Furniture made from Recycled Clothes and Sustainable Design Revolutionize this Retail Store

FDT Bureau

Hemingway Design, in collaboration with designer James Shaw, undertook a project to revamp the interior of Traid, a London charity retailer. This transformation, located in Traid’s Shepherd’s Bush branch, was part of a broader rebranding effort marking the retailer’s 25th anniversary. Here is a detailed report on FURNITURE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY (FDT).

Traid reportedly operates 12 stores across London, selling donated clothing and accessories to fund global initiatives addressing textile-related issues. For the Shepherd’s Bush store, Hemingway Design and Shaw repurposed poor-quality clothes deemed unsellable by Traid. Shaw, known for his focus on recycling waste materials, created colourful furniture from these discarded textiles. He shredded the clothes back to fibers and combined them with a plant-based binder to make curved pendant lighting and other furniture pieces.

One notable creation is a low-slung bench upholstered with a patchwork of old denim jeans and corduroy trousers. Its legs, made from extruded HDPE plastic, match the colours of the patchwork seat. Boxed pinewood changing room doors feature multi-coloured handles crafted from shredded clothes, lending them a speckled appearance.

Existing silver scaffolding from the store’s original layout was repurposed to create a staff picks clothes rail. Other fixtures and fittings were reused or repurposed wherever possible to align with Traid’s waste reduction objectives. Additionally, British designer Charlie Boyden contributed chunky pastel-hued plinths made from offcuts and salvaged materials. They were used to display merchandise in the shop window, illuminated by Shaw’s clothing-based pendant lighting.

Linseed-based oil-stained pine defines the geometric cash desk, positioned in front of a pink-painted timber stud wall. Bespoke green Unistrut shelving near the counter provides additional space for hanging clothes and displaying shoes. According to Hemingway Design, Traid has reportedly reused 228 million garments, saving 622,059 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 105.3 million cubic meters of water.

Image credit: French & Tye