Retro/out-dated technology can still be useful! Cassette tapes seem to never go out of style in some way or another. Last week we saw how old magnetic tape reels from inside an old cassette tape can be used to make clothing, now the casing can be used to make a wallet.
Reusing old items is not only groovy, but it’s also environmentally friendly! This wallet venture looks very easy to make – give it a try.
Ever wanted to wear your favourite bands, well how about their album? Now you can!
Sonic Fabric is a a fabric woven out of old audio cassettes. The great part is not just that reuses otherwise trashed material, but that it can still be used to play music. Since the fabric retains the audio signature all you have to do is run a tape head over it.
One of the members of the band Phish has even worn one on stage and “played” it live.
Red: the colour of love, anger … and now a symbol for an exciting product line, aiming to help people in Africa with AIDS. (Product) Red contains items from various companies, including Gap Inc., Apple Computer Inc., and Emporio Armani. Some of the eye-catching products include: a red MotoRazr from Motorola, vibrant red shirts from Gap, and a cute red iPod nano. A portion of profits will go to Global Fund, an organization that fights AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.Â
Doug Piwinski, a spokesman for (Product) Red, says the initiative has raised more than $12 million for African AIDS programs, since starting last spring in Britain.
The (Product) Red website also features a gift registry. What a great way to let people know what you want for Christmas, and give to charity at the same time!
Most people who think of horseback riding visualize the rich, wearing pants with ridiculously huge hip width. Vancouver clothing line Miss Filly is trying to turn that idea on its head. The clothes collection is not only fashionable, it also tries to help women and girls live a fulfillled life.
Miss Filly designer Heather O’Hara grew up with horses, despite not being rich. O’Hara believes in the powerful bond between women and horses, and this is reflected in her clothing line. Miss Filly includes shirts, hoodies, tank-tops, toques, and panties. Designs include lassos, hay bales, and the trademark Miss Filly ponies.
The clothing line has worked with organizations such as the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada, by contributing to fundraisers and riding scholarship programs. O’Hara hopes to start a Miss Filly Foundation for inner-city girls and women at risk. Clothing can be viewed on-line at the Miss Filly website.
I like when technology and fashion merge because neat-o concepts like this get made. Practicality on the other hand can be worried about later (although practical applications of solar powered clothing exist).
From We make money not art:
“Solar cells are embedded on some of the tiles: they charge the dress during the day, and make it change colors in dimly lit surroundings.
“Each tile is designed in such a way as to accommodate a solar cell, a RGB LED, or a photocell, and jumper connectors (in the form of 0 Ohm resistors). A control board provides power, communicates with the tiles, and links to a computer via RF. The dress is completely modular both in terms of software and hardware.”