Coll.part.
Text: Anna Plaszczyk, photos: press release
10 August 2022
A particularly fine collection of fashionable and decorative articles combining recycled material and design with ethical production – coll.part. was founded in 2003 by Nina Raeber.
Offering a second life to materials, giving them a new value, avoiding the "constantly new" and the regardless production. Each material tells us a story, which we listen to and which is the starting point of each collection. Fish food bags recuperated in Cambodia, rice and cement bags from Burkina Faso, used military blankets in Switzerland. These materials are redesigned into smart and fun- looking accessories to survive seasonal fashion trends. Recycling causes the colours and impressions in the core material to change and also gives the collections their unique identity.
Recuperated at numerous fish farms in Cambodia, Fish food bags become urban, colourful and resistant accessories. This lightweight material is turned into a wide range of functional and ageless bags, hats, wrappers, toilet bags and pouches. The accessories are manufactured in Cambodia by a fair trade certified organization which carries out social development projects and only delivers first class finishing quality.
Rice and cement bags collected at the local markets in Burkina Faso become shoppers, pouches and shoulder bags with patterns different from the original cambodian collection. Our partner there, is a self-employed tailor and this cooperation gives him the opportunity to develop his workshop and to share his know-how.
Military blankets gathered in Switzerland become cosy winter bags : messengers with 2 front pockets to slide your hands into and keep them warm or bags with a silk screen that twists the blankets original identity. For this collection, we use as much as possible environmentally friendly materials : naturally tanned leather, lining made of recycled hemp and organic cotton. Those bags are made by a workshop located at 1502 m in the Swiss mountains which precious know-how it is important to preserve. We are proud to offer a 100 % made in Switzerland product.
It is not only vital, but a basic principle of coll.part. to associate creativity with ethical production. We build with our partners a respectfull and long term relationship and work to develop those values that we believe in. We choose our producers in the region from which comes the material in order to avoid useless and polluting transports of our products.
coll.part. is the colourful world of Nina Raeber. Curiosity and a true appetite for discovery have brought her to various places around the globe. In 2003 she founded coll.part. in Cambodia. Today she is based in Lausanne, Switzerland.