste, low- emissions factory, and are always on the look-out for innovative and cleaner ways to produce - conserving or reusing water, decreasing emissions, reducing and recycling waste. But despite the early implementation of a take-back scheme - customers can send back their old tights from any brand - they still haven’t figured out how to turn tights into tights.
Enter … tables.
They have gathered thousands of these unwanted tights, which are now being ground down for use as a filler material combined with fiberglass. They’ve been making tanks for use in gas stations and as grease trays in commercial kitchens. But their latest product is rather more glamorous.
These beautiful tables are designed for the discerning homewares collector in mind. The speckled pattern of the material resembles marble, and has been burnished to a high shine.
And the nicest part? Each table has been named after an environmentalist - Rachel Carson, Dr Sylvia Earle, Vandana Shiva, and Clare Press! What an honour.
The tables are available for purchase on their site.
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