Bags from old tyres and suits from plastic bottles

We've been on the lookout for recycled fashion items this week and have come up with a couple of interesting ones.

First up is a handbag made from old car tyres. This can be bought online for just £24.99 from The Green Trading Company (link below). The bag is hardwearing and practical, yet still manages to look stylish. We think this is a great solution for someone wanting a tough and capacious bag for everyday use, with impeccable green credentials.

Debenham's, the UK department store has just launched a women's suit made from recycled plastic bottles.

Each suit, which retails at £55, is made from 50 bottles, which would otherwise have been destined for landfill. The bottles are cleaned and melted down in Taiwan and woven in to a soft, but hard-wearing, material similar to polyester, said the retailer. It took around a year to develop the suit.

The store is confident the suit will sell well, combining fashion with green credentials and a relatively low retail price. If it does prove popular the company may extend the recycled range to include menswear.

The Green Trading Company

Help beat breast cancer in a recycled dress

Next month, the award-winning fashion design company Goodone launches an exclusive
black and white dress in support of the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

The twist is that the dress is made from recycled 'Fashion Targets Breast Cancer' T-shirts. The dress, previewed at London Fashion Week, has bold black and white panels with overstitched details.

Goodone is an edgy sustainable design company, known for producing creative, one-off clothing from locally-sourced, recycled fabrics.

Each dress will be handmade in the Goodone studios and by social enterprise projects in South Africa and London.

Profits go to the social enterprises as well as a 30% donation to Breakthrough Breast Cancer, the UK’s leading charity for fighting breast cancer. The dress looks fab and very on trend so if you are buying rather than making buy this one!