Here’s a design twist that flips our assumptions in the weirdest way. 

Olivia Gino, a graduate of Central Saint Martins, has taken the most littered item in our cities, cigarette butts, and turned them into a shearling-style hat through her project called “Cigarettes Have Never Been So Cool.” (Yes, the irony is intentional.)  

Here’s how it works: she collected the filters, cleaned them, extracted the cellulose acetate within, then layered, pierced, stitched and shaped the fibers into a felt‐like textile.

The final hat uses the material in a way that looks rich and fuzzy while pointing back to waste and consumption.  

What we love about this is how it bridges contradiction and meaning. A smoking accessory turned into a wear-able statement about recycling.

What does the hat feel like? Smell like?

It’s urban waste turned into fashion. The process is visible in the material, and the message is loud yet playful.

Design doesn’t have to be all about newness, it can also be about rethinking what we already discard.

Via Dezeen. Photographs via Olivia Gino.

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