ROSSI Design launches tote bag made from used textiles

Under its ROSSIS label, ROSSI Design is launching Switzerland’s first tote bag made from used textiles on the market. With this, the Zurich-based manufacturer of bags and accessories is attempting to show that sustainable fashion and elegant, modern designs are not mutually exclusive concepts, further details of which can be found in a blog post. The bag will be available from the beginning of June in the ROSSIS shops in Zurich and Einsiedeln in the canton of Schwyz, as well as via the online shop.

“I have always found it very exciting that materials at the end of their life cycle can be returned to the cycle and made into something new”, comments Francesco Rossi, creative director of ROSSIS, in a press release, adding that: “However, design aspects have always been important to me when using recycled materials”.

The fabric of the tote bag is a blend of 50 percent used textiles. TEXAID-Textilverwertungs-AG collected these used textiles in Germany and Switzerland. At the TEXAID sorting plant in Apolda in the German state of Thuringia, white cotton fabrics were separated from other textiles that could no longer be worn. The other 50 percent is made up of plastic waste that might otherwise end up in the sea. This waste is recovered and recycled by Unifi in Schaffhausen, while the cotton material was shredded by Marchi & Fildi. The company from the Piedmont region of Italy then spun the recycled cotton and recycled polyester fibers into a yarn.

ROSSIS developed a fabric from recycled PET bottles 15 years ago and was able to manufacture bags on this basis. Today, all the bag linings are made with material of this kind from the company’s own production processes. ROSSIS first manufactured bags using vegan leather 30 years ago. Meanwhile, all of the company’s products are now vegan-friendly. ce/mm