Cordula Kehrer Bow Bin_01 for Areaware

Cordula Kehrer Bow Bin_02 for Areaware

Cordula Kehrer Bow Bin_03 for Areaware

Cordula Kehrer Bow Bin_04 for Areaware

Cordula Kehrer Bow Bin_05 for Areaware

I spent a little time this week over at the ICFF, and hands down, these were some of the best designs I saw. Designed by Cordula Kehrer for NYC-based Areaware, the rattan and reclaimed plastic bins are manufactured by the talented Aeta people of the Phillippines. If I have this right, the whole project is sponsored by the NGO Preda, who engage in fair trade practices. The designs embody the ultimate challenge of re-purposing existing but discarded products. The plastic bins are paired with some hand process, in this case the weaving of sustainably harvested rattan, then re-imagined into something far more wonderful than either thing on its own.