Nostalgic Londoners may remember the retro textiles in these Urban Remade shoes by Above+Below London. Featuring fabric reclaimed from the seat upholstery of underground tubes and buses, the shoes immortalize fifty years and ten lines of London public transit. The leather upper parts are made from old, landfill-bound check book wallets, and the soles from used car tires. Each fabric was hand selected from Piccadilly to Bakerloo and restored to its faded glory for one-of-a-kind, metro-salvaged kicks.
Ten years ago Central Saint Martins graduate Robert Taylor and film maker/music promoter Caroline Read began collecting vintage tube upholstery from the 1950s through the 1990s. Their line of Urban Remade shoes are hand made at two family-run factories in Portugal, and Love London and Trees for Cities are planting a tree along the M25 motorway of greater London for each pair of shoes sold. They’ve also specifically designed their website to feel like a dark underground tunnel for energy conservation in addition to ambiance. If you’re using a traditional CRT screen common on desktop PCs, a visit to their site will use less energy that typical websites, althought most laptop screens now use LCD technology.
+ Above+Below London
