Buy a Pair of Broken-in Jeans for $1,200, Sexual History Included

Derek Burgess, a designer based in Pittsburgh, PA, is currently working on a reconstituted denim line that’s far removed from what we normally consider designer jeans. At $1,200 per pair, his “Wastelanders” don’t run cheap, either. The name of the collection, loosely based on his interest in post-apocalyptic fiction, encompasses both the process of creating the garment and its affinity to modern, performance art. Simply put, Burgess records anything of interest that happens while wearing the jeans, from fist fights to sexual encounters, and makes it part of that garment’s history.

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A Biodegradable Sanitary Napkin Made From Water Hyacinth

The water hyacinth is to Lake Victoria, Kenya what kudzu (“the plant that ate the south”) is to the southeastern United States—an invasive plant with an unbridled appetite for wreaking environmental and economic havoc. So thick are the weeds that blanket the Kisumu shoreline, in fact, that light can barely penetrate the upper layers and local fishermen are cut off from open waters. But the water hyacinth can be classified as a natural fiber, one that can be spun into filaments and used in papermaking and textiles. For a group of visiting students from the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, the solution was simple: When life gives you water hyacinth, you pulp the suckers into something the native population can use; in this case, sanitary protection.

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Reclaimed Leather Goods

Remember the three “R”s? Shara Porter can do you one better: reprint. The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth grad, who plies her trade in “hand-printed fine found objects,” retools vintage leather bags and accessories with a quick mend and a hand-stamped illustration. Porter’s world is full of adorable characters and objects placed in the most unexpected ways, resulting in a menagerie of hedgehog wallets, birdcage purses, bumblebee clutches, and “brontosaurus” card holders.

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