A Fashion Designer Is Making Coats That Double As Sleeping Bags For The Homeless… And They’re Made From Abandoned Festival Tents

Ever wondered what happened to the thousands of tents left abandoned at Glastonbury, Leeds and Bestival? They may soon be turned into coats for the homeless, if a new project launched by Dutch designer Bas Timmer gathers steam.

Dubbed the ‘Sheltersuit’, the coats are created from leftover tents found at music festivals, and also double as waterproof sleeping bags for people without a home. A detachable sleeping bag can be zipped away from the bottom of the wind-proof coat and stored in an accompanying waterproof backpack, making it easy for users to switch from sleeping bag to jacket with the pull of a zipper.

The warm and waterproof inventions could keep thousands of rough sleepers dry and comfortable

The clever design, currently on show at Dutch Design Week, was created by Timmer in collaboration with business partner Alexander de Groot after the death of a friend’s father who had been living on the street.

The coats are made in partnership with Syrian volunteers in Timmer’s studio in Enschede. In return for their skills – many are professional tailors – volunteers are offered assimilation courses, Dutch driving lessons and assistance with finding places to live.

The suits are currently in production in small quantities, and are given to people for free through Timmer and de Groot’s Sheltersuit Foundation. The pair aims to distribute 2,500 across the Netherlands.

There’s no word of whether they’ll be coming to the UK any time soon, but we smell a very worthy Kickstarter coming on.
h/t: evening standard