Flip Flop no More

Text : Hina Nitesh

Sea life from junk collected from sea

One man's trash is another man's treasure goes the proverb and proving it correct is Kenya based Ocean Sole. They create beautiful sculptures from flip flops that are discarded. These are collected, cleaned and sculpted into beautiful products.

Patchwork Rhino

Inspired by children who would fashion toys from pieces of flip flops, the founder Julie Church, created a whole enterprise that has become a source of income for about a 1000 people recycling more than half a million flip flops.

A colorful lion

The African link is evident in the products which are often in the form of animals of the region. Coloured flipflops compressed together to create these products often give the impression of a beautiful patchwork. Needless to say, every piece is unique.

Kenya is incomplete without Giraffes

These products send a strong statement by creating visuals of life from an object that threatens to destroy it.

Images: Copyright Ocean Sole

Text & creative layout copyrights: On the Design Boat

(http://onthedesignboat.wixsite.com/otdb)