Film by Luna Works
The Infinite Card Holder
The Infinite
Card Holder
A broken model.
Lets talk about waste.
Often products are created with little thought as to what happens after they've reached the end of their useful life. We simply take from the earth, create, use and dispose.
A real "take, make, waste" kind of mentality.
Within accessory design the problem is no better.
Products are made up of complex compositions including linings, stitching, glues, leathers... the list goes on.
This makes it nearly impossible to disassemble them after their useful life, leaving little chance of recycling or returning the materials back to the earth as nutrients.
It’s why we created CO.LAB
CO.LAB is an experimental studio dedicated to helping accelerate towards more circular systems.
Through collaborating with leading manufacturers, material scientists and brands, we aim to come up with new concepts that we hope will help push the industry forward.
Our first experiment - the infinite card holder.
Lets talk about waste.
Often products are created with little thought as the what happens after they've reached the end of their useful life. We simply take from the earth, create, use and dispose.
A real "take, make, waste" kind of mentality.
Within accessory design the problem is no better.
Products are made up of complex compositions including linings, stitching, glues, leathers... the list goes on.
This makes it nearly impossible to disassemble them after their useful life, leaving little chance of recycling or returning the materials back to the earth as nutrients.
It’s why we created CO.LAB
CO.LAB is an experimental studio dedicated to helping accelerate towards more circular systems.
Through collaborating with leading manufacturers, material scientists and brands, we aim to come up with new concepts that we hope will help push the industry forward.
Our first experiment - the infinite card holder.
From bean to yarn
The concept was simple; to create a card holder from a single, infinitely recyclable material.
The challenge was finding a material that ticked all the boxes - recyclable, and durable, whilst not compromising in looks or functionality.
But after 6 months of extensive research, we struck gold - Rilsan also known as PA11, is a 100% renewable, high performance recyclable polymer derived from castor beans.
Excited by its potential, we joined forces with Arkema, the leading producer of PA11, to better understand the materials capabilities and develop new methods to bring our vision to life.
3D knitting
Our pursuit for a suitable manufacturing process led us to the innovative technique of 3D knitting, commonly associated with the production of running shoes. In partnership with Stoll, a leader in 3D knitting technology, we set about testing and developing ways in which we could create the card holder shape with no additional materials.
After months of development, we found the perfect knitting structure and pattern that allowed us to print a seamless net-shape which could then be folded and stitched to create our card holder.
No glues, no complex linings, just one single material.
"We wanted the project to challenge the norm and push the conversation forward. We want designers to see what we’ve done and explore ways to take it further."
Matt, Oliver Co founder
Made to be remade.
In the future, we believe this concept has the potential to revolutionise the way we produce accessories of the future.
The simplicity of the product not only makes it fully recyclable, but also leads to a significant reduction in waste during the production. With digitisation and automation, it has the potential to be manufactured using decentralised methods.
Through the power of design and collaboration we aim to challenge the norm and help accelerate towards a circular future.
Sign up to our newsletter to see the latest news and projects.