'flexie' totes new to designboom shop

‘flexie totes’ by lets (nupur goenka)

‘flexie’ totes’ by lets (nupur goenka), india are now available at designboom’s online shop!

made from post consumer vinyl from advertising billboards with large, funky pixelated images; quilted with padding, the interior is made with saree cloth from the many local workshops; trimming with offcuts from leather factories within the region. ‘flexie’ is durable, water resistant and easy to clean.

the outdoor advertising industry maintains approximately 450,000 billboard locations throughout india. the material of choice for the large highway advertising billboards is a 3-layer composite material where the reinforcement layer is coated with flexible vinyl on either side to yield the desired fabric. what happens to those huge vinyl billboards after they’re taken down?

for 5 years, indian designer and entrepreneur nupur goenka has been developing strategies that allow for a valuable use of produced waste. her initiative ‘let’s’ employs 15 artisans to collect and upcycle the discarded material.

a single billboard can be transformed into a small-run series of 20 handmade, one-of-a-kind totes. each colorful bag is made from different cut-outs and therefore is unique.

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