Upcycled for the urban woman

These neckpieces, ear-rings, pendants are crafted out of plastic bottles, metal bottle crowns, punctured tyre tubes and nuts

The world of fashion seems to have joined on to the upcycling bandwagon. Today, clothes are not the only things upcycled. Accessories too have started to re-use old materials like plastic to create stunning pieces! Doing exactly that are Rituparna Das and Angeline Babu – two Bengaluru based women who have started their own brand Silver Nut Tree.

Founded in 2012, creating jewellery out of what is seen as waste was not their initial intention, reveal the two designers. “We wanted to show our little girls who were introduced to the idea of recycling at school, that waste has the potential of being something more rather than just adding on to our ever bulging landfills. An empty bottle can be used a few times but eventually it does end up being discarded. But by upcycling it into something like a necklace or a couple of ear-rings, we are changing its fate forever!” says Rituparna who previously worked as a freelance graphic designer. “We primarily started out with plastic bottles but over the course of time we have begun to use everything from metal bottle crowns, punctured tyre tubes, old washers and nuts, CD’s, and even glass bottles. Out of these recyclable materials, we design neckpieces, ear-rings, bracelets, pendants and even rings,” pitches in Angeline Babu, the other half of Silver Nut Tree.

Everybody else’s trash certainly seems to be their treasure! “We have never had any reference point to create our stuff,” explains Angeline modestly. “Every single product is a result of our trial and error method. It’s still an ongoing series of unending experiments and their resulting possibilities. We first designed a pretty ear-ring, an experiment we which we later shared on our Facebook page. The response was immediate and overwhelming. That was when the journey began and Silver Nut Tree was formed,” continues the ex banker. “The best part about every product is that it’s all original and formed through eureka moments which help us keep our job interesting,” she adds.

The two ladies mainly take customisation requests from customers and manage their obligations at home at the same time! “From cleaning all the materials and getting bruised by them while managing our families and children, is certainly not easy,” quips in Rituparna. “But it wouldn’t be possible without the constant support and understanding from our spouses. Like every other mom, our day starts at 5 am and consists of not missing the bus, rushing the kids to school and what not. But over time, we have learnt to manage it.” The delicate and intricate designs are certainly like no other. So where do the two dainty ladies get their inspiration from “Our interest in spirituality, mythology, art, music and of course our undying love for jewellery inspires us everyday to create everything we do,” says Angeline sighing with contentment.

So it’s time for high street fashion to take a step back as upcycling is taking over!