Belt Up your Bags

The first time I encountered Ting London was not in a boutique or through a fashion magazine but actually in Sketch, a chi-chi kind of London restaurant/bar where all the cushions are made by Ting London out of seat belt material.  These are the ‘it’ items of the cushion world and seem to be everywhere.  Then I found out they made wonderful bags made out of – yup, vintage belts.  As with most things these days, the concept is to recycle and revive.  The theory is ‘waste not, want not’.  Fabric scraps are used for linings, old braces are used for bag fastenings, vintage horse saddles are reused.  Set up by Inghua Ting in 2000, Ting London is probably more famous for those seat belt cushions than the bags but I love the well-crafted look of them and the way the raw materials are used.  Just think, with the right skills, an eBay job lot of belts can turn into something like this…

You can buy Ting London products online but don’t seem to ship internationally.  It’s worth emailing them though as independent designers are more likely to accomodate.