Italian design duo upcycles trash into luxury handbag replicas

Chiara Rivituso and Matteo Bastiani are the creative minds behind Camera 60 Studio. The duo upcycles old materials into unique handbags. Rivituso is a product and pattern developer, while Bastiani specializes in making leather goods prototypes. Together they manipulate and design old plastics to look like luxury handbags. The purses look like the trendy streetwear you’d see a fashionista sporting because they incorporate logos from familiar brands.

Take their Mc Baguette purse. The design references the Fendi Baguette handbag but it’s made using McDonald’s paper bags. Rivituso even uses it to carry a greasy burger and fries inside.

For another look, the pair reworked Amazon Prime bubble wrap into a Prada bag from 2000. Other references include Chanel, Bottega Veneta, and Stella McCartney.

“We remake iconic bags using waste packaging and other stuff — paper, plastic and boxes — to communicate our vision of a more sustainable fashion industry,” Rivituso told Insider.”It’s our manifesto.”

The design process varies from handbag to handbag. Rivituso and Bastiani test different fabrics and hardware to see what works well. Sometimes they digitally render patterns. While most items eventually end up stitched together in a sewing machine. Camero 60 Studio plans to release more tutorials about their projects in the future. Currently, a couple are available on its website.

“We’d like to inspire people to create rather than waste and we’d like to involve also brands to embrace this vision,” Rivituso told Insider. “People are becoming more and more sensitive about upcycling and the importance to act for a better future.”

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