Deadly Ponies have launched a circular recycle programme. Image supplied.
Back in 2005, Deadly Ponies‘ first designs were created from tannery off-cuts by Creative Director Liam Bowden and now in 2020, the brand have just launched their first-ever recycle programme. It’s the next step in Deadly Ponies’ goal to achieve zero-waste and true product circularity in keeping with their ethical and sustainable brand ethos.
“The first step is for customers to recycle their pre-loved bags as part of our amnesty programme and be rewarded with a $50 voucher. We then deconstruct it, before rebuilding the pieces into a new creation that can be loved again and again. We’re not taking it back to send to landfill, we’re repurposing that product and reinventing it into something completely new,” says Deadly Ponies CEO, Steve Boyd.
“The concept of repurposing and recycling our product is something that has been part of the Deadly Ponies story from the beginning, and this is an ambitious next step. Following the amnesty launch, customers will only need to wait a few months to see what we have created”.
Since the beginning Deadly Ponies have intertwined the repurposing of materials through their collections including the recent Puzzle collection which utilised off-cuts but the brand have been wanting to do so on a larger scale. When Deadly Ponies opened a new custom-built atelier earlier in the year they realised it was the perfect opportunity to set up the recycling programme now that the brand’s small team of artisans have more space to work.
As they have used quality, ethically-sourced, and low-emission materials throughout their collections the components can be reconstructed to form unique recycled products. For example Deadly Ponies’ solid-brass hardware can be melted down again and again without compromising its composition – one of the few metals that can do so, and all while utilising energy-efficient methods. The brand’s ethically sourced, high-quality leathers are tanned without harmful chemicals, meaning that they can be refurbished, cut and stitched to form new products easily by their makers. All of this means the possibilities for their recycle programme are exciting and the brand can’t wait to get started.
The bag amnesty has started at Deadly Ponies’ stores and online with the official recycle collection arriving from late August 2020, which will feature four completely new designs. Products that are collected in the amnesty and are usable but not recyclable will be donated to the programme’s charity partner, Dress for Success NZ, along with 10% of sales from the recycle collection. Here’s to a circular future for Deadly Ponies.